It's Water Polo Without Water -- Team Handball Totally Different Than Handball

Don't let the name fool you. Team handball and handball are no more alike than rugby and racquetball.

``It has nothing to do with handball,'' said Evelyn Anderson, assistant executive director of U.S. Team Handball Federation. ``The way I think of it, team handball is like basketball. It has a goal and a goalie instead of a hoop. There are picks, screens - like basketball, with an added physical element.''

Some compare team handball to water polo without the water, or ice hockey without the sticks.

Mike Gustafson, executive director of USTHF, has another description.

``It's like a derivative of soccer, but you use only your hands,'' Gustafson said. ``The checking is not quite as vigorous as hockey but it is a rugged sport.''

Team handball is played on a court 65-by-131 feet, slightly larger than a basketball court. The goal is roughly 6 1/2-by-10 feet. The ball, made of leather, is smaller than a soccer ball, about the size of a large cantaloupe.

Two 30-minute halves are played with no timeouts, except for injuries or official timeouts. Each team plays with a goalie and six fielders.

The objective is to get the ball into the opponents' goal via a quick pass. Players may pass, dribble, and take as many as three steps before releasing the ball.

Scoring is usually high, around 20 points each team.

AT A GLANCE

Team handball

Venue: Seattle Center Arena.

Dates: July 22-27.

The format: Teams are divided into two groups (Group A is Korea, Yugoslavia, Iceland, Spain; Group B is United States, Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Japan). Each team plays members in own group, with squads with best records vying for medals.

Players to watch: Top U.S. players are Terje Vatne, and William Kessler, goalie who led United States to a silver medal in 1986 Goodwill Games and gold in 1987 Pan American Games; world's best may be the Soviet Union's Alexander Tuchkin.

Teams to watch: One insider ranks them: USSR (gold medalist, 1988 Olympics), Yugoslavia, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Iceland, United States, Korea, Japan.

Noteworthy: Team handball became an Olympic sport in 1972. U.S. finishes: 1972, 14; 1976: 10; 1984: 9; 1988: 12.