Handball to be included in USGAA finals for first time

By Paul Fitzpatrick

Handball will break new ground in the United States this weekend when the sport is included at the USGAA Finals in Boston for the first time.

The initiative is the latest step in a growing relationship between the handball and wider GAA communities in the US, with a concerted effort now being made to link existing GAA clubs with handball organisations in areas where both have a strong presence.

A One-Wall court will be in place at the USGAA Finals, allowing players and supporters from across the country to watch exhibition matches and try the game for themselves.

Among those in attendance will be leading professional Martin Mulkerrins, his wife Eilish, former world champion Killian Carroll and leading American player Jeff Streibig.

Rob Tierney, Head of Operations with USA GAA, believes the finals provide an ideal stage on which to introduce the sport to a new audience.

“We’re thrilled to bring Handball to the USGAA Finals for the very first time. As one of the GAA’s codes, Handball has a proud tradition, and bringing it to Boston gives us a fantastic opportunity to showcase the sport to a wider audience. The USGAA Finals bring together players and supporters from across the country, so it’s a great platform to give handball wider exposure and encourage more people to experience it.

“We’re excited to build on this first demonstration and look forward to seeing Handball become a growing part of USGAA activities and programming.”

The Boston showcase is not an isolated initiative but the product of approximately two years of work between USGAA and the United States Handball Association (USHA), culminating in a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the organisations.

Matt Kreuger, Executive Director of USHA, sees the link-up as an opportunity to reconnect a traditional GAA sport with the large network of Gaelic games clubs across America.

“Handball is one of the GAA’s legacy sports, with generations of history and tradition behind it, so having a presence at the USGAA Finals is an important step in reconnecting the game with GAA clubs across the United States.

“The Finals give us an opportunity not only to showcase handball, but to let people experience the game firsthand and see how easily it can become part of their own clubs and communities. We hope Boston serves as a starting point for building a stronger handball presence within USGAA communities across the country.”

One of the driving forces behind the project has been Galway native Mulkerrins, a leading player on the WPH Tour and handball coach at Texas A&M University.

Along with his wife Eilish, he has been working closely with USGAA and USHA to find practical ways of integrating handball into established GAA clubs.

“Eilish and I have been working on collaborative projects with USGAA and USHA for around two years now. Rob Tierney and USGAA have been very supportive throughout,” Mulkerrins explained.

“There have been great success stories so far including Eilish and one of our Texas A&M Colleagues, Kayla Jones, attending and presenting at the USGAA National Convention in Nashville last year which also coincided with starting of the MOU between USGAA and USHA.

“Eilish and I ran a pilot program with the Celtic Cowboys in Austin after that last Autumn and Diarmuid and Aoife also supported it. St. Louis GAA have made great strides with Handball and have built a great relationship with the new US National Handball Center. They had a winter league there earlier this year and they also participated in Handball at the World GAA Games. San Francisco and San Diego are also doing great work over the past year with organising Handball events and coaching juniors and adults.”

Those developments point towards a potentially important model for handball in the US. Rather than attempting to build completely separate structures from scratch, the sport can tap into established GAA clubs, facilities and communities while existing handball clubs and centres can provide the expertise and coaching required to get programmes up and running.

The partnership received another significant boost when handball was included at the recent GAA World Games in Waterford, where St Louis were among the USGAA clubs to participate.

Mulkerrins believes the appearance at the USGAA Finals can now build on that momentum.

“It's great to see the growing integration of Handball into the USGAA family. Handball featuring at the USGAA National Finals in Boston this weekend is a hugely positive step forward for our sport, building on the strong work USGAA and the USHA have done together over the past couple of years. It also has real potential to build momentum for the plans for expanded Handball pilot programs with USGAA Clubs this winter.”

The significance of Boston, therefore, goes beyond the exhibition itself. With hundreds of Gaelic games players, administrators and supporters gathering for one of the biggest weekends on the USGAA calendar, handball will have an opportunity to put itself directly in front of clubs from across the country.