‘The game for life’ USU Handball team headed to nationals

By Jacee Caldwell NEWS EDITOR

Ahail mary, a half-court shot, a home run — all connected in our minds to sports we know and love.

One sport many haven’t even heard of, however, is one on our very own campus — handball.

A sport that untraditionally involves goggles, walls and padded gloves, handball can’t be played just anywhere, so the USU Handball club practices twice a week in the HPER to keep up their skills.

And they’ve been preparing all year for the championship, held Feb. 23-26 in Tucson, Arizona.

Sydnee Andreasen, a graduate student who has been playing with the team for six months, will be attending nationals for the first time.

“I’m terrified,” Andreasen said. “I’m terrified, but also super excited for the opportunity to go. There’s a lot of good people, and it’ll make me better.”

It’s not the team’s first year heading to nationals, however. They won the championship last year, which makes this year’s players hopeful about their chances.

“I think the best part of playing nationals last year was just the experience and playing other people so we know what it’s like to play in a tournament,” said Rachel Fisher, a senior who's been on the team for over a year.

But travel comes at cost — a cost that head coach Herm Olsen takes upon himself, whether by taking money out of his own pocket or calling up community members and alumni for donations.

“Utah State gets great publicity, and the university doesn’t put up a nickel,” Olsen said.

He explained that because of the tight budget and their status as the only university handball team in the entire state, they use all of their money to go to nationals, even though there are other tournaments around the country.

Olsen, who has coached the team with his wife for nearly 30 years, doesn’t just love and believe in the players.

He loves and plays the game himself.

“When I came to Utah State, I wanted to play a sport. Handball was the only game in town,” Olsen said. He’s played ever since. Olsen said this is common, making handball known as “the game for life.”

“Kids maybe played football or were on the softball team in high school, but then they never put on pads again or throw an under-hand pitch again in their life.”

Olsen said. “Handball, you can play until you’re 80.”

Handball is played in the Olympics; however, there are different versions. The version you see on TV is more like soccer with your hands. The version the USU team plays is related to racquetball and is played off walls.

There is a server who stands in the box and must hit the front wall without hitting the backing wall. The serve has to pass a line, or else it’s short.

People can play in doubles or singles, and after the serve, players take turns hitting the ball – with their hand

– against the wall. The ball can bounce once on the floor.

“Then you get points – rally scoring. You can only get points when you serve, and usually you play to 21,” Andreasen said.

If you haven’t heard of the game before, you’re not alone. The majority of players on the handball team didn’t know what it was either until taking the class at USU.

“I think it's just more people that need to know about it,” said Trevor Williams, a first-year student and player on the team. “I feel like since there’s less people who play, the community is a lot more tight-knit.”

The team is always welcoming new players. To join, you can start by signing up for the handball class, taught by Olsen and the new head coach, Stacey Marble.

“Literally anyone can pick it up quickly and play,” said Bryson Petersen, a junior who has been a part of the club for close to a year. “It is fun, it’s cool. It’s one of those slept-on sports, so just come try it.”

Jacee Caldwell is a senior studying broadcast journalism who just got a job at KSL 5 TV. Other than her passion for writing, Jacee loves Colorado boys, Dr. Pepper with vanilla cream and watching “The Bachelor” every Tuesday night.