USATH Junior World Championships

One Goal: 2017 World Championships!

USA Team Handball's greatest developmental generation needs you and they need you now. In August of 2016, we won the IHF North American Championships, defeating Mexico in double overtime. Now, we turn our focus to World Championship qualification, and the heavyweights of the Pan American Federation, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. 

This March we will travel to Paraguay, and will contend for one of three coveted Pan American spots in the 2017 IHF Junior World Championships. The task before us is difficult, but not impossible, and as a coach, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Presently, many of our best athletes play professionally all over Europe, and they will be supported by the emerging stars of the next generation on the youth national team. Together, they are our greatest hope for future Olympic glory, but they need your support.

What do we need? 

We need money. Thanks to a shift in USOC funding from need-based to performance-based, developing sports like Team Handball have been left to struggle hand-to-mouth for their existence. Programs at the youth and junior levels must self-fund, which means we must focus our time on the business of sport, instead of the sport itself.  

When do we need it?

We need it now. The money will be due the first week of February, which is why I am setting a date of February 1 as our deadline.

I have never before personally solicited money from my friends and family, but I am proud to do so now, because I know this is a pivotal moment in the history of our sport, and we cannot do the unthinkable without you.

How can you help?

By sharing, rallying and/or donating to our cause. A simple click of the donate button above can make it possible for USA Team Handball to finally take its place amongst the world's best teams. Like I said, this is the best developmental generation we've ever had, and to squander its potential would be a dreadful shame.

What will your donations be used for?

Your donations will be used to cover travel expenses for players and staff, insurance in case the need arises for medical evacuation, tournament entry fees, room and board, and player and staff travel money. The preliminary estimate of these costs for Pan American qualification alone is $25,000, but with the variability in travel costs, this number will likely rise to $30,000, which is why we are asking for $40,000, the surplus of which will be used to fund travel for the World Championships in Algeria when we qualify.

I have listened for years to so many people wondering when, if ever, the United States was going to make its mark on this sport. Well, that time is now, but we need you now more than ever. 

Join Project 200 Today!

If just 200 of my friends each donated $200, we would have more than enough money for expenses related to qualification and participation in both tournaments.

However, if just 200 of my friends each rallied only 10 of their own friends to donate $20, we would meet our financial goal, and all that you would be out is the time it took to make a Facebook post and the cost of a trip to McDonalds. It's that simple: Convince 10 of your friends to forgo a trip to a fast food joint.

We need your help!

Share, rally or donate. Take your pick, but please support our project and be one of the 200!

And don't forget to add #Project200 to your posts, so we can say thanks!

You can make USA Team Handball great once and for all.

Below I have provided short bios of some of our players and videos of them in action:

Antoine Baup
Antoine is the captain of the Junior National Team. His first appearance for the United States was at the 2014 IHF Trophy in Puerto Rico. He currently plays in the German third division for TV Korschenbroich.


Sam Hoddersen
Sam plays for HSG Rodgau Neider-Roden in the German third division, and first played for the United States in the Partille Cup when he was a young boy of 13 years-old.


Cedrick Kollmann
Cedrick currently plays for HSG Kleenheim in the German fourth division. His first USA appearance was the 2015 Partille Cup in Sweden.


Luca Dobrani
Currently, Luca plays for SV 64 Zweibrucken in the German third division. His first appearance for the United States in 2015 at the Partille Cup in Sweden.


Abou Fofana
Abou first appeared in a USA uniform in 2012 at the Partille Cup in Sweden. He currently plays in the French fourth division for Girondins de Bordeaux Bastide HB. 


Paul Skorupa
Paul played for ART Dusseldorf in the Youth Bundesliga. His first appearance for the United States was for the Youth National Team at the 2016 XPS Network North American Cup in Chicago.


Sebastian Wheeler
Sebastian played for top-division Norwegian youth club Drobak-Frogn Handball Klubb. He now lives in Ohio. His sister, Sanna, is a goalkeeper for the USATH Women's National Team. This will be his first USA national team appearance.


Amar Amitovic
Despite being only 15 years-old, Amar plays for RK Kakanj, near Sarajevo, which plays in Bosnia's senior second division. His first appearance for the United States was with the Cadet National Team at the 2016 Partille Cup in Sweden.


Whatever the size of your donation, your efforts and sacrifice will not be misplaced. We are building a better furutre for our sport, one in which Olympic dreams become realities.

Thank you!

Craig Rot
USA Team Handball
Chairman USATH Development Committee
Men's Junior National Team