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 CORTLAND, NY - The U.S. Olympic Committee is sponsoring the resurrection of the USA Cup hosted by the State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland), the site of the U.S. Women's National Team resident training program, from June 27 to July 2 at the Alumni Arena.
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Michael Cavanaugh, the High Performance Team Handball Manager for the U.S. Olympic Committee explains, "The USA Cup concept originated in the 1980s as a means to attract elite level international competition to the USA so that the U.S. Women's National Team could experience high level matches in a 'home court' environment."
The U.S. National Team will welcome the Canadian National Team, RK Tre_njevka from Zagreb, Croatia (1st Division), and Go Connect It/Fortissimo from Cothen, Netherlands (1st Division) who will participate in the six-day, four-team, international tournament.
"We hope the USA Cup will be a wonderful opportunity for our team to play at home," said Christian Latulippe, the Head Coach of the USA Team Handball Women's National Team. "It will be a very nice prelude to the Pan American Championship that we should host next year in Cortland. There is nothing like home and our record in the Quebec League at Cortland speaks for itself."
The tournament consists of 10 games, two per day, with Friday being a day of rest. The first game will begin Tuesday as the Netherlands face Croatia at 5
p.m. followed by Canada taking on the U.S. at 7 p.m.
The rest of the week's schedule includes the Netherlands playing Canada Wednesday at 5 p.m. and Croatia facing the U.S. at 7 p.m. Thursday, Croatia will take on Canada at 5 p.m. and the Netherlands will play the U.S. at 7 p.m. The semifinals will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The consolation and championship games will be played Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m., respectively.
"The U.S. Olympic Committee is proud to provide continued support for the Women's National Team Handball program," said Jay Warwick, Director of Sports Partnership at USOC. "The USA Cup is a significant event that will continue to develop and popularize this great sport in the United States."
Team Handball is a fast paced, high scoring and physical game that originated in Europe. It is often referred to as soccer with your hands, water polo on land or a combination of basketball, soccer and hockey in one. There are six court players and one goalie on each team. In two, 30 minute halves, scores generally range from the low 30s. Team Handball is played in over 156 countries throughout the world and is said to be second in popularity only to soccer.
The U.S. National team has players from 12 different states and one from Hungary. Players come from states as far away as California (4) and Georgia. Others are graduates from local universities including SUNY Cortland alumnus, Amanda Gillette (Marathon, NY), students Melanie McCormick (Sachem, NY), and Jennifer Robertson (Appalachian, NY) and Binghamton University graduate Jennifer Haubrich (Bow, NH).
The Canadian National Team constitutes three different provinces, with the majority of the athletes calling Edmonton and Montreal home.
From Zagreb, Croatia, RK Tre_njevka, brings a plethora of international experience. These professional athletes play for a first division team that competes at the highest level possible in Europe.
GoConnectIt/Fortissimo comes from Cothen, a small village near Amsterdam. The team has played together for six years and participated in the highest Dutch division for the first time last year. Two team members are playing on the national beach handball team this summer at the European Championships in Germany. In 2001 the team won the national beach handball title and last year they were the champions in the first Dutch division.
"We are very excited to see this event take place and we have every reason to believe that the 2006 USA Cup will be the first in a long string of successful USA Cups in the years to follow," Cavanaugh said. "We are grateful to the nations and clubs that have accepted the invitation to participate in the 2006 USA Cup. We trust that you will have a rewarding experience while at Cortland."
"During the USA Cup we hope that we will be connecting with our local community and creating a new buzz in town," Latulippe said. "There are now 20 ladies who work very hard to represent their country and put their exciting sport on the map in the USA. Hope to see you there."
In addition to the U.S. Olympic Committee and SUNY Cortland, event sponsors include the Cortland Regional Sports Council, Goldwyn & Boyland Physical Therapy, Nike, and Select Balls.
Entrance fee for the USA Cup is $3, which includes a program. For further information please visit www.usacup.us.
Bring a flag, something to make noise and cheer for your favorite team!
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