Hand It To 'Em -- Participants Satisfy Need For Fun With Team Handball

A two-time Olympian outlines an arc in orange tape on a basketball court in front of a mini-soccer net. He then tosses out several honeydew-sized balls and begins to teach some weekend athletes how to play team handball.

About two dozen people have started turning out Thursday nights at a Mercer Island middle school gym to learn how to play the little-known sport that first intrigued them during the 1990 Goodwill Games.

There, they saw a high-paced, contact sport played on a court the size of a ice hockey rink. Though team handball is a European-dominated game, it has a distinctly American melting-pot flavor.

The game has been likened to water polo on land, basketball with goals instead of baskets, soccer played with hands or ice hockey without sticks. The object is for a team of six players and a goalie to work the ball upcourt by throwing and dribbling, using picks and screens and Harlem Globetrotter-quick passes until a teammate can take a shot on goal.

The field of play is twice as wide and 35 feet longer than a basketball court. With 30-minute halves and no timeouts, the game, most successfully played with fast breaks, involves a lot of running.

"What's the most challenging is that it uses all the skills from all these other sports," said Eric Jensen of Kirkland, a 26-year-old engineer's assistant who also plays baseball, cricket and lacrosse. "It wraps it all up."

Other players say it satisfies their taste for a bit of indoor rugby.

"I just like getting in there and smashing around, and you don't get called for a foul as much as in basketball," said Tim Webster, a 27-year-old systems analyst from Lynnwood. "I've never been real graceful. It's not my style."

One player who has a distinct style is Coach Joe Story, who played on the U.S. team in the 1984 and '88 Olympics.

During the two-hour practice, he clearly is in charge. He leads the 18 men and one woman through a thorough warmup - full-court jogs and sprints, zigzag three-step hopping and other muscle-loosening tricks.

Story, a Mercer Island native, first tried the game while attending Willamette University in Salem.

He never figured he would become so passionate about the sport, but he did, sometimes selling his plasma for money to help finance his training.

Only 1,000 members strong, the U.S. Team Handball Federation doesn't have a huge budget. In fact, the federation doesn't know how many people play the game in the United States, though many Boys Clubs, colleges and police leagues, especially in the Northeast, are becoming involved.

Last year, Seattle had a men's and a women's team. The women's team has since disolved because the coach got a new job. Story became involved this year and hopes to attract enough athletes to form three 10-player men's teams and a women's squad.

He said most newcomers have the basic skills for team handball.

"You just need to be able to run and catch the ball, run and throw the ball, have a good jump and a good arm, obviously, because you're trying to throw the ripe cantaloupe-sized ball into a goal," said Story, 39.

"Speed and quickness and height are an advantage, but it's not mandatory. You just need to like to have fun."

Several new players haven't figured out the best way to handle the ball with its 23-inch circumference and panels similar to a soccer ball.

The best technique varies with the situation, but strong throws with a quick, short windup are best for taking a shot on goal.

A goalie, protecting a goal that is 6 1/2 feet tall and about 10 feet wide, sees more action than a hockey or soccer counterpart.

Most handball teams average about 20 points each per 60-minute game.

The game has three simple rules for moving the ball:

-- You can run with it, but for no more than three steps, then you must pass it;

-- You can run while dribbling the ball but can dribble while stationary for only three seconds;

-- You can remain stationary while holding it for up to three seconds, then you must pass it or, provided you haven't already dribbled once, dribble and move.

A handball court has a "key," but unlike basketball, it is a no-man's land radiating 6 meters from the goal posts. Only the goalie is allowed in the area, though an offensive player can leap over the boundary and take a shot, as long as the ball is released before landing.

The hard part for a goalie, Jon Satcher said, is seeing a ball shot through a sea of bodies.

Satcher, 21, a Bellevue Community College student, has played goalie in soccer, lacrosse and now team handball. This, he said, is his favorite sport. After playing the game for only two years, he made the U.S. Olympic Festival West team last summer.

The men's team did not qualify for the 1992 Olympics, but Satcher said he is thinking of future national team rosters.

"Right now there's not a lot of people who play it," he said. "And when you don't have thousands and thousands of people to play against, it's easier to stick out."

For details on the Seattle handball team, call Joe Story at 827-6409 or 451-4745 after Saturday. Also, next week's practice at Islander Middle School, 8225 S.E. 87th, has been rescheduled for Tuesday. For general information, contact the U.S. Team Handball Federation, 1750 E. Boulder, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80909; (800) 468-8666.