PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
Taking player development to its local roots By Gary Cruz USHA Player Development Director
W
hy handball is not growing echoes across the country whenever current and former players meet and recollect about days gone by. Memories of tournaments with draws well into the hundreds are remembered. So are the days when league matches were played late into the evening and court time was hard to come by. Unfortunately, much of what was in place in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s is no more. For instance: The local YMCAs where kids abound is often no longer a mainstay in the handball community, and they must compete with for-profit enterprises. Incredibly, there are even YMCAs that restrict youth memberships. Many fitness clubs are not open to youths at all. Schools are anything but consistent. Fewer states require physical education, and class sizes are increasing, with class time decreasing. It is the rare college or university that has any physical education requirement, and the college student taking a voluntary class is even more rare.
The days of going to the local park to just play and hang out are long gone, with more and more structured activities for youths. The military once used handball for fitness training, but today it does not. Coaches used to use handball for crosstraining, but today many do not. Each of these obstacles taken separately would have less impact if it were not for the fact that they have to be taken in their totality. Perhaps the biggest change for handball is the differences in how generations learn. Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and soon Generation Z have unique characteristics and approaches to all things, including sport. Many players learned handball from trial and error, some were fortunate to have mentors and some were more gifted than others. What is important to accept as a Baby Boomer handball player teaching another generation is that how they learned is not how other generations learn. This is a challenge to someone who learned handball by trial and error or from a patient mentor. The USHA First Ace curriculum has been expertly drafted by LeaAnn Martin
and Pete Tyson, and the core of that curriculum is how to teach handball in “developmental” stages. The clinics that support the curriculum are constantly updated to assist instructors in how to implement new teaching strategies for new generations. But how to grow handball remains the issue. The First Ace program is targeted to supporting the growth of handball, but the program can do very little without local involvement. In the list of what was in place during previous decades, one item was purposely left off. The local handball organization is the first line of player development, and today there are fewer local organizations. It is not surprising to find that where you do have a strong local organization, you may well find a strong player development program. Many times individuals find the time to put together a group to complain when a more appropriate action would be to group up to act. Please consider taking a look at your local group of players. If you have a strong organization, make player development a part — or bigger part — of your mission. If you do not have an organization, consider starting one.
Gonzaga class draws insight from exhibition
F
or the third semester, handball has been taught at Gonzaga University, and 14 students learned to play The Perfect Game in the spring semester. In addition to learning basic skills and playing in singles and doubles tournaments, the class enjoyed an exhibition doubles match from some top players. The exhibition match featured Jay Balkenbush and Pete Svennungsen from Spokane, Wash., against Jake Plummer and Ryan Luttmann from Sandpoint, Idaho. Balkenbush/Svennungsen prevailed in a pair of 21-11 games. Thanks to these fine players for sharing
The players along with the students enjoy the handball activity at Gonzaga. Learning from top players has been an effective method to help students appreciate handball. their time, talent, experience and sportsmanship with our handball-playing students
here at Gonzaga University.
54 JUNE 2009
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5/13/2009, 10:30 AM
Paul Buller