Scoop_Sept_2015 - Northern California Handball Association
Transcription
Scoop_Sept_2015 - Northern California Handball Association
GET THE SCOOP - JOIN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HANDBALL ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER June 2015 VISIT US ONLINE AT WWW.NORCALHANDBALL.ORG THE SCOOP Published by the Northern California Handball Association 790 Clydesdale Drive Hillsborough, CA 94010 NCHA OFFICERS President 2015 NorCal Hall of Fame Inductees 5 NorCal Men clinch 7 World Titles Tom Sove Vice President Mike McDonald Treasurer Kevan Del Grande Ed Campbell 80 Singles/Doubles 65 Singles Roy Bukstein EXECUTIVE BOARD Tom Sove Mike McDonald Jesse Ward Tom Fitzwater Cherylann Mendonca Bill Conlon Nacio Delgado Mike Linnik Lennart De La Torre Sean Haley Past President Roy Bukstein MANAGING EDITOR Mike Linnik Membership is from January 1st through December 31st. Membership fee is $20 per year, $50 for 3 years, $5 for juniors, payable January 1st. For membership information, contact the NCHA at the address listed above. David Al Roy Wyrsch Sandoval Bukstein To be inducted at the San Mateo Elks Saturday October 31st, 2015 (more on page 25). Also: Read “Beers With … David Wyrsch” (more on page 11). Jim Smith 70 Doubles (more on p.48) Lance Myers 60B Doubles/ Terry Britt 60B Sgls/Dbls Calgary, Alberta, Canada- Paul Brady - World’s Men’s Open Greatest Champion – 5 straight! (more on page 56). 2 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Contents 1960's ... Learning About Handball at the Oak Park YMCA .......................................................... 3 Sean Lenning, "King of the Courts, King of the Beach" .................................................................. 6 Da Wife's Corner ................................................................................................................................. 10 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoF Inductee Dave Wyrsch ............................................................. 11 The Nickname Game ........................................................................................................................ 16 Thoughts from the Back Wall ............................................................................................................ 17 Wayne's Way: Mike Treacy the Ultimate HoFer … ........................................................................ 18 Great Matches Remembered ... ..................................................................................................... 22 Circa 1904 … Women in Handball .................................................................................................. 23 2nd Annual "Handball in Golden Gate Park" Fun Day ................................................................. 24 2015 Inductee as Player: David Wyrsch.......................................................................................... 25 2015 Inductee as Player: Al Sandoval ............................................................................................ 27 2015 Inductee as Contributor: Roy Bukstein................................................................................... 28 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles Tournament and “Dennis Moser Invitational” ........ 30 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament ...................................................................... 36 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament ...................................................................................... 41 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada ............................................................................................................................................... 48 "O Canada" ... the World Handball Championships Experience ............................................... 53 Paul Brady - Greatest World's Handball Champion of All Time .................................................. 56 Improve your Game...Learn to Win ................................................................................................. 58 In Memory … Hayam “Hi” Fujii.......................................................................................................... 59 2015 Boosters of the NCHA … much appreciated! ...................................................................... 60 Next World Handball Championships … Alaska in 2018 .............................................................. 61 Tournament Schedule ....................................................................................................................... 62 From the Editor .................................................................................................................................... 64 3 1960's ... Learning About Handball at the Oak Park YMCA Oak Park, Illinois"How did you get into handball?" I was asked by a young man naively. Hmmm, well I'm an old man now. Been 50 years. But ... we're not going nowhere right now, so here's the long & rambling story, why not? My Dad was a dentist, but was always a fitness guy, and proud of it. Running was his thing. He used thin track shoes, with spikes, and went out in the noon heat to run on a hard cinder track. Fun? That's debatable. But he made us all get out there. If you didn't sprint in, he'd grab your collar and "assist you". So one day he drives us North, on the Dwight D. Eisenhower expressway, to a YMCA in Oak Park,' Illinois. Along the way, he'd light up a Salem and let the smoke curl out a small window in the car that had to be physically rolled out ... no buttons back then. I remember being fascinated by the lighter that would be pushed in, get red hot, then popout for use. Seemed dangerous. Handball started actually a week before ... with me sitting at a "rotary" phone at 9:55am to begin a furious 15 minutes of dialing and re-dialing to reserve the court. This was a really stressful time for a kid, because if you called in and "no courts were available" it was somehow you're fault. So we dialed like a insane person, over and over, using a pencil to help crank the phone dial until we got through pass the mind-numbing "busy signal" and heard a human voice. Well, sort of human. "Yea? Wadda want? A court? Wad time?". We'd always walk by the courts to see who was playing. Back then, they used a heavy black ball. There was always someone playing "paddleball" too (not racquetball), which sounded godawful when hit. The paddles were made of wood, had holes in them, and looked like they could come in handy to paddle kids who got out of line. We tried to stay within those imagined lines. So it was always odd to see old men watching, butt naked, checking out the action along side other viewers. Woman were only allowed on Sundays or on Tournament days, so the old men would just stand there on other days, holding a ratty old towel, drying off, and catch some of the action. No big deal. As kids we would look into the courts and think "how they heck did they get down there? Ladder? Jump?". See we weren't really allowed to go down there for a long time ... we could only watch. Who knew the dingy old metal stairs at the far end went down to them? So 1st impression of handball players ... they must have done some kind of circus trick to even get down to the court to play. We'd come in the YMCA and he'd stick his card into a slot. Back then someone "in the cage" had to see it and buzz you in. Sometimes we'd waited and waited and Dad would get a tad hot. Again, nothing was automatic back in those days. In the locker room there was a massage facility where 2 or 3 heavy set men lay (just these huge mountains of flesh) with a towel around their waist, and a skinny male masseuse, dressed completely in white - pants, shirt, maybe even the shoes, would slap and thump their calves and back. Every now and then they'd squirt some kind of cologne/lotion/oil on them that had names like "Lilac Vegetal". Seemed like those guys laid there for hours. But onto the handball. Then we walked pass "the cage" ... some old dude who looked like he never saw sunshine would bark out the usual "buck a ball, buck a court", meaning he would turn on the lights for one hour and a new ball would cost you a dollar. Balls back then came in square cardboard boxes. Who needed pressure with the weight and thickness of a black ball? Sometimes the cage guy would turn off the lights 5 minutes early and the players would run up and "vent". The lights would come back on for 10 more minutes. 4 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 1960's ... Learning About Handball at the Oak Park YMCA legends. So as my Dad got dressed, his next door locker mate Don Hurd would say "Hey TJ!". Don was an old man, whom my father said had "the worst case of halitosis". I always thought Don looked healthy to me, and didn't have this thing that sounded like cancer. So my Dad would line up guys like Benny Costello, Phil Elbert and Tony Pasquesi. Didn't know at the time that Benny was a great doubles player and helped run the AAU (before there was a USHA), Phil Elbert was a National Doubles Champion who espoused "the running game" which my Dad would say "whatever the hell *that* is", and Tony Pasquesi was a professional football player, who played with the Chicago Cardinals (before they became the St Louis Cardinals, on their way to becoming the Phoenix Cardinals and finally the Arizona Cardinals). The team, according to my Ma, had a player called "Night Train Lane" on the squad about the same time as Tony. That's just a cool name, period. I forgot ... as we drove in my Dad would talk about "Johnny Sloan's got a bar" or "Paul Haber doesn't even have an ounce of fat on him" ... this was really my introduction to the great players, which I'd learn later were THE players, and handball So we go down to the courts. Let me re-phrase that ... Dad goes into the court, for what seemed like 3 hours. Kids stayed off the courts. You could sneak in for a moment, hit a hard black ball and feel waves of pain coming up your arm, then you'd better run like hell to get out. A right fine and proper way to pick up the game ... this was the 1960's. Where the kids played was in the dark, dank, stagnant cellarway BEHIND the courts. There was pipes, rust, drainage systems, and a thousand ways to get bruised or cut. There was only a red light bulb in a metal cage giving us shred of illumination. Prisoners tunneling to escape the Siberian work camps had more light to guide them. THAT'S where we hit our black balls, in a narrow 6x60 foot alleyway. Ball get pass you? Start jogging baby. So that was what was used for "child care" back 50 years ago. No water fountains. Drinking water was for weaklings. You played for hours, hit balls for hours, and called it a day. So when my Dad would emerge, we'd walk the rusty metal stairs back out of the "hole". You'd have to get used to the bright lights of the locker room again. Then off to the steam room where you'd get scalded. There was a hose to cool off the "comfy" lava-hot marble bench. Some guys would pick a rubber hose off the dirty floor and use it to wash down the walls (men think they are Merry Maids inside a steam room), give themselves a quick shower like some kind of elephant, then drink out of it. The drinking part did not seem appealing to me. Also, the door stuck, which made you panic when you're trying to leave the scalding room and the door's not moving. It actually struck my brother Dan on the heel and he bled all over to the joy of our Pops. Yes, I'll get back to the handball. After a couple years of this I was handed my 1st pair of gloves. Well, he said those stiff, yellowed, stained things were "gloves" so you would just jam them on your hands and try to hit the ball. My Dad placed me in a small corner of the court, a space about 4x4 in the right corner. Everything that came my way Dad will yell "Got It!" and smack it. I tried to walk around and look tough, but that was hard when you're weren't allowed to hit anything. Again, back then winning was the goal. Camaraderie? Eh! Back in those days "killing the ball" 5 1960's ... Learning About Handball at the Oak Park YMCA was a dangerous and foolhardy thing to do. Volley was king. Yet my Dad killed the ball a lot and was considered a great player because of his aggressive play. Back in those days when a player asked for advice, he got very little in return. All knowledge was won the hard way. Today, you ask for advice and they start a fund-raiser. Back in the 60's, we got a few meager tidbits like "wrap the ball around the walls". Else you were on your own. There were guys who played an easy game and used a sweatshirt to get a sweat going. One large player was Morrie Grinbar, who'd "play a couple games then go down to the lunch counter downstairs". I thought this was a great game if you get to play and eat ice cream afterwards. Back then "eating out" was a big deal. We'd get a sack of burgers and fries from McDonald's and their sign proudly said "10 million served!". Years later it was "20!" then "30!" then finally they just gave up "All the hell with it we sell a ton of this stuff!". Anyways, I'd see Morrie and sometimes Angie my Swim Instructor eating ice cream. We never stopped, because a "proper" dinner waited back at home. Our extremely weak protests got no traction with Dad. Next to Oak Park was River Forest, which everyone knew was famous for their Cappo's (Mafia). These guys had it all ... the fancy cars, the dollies, the cash .... but what they didn't have, what drove them crazy, was to win a handball tournament and receive one of those silly little silver trophies with the handball player on top. They'd almost kill for one. They were business men, and didn't have the time to work on their game. One guy insisted my Dad be his partner ... they did win. The guy promised my Dad "a favor, anytink ya' wants Doc!". For years my Dad often wondered what he could have asked for ... Then came Paul Haber, National Champion. He was watching one of the River Forest gangsters playing doubles. I was standing right next to him, and my Dad pointed him out to me. The guy on the court tried a killshot with a fist, then Paul bellowed "You dumb ----, use your open hand!". It was the worse curse word I'd ever heard, and even as a kid I thought Paul would get roughed up. But in those days Haber was King, and the player looked up and apologized to Paul. Even as a kid you knew there was a strange male pecking order going on here. Back to handball ... yes my Dad played doubles with me. Like I said I owned a 4x4 square in the upper right corner. Balls would whistle by and as I raised my arm he'd bark out "Got it! Got it!". He did kill everything. I did get one ball and managed to hit it back to the front wall. They all looked surprised, maybe they forgot I was actually playing. It did hurt like hell but at least I got one point. On the way out we'd usually see an old Jewish lawyer playing, Jerry Spitzer, whom my Dad said was famous for his "broken wing" shot. That cracked him up every time. He used that line for 20 years at least. In the lounge, sometimes he'd make me wait for him. This was a YMCA. But men were smoking cigars! One old man had palsy and every time he tried to light his cigar he'd shake and put the match out. It was fascinating. Should have helped, but what does a kid know? Probably was a WWII veteran. Sometimes I'd get on a bus to come to the YMCA. It was a 40 minute ride, cost about 35 cents, and they would drop me off on Harlem Avenue. Just me and my African American brothers. After swim class, I'd walk to the bus stop, late at night, just this little white kid and all the hard-working Brothers who were trying to get to *their* homes. No biggie. After the bus ride, I'd walk through the dark night and let myself back into the house. The 60's ... they were a different time. Yet at the same time, in San Francisco, the hippies, poets and beatniks were just getting started. But how would I know, this little suburban white kid from Chicago? Dad showed me the sport, his message to me was "This is a Man's Game", and fast forward 50 years I'm still pounding the little blue ball. Almost forgot! My Dad's name was Thomas Walter Linnik, and that's how I learned about handball. Submitted by Mike Linnik 6 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Sean Lenning, "King of the Courts, King of the Beach" Fresno, CAU.S. Handball Pro Sean Lenning is quite simply having another "freakish" year, as he has stepped up his game and dominated the sport in the last year. Sean was invited to play in the 2015 Fresno Open where he won the Men’s Open title with overwhelming power and unthinkable shot-making. Sean has renewed his passion for the game by enjoying the sport more mentally, and strengthening himself physically, and the results are epic: Mike Flores, Emmett Peixoto, Sean Lenning, Nacio Delgado in Fresno Sean shoots against Emmett in the Fresno Open Finals 1. 2014 3-Wall Small Ball National Handball Champion in Maumee, Ohio - In Toledo, Sean outlasted Braulio Ruiz and Tyree Bastidas to regain his 3-wall title. 2. 2015 WPH "Race-4-Eight" Pro Player's Champion in Salt Lake City, Utah - Lenning is very proud of his WPH "Race-4-Eight" title, because it "represents a consistent effort over an extended period". Nacio Delgado and Sean Vic Perez and Sean 3. Winner of the WPH 3-wall Small/Big Ball "Xrossover Revolution" at Venice Beach - After playing in the US Nationals, Sean brought his game out to "The Beach" ... the historic Venice Beach, and won the "Xrossover Revolution" by winning the Small Ball over Braulio Ruiz, and getting a quarter-final finish in the Big Ball with a 11-10 tiebreak win over Rudy Cruz. Match point in the 2015 Fresno Men’s Open Singles. 7 Sean Lenning, "King of the Courts, King of the Beach" (cont.) 4. 2015 Jr Vasquez 3-wall Small Ball Champion - Then at the "Junior Vasquez 3Wall" tourney, Sean joined in with a high school buddy Mike Ewing, and bested Samzon Hernandez/Braulio Ruiz in the Semi's, and Vic Perez/Armando "Mando" Ortiz in the Finals. 5. 2015 Fresno Men's Open Champion Champion - Sean dominated Open play against Pro's Vic Perez and Emmett Peixoto. Sean Lenning wins “Xrossover” 3-Wall Small/Big Ball at Venice Beach We asked Sean about the upcoming World Championship: he was "ready to play, but also looking forward to watching his Dad (Larry) play as well". Psychologically, he enjoys the role of a dark horse come-frombehind more than going in as a front-runner. The US Open is also coming soon, and that's "the one I really want". It has been within his grasp in the past, and with his recent wins comes confidence, and confidence begets shotmaking. Can anyone really bet against the hottest hands in handball?! Just stand back and enjoy the show. WPH’s Dave Fink presents trophy for “Race-4-Eight” Small Ball Champion 2015 USHA 3-Wall Finals: Sean shoots against Tyree Bastidas 8 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Sean Lenning (cont.) [Update] Since the original article was written, Sean has stepped up his game to truly superhuman status. Sean "The Freak" Lenning is simply tearing up the handball world. All codes, all walls, all balls. Below is a blow-by-blow description of his World One Wall title, and his USHA 3-Wall National titles ... (yes, he SLAMMED there). One could argue this was the greatest one year performance by ANY handball player EVER ... winning 1, 3, 4, and Big Ball titles in a single year. Added bonus: these all included not only singles but a doubles title as well. The only other modern day player to approach this was Tyree Bastidas when he won 1wall, 3wall, and a 4wall doubles title at the National level. One has to go back to the days of the all-time great Vic Hershkowitz to see that kind of athletic achievement. Sean Lenning shocked many that were unaware of his cross over prowess in making the 1-Wall small ball final, defeating former national and world champions Cesar Sala and Joe Kaplan en route to the final. Victor LoPierre entered the 1-Wall Small Ball singles playing in his first singles event in more than three years and wasted no time in announcing the next force in the game, defeating current national champion Tyree Bastidas and former national champion Willie Polanco in 11-8 tiebreakers to make the final. Lenning continued his 1-Wall momentum in the final, keeping Lopierre offbalance with a bullet serves and kills from virtually everywhere on the court. Lenning won the first game 2116 and cruised in game two, 21-7. “Sean’s serves were just phenomenal,” revealed LoPierre. “His control of the ball is really amazing.” Note: To see this American athlete go for one of handball's biggest titles/prizes, the "Simple Green 2015 US Open of Handball and 25TH Naty Alvarado Classic", come out to the beautiful Los Caballeros Club in Fountain Valley CA Oct.22-25th. Submitted by Mike Linnik Ok ... now about Sean's latest wins: 2015 World Handball Championships Calgary, Alberta, Canada1-Wall Small Ball Men’s Open Victor LoPierre and Sean Lenning 2015 USHA National 3-Wall Handball Championships Maumee, OhioSean Lenning was nothing short of dominant winning his seventh 3-Wall National Open Singles title over Tyree Bastidas, 21-10, 21-0. On Monday, Lenning and Marcos Chavez completed the slam by defeating Nikolai Nahorniak and Tyree Bastidas in the doubles final, 216,21-7. The reigning 4-Wall doubles champions didn't let their opponents into the match behind Lenning's devastating serves and the cagey play of Chavez. Victor LoPierre, Guy Martin, Con Moore, Sean Lenning (Photo courtesy of Keith Thode) 9 Sean Lenning (cont.) Scorching heat and humidity greeted the best 3Wall handball players in the world at the 2015 USHA National Three-Wall Championships in Maumee, Ohio, as players faced temperatures in the upper 80’s with on-court temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Fitness would be as important as 3-Wall strategy and execution for players targeting elusive championships in Maumee. Men’s Open Singles “Sean was serving and shooting and just not allowing Tyree to get into the rallies,” stated Lenning’s 3-Wall doubles partner and # teamR48 reporter Marcos Chavez. Game two was a continuation of the second half of game one, as Lenning completely dominated all facets of the action. Lenning raced to a 7-0 by serving aces, executing kills and controlling the backcourt rallies. “Tyree was asking himself (out loud) why he was trying to play deep with Sean,” reported Chavez. “Sean cannot be matched from the deep court.” Lenning continued to cruise, scoring points at will against an exhausted and completely overwhelmed Bastidas. Bastidas needed to take a timeout at 13-0 to throw up in a trashcan. Unfazed, Lenning maintained the pressure by executing deep pass shots, fly kills and service winners. Lenning ended the match by scoring 33 of the final 34 points in the match, including all 21 in game two. Tyree Bastidas and Sean Lenning (Photo courtesy of USHA) Sean Lenning entered the USHA Three Wall Nationals as the six-time defending champion, winning his first 3-Wall national title at 19 in 2004 and collecting five more championships between 2005-2014. Awaiting Lenning in the final for the second consecutive year was Tyree Bastidas, one of the game’s most exciting and decorated outdoor stars and winner of the 2013 USHA ThreeWall Championship. The current 3-Wall National Champion, WPH R48 Player’s Champion and 1Wall World Champion met the current 1-Wall National Champion and former 3-Wall National Champion for the third time in the 3-Wall National Final since 2012, with Lenning winning the previous two encounters. Bastidas started well in the pair’s third 3-Wall final clash, matching Lenning shot-for-shot en route to an 8-6 first game lead. Bastidas pushed Lenning to an 11-7 tiebreaker loss in 2012 and the pair appeared to be headed towards a similar type of thriller. Lenning tied the score at nine and completely dominated the second half of the game one, scoring 12 of the final 13 points to take a one-game lead, 21-10. Lenning’s incredible 2015 season continued, as he added his 7th USHA Three-Wall Singles Championship to his 2015 WPH R48 Player’s Championship, 2015 WPH Outdoor Xrossover Championship and 2015 1-Wall Small Ball World Title. Courtesy David Fink WPH Senior Writer WPH Youth and Donor Development Director 10 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Da Wife's Corner Las Vegas, New York, Boston, etc my husband attended. If he did well, he'd beam, and we'd hear all about it, "best game in the world!!". If he did poorly, he'd decry the sport, say he stank, swear to give it up, until the next phone call asking him for a game, of course. Drying gloves … not exactly a rose bush, a field of lavender, etc … but is beauty in the eye of the beholder? So, you'd like me to write about MY take on the game? Once again I ask myself, "what would life be like without handball?" Thirty years ago when my husband was playing golf and handball every weekend, and I was expecting our first child, I told him to pick o-n-e sport, the time element would be crucial. Guess what he picked???? It became a 3x per week activity, with heavy piles of sweaty, stinky attire to deal with along with diapers and baby clothes. The kids are now grown, out of the house, doing their own laundry but somehow those sweaty, stinky clothes are still filling my washer, like clockwork. In our ever-changing lives, Handball has been a constant. IT is always there. The phone call to arrange games, the phone calls to discuss the shots and plays after the games, etc etc. Only now the phones are not attached to the kitchen wall, but these crazy little rectangles we keep misplacing. Then there are the games themselves, the stretching before hand, the stretching afterwards..... it goes without saying that handball is always on the agenda. Over the years, how many tournaments? Cinco de Mayo, St Paddy's Day at the SERC, the most quaint and congenial club in the world, without a doubt! Then there's the Top Gun at the San Mateo Elks, the Labor Day in San Jose, Hall of Fame at the Olympic Club, the various tournaments in Idaho, More than a game, it's a culture, and not just for excons!! Happily, I've met the most amazing people, as I sat in the hard wooden stands. Wonderful woman, like Joan, her daughter Barbara, Kristine, the 2 Mary's, Cheryl, Sharon, Jennifer, Kristine, Heidi, Joni, Laurie, to name a handfull ... all grand to sit and chat and (pretend to) watch a game with. No, really, did I just say that? It goes without saying that we've all shared some of the same experiences with our handball-addicted husbands. As time goes on, the topics have begun to revolve around injuries and surgeries, rehab, and then the ultimate question: will he be as good a player WHEN he comes back to handball ??? Not IF but WHEN. And finally the universal chorus: "Just get him back on that court, he's driving me crazy sitting around!". I'll admit, I used to be jealous of HANDBALL, she was a demanding mistress, 2 nights a week, Saturday or Sunday mornings, all-consuming weekend-long tournaments ... life revolved around her. But now, I appreciate the excellent people we've befriended through the sport, the camaraderie my husband enjoys, and the fact that our son is now playing at the SERC, enjoying it immensely. After all, he grew up watching it, it's imprinted in his brain and body. Lastly, due to the rigorous nature of the game, an in spite of the couple of beers consumed afterwards, my husband's waist is the same size it was in high school!!! Better than a diet. So, back to the first question: what would life be like without handball? Can't imagine, it was only rhetorical anyway. Submitted by Claudine Ward April 2nd, 2015 11 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoF Inductee Dave Wyrsch Dave “The California Cannon” Wyrsch Fort Myers, FloridaDavid Wyrsch was force of nature in the handball world, dominating NorCal from 1980's to the 2000's. With his aggressive style, his fearlessness to seek out the bottom board with flat killshots, his massive reverse hops, and his running conversations with the audience made him a fan favorite everywhere. He rattled cages at the Pro level as well, with wins over the games greats such as John Bike, Poncho Monreal, Fred Lewis, Vern Roberts, Rick Christian, Eric Klarman, Randy Morones, and Richard Lopez. Even a quick summary of his achievements takes up space, but for the record here goes: . "19" = He dominated Bay Area Handball from 1982 - 2001 (19 years) . "2" = Junior National Titles (17yr, 19yr) . "1" = Collegiate National Title (over John Bike Jr) . "2" = On the cover of USHA's Handball magazine two times. . "4" = Open Singles/Doubles SLAMS: 1986 Santa Cruz; 1988/1991 San Jose; 2004 Kuaui . "2" = Carried two family members, Howie and Billy, to Open Doubles Titles . "2" = NCHA Regionals Open Titles (Singles/Doubles) . "3" = California State Champion (1 Singles/2 Doubles) . "6" = NorCal Hall-of-Fame Doubles Champion . "5" = Dave Was ranked as high as No.5 on the Spaulding/Gatorade Pro Tour . "1" = Receives honorary title "The Big Kahuna" (2004) . "1" = Mixed-Doubles Title . "33+" = Open Titles (Singles & Doubles)! With his 2015 induction into the NorCal Hall-of-Fame, we got a chance to connect with Dave to get some of his thoughts on his handball upbringing, his spectacular wins, and his life playing handball. Howie & Dave (15yr old) win “Father and Son” tourney at SERC [Scoop] What was it like when growing up? When did you first see a handball, when did you start playing. [Dave] I remember handball back when I was five years old. My Dad would be playing with Paul Haber at the South End, and us kids would run out onto the courts during timeouts and between games. That was the only time we got to play handball back then. I was small at the time, and the ball was always bouncing over my head. When I got a little older, people would cheer for me all the time because I looked younger than I really was. People would say "Look at that little 12 year old kid play!" (when I was really about 15 years old). I played with my Dad (Howie) in the "Father and Son Handball" at the South End (in 1980), and when we won I remember my Dad hugging me. He would let me actually play. Some fathers would put you in a corner and take most of the shots. My Dad split the court and let me take my shots. We also played in the "C's" at the Elks (San Mateo) and we were in the finals. My Dad let me run around and hit my shots, we won in a tie-break and he hugged me. [Scoop] Who was a better player growing up, you or brother Billy? [Dave] Billy was about 19 years old when I was about 5 years old. Billy was amazing, he went from being a "C" player to an "Open" player in about a year or two. [Scoop] When you were old enough to first beat your Dad, how did he respond to that event in your life? [Dave] He was very good about it. Some guys are frustrated athletes, and would have responded different. But my Dad was a top athlete, he was good in basketball, baseball, and handball - he was just fine with me winning. He just wanted to get back on the court. [Scoop] Who was your first coach? What did he tell you? [Dave] My Dad was probably my first coach, and he told me to play offense. Shoot the ball. I lost 12 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoFer Dave Wyrsch (cont). for four years! He would point to players Mike Kelly and Frank Spiller to see how they hopped the ball. The hop was "insurance", that even if a player managed to get to the ball, it would move away from him and give you the point. Billy, Dad Howie, and David Wyrsch Rudy Stadlberger & Dave I also remember a guy George Dillian who helped teach us kids. Don Davies had a Juniors program, and I remember Rudy Stadlberger helping out as well. I played games with Brendan McDevitt, and with Rudy's son Freddie. Dave remembers the day Rudy said "this next game is for a sandwich!". In Dave's words "I would always beat Freddie until Rudy offered a free sandwich and Freddie dove Jon Kendler, Mike McDonald, David Wyrsch, Lennart Delatorre 13 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoFer Dave Wyrsch (cont). everywhere and killed me 2 and 5. Another crying moment. I was surprised that I still played handball (after that)". In Dave's words "I lost a lot matches for years because I was shooting the ball so much and couldn't keep a rally going. It took me several years later to finally be able to kill the ball when I wanted anytime. On Saturdays at Southend I would play doubles with George Dillian and Milt Coleman. On Sunday I would play Freddie Stadlberger and after that I would play my dad and afterwards we sat on the floor of the court and talked handball strategy. He would offer me a Mickeys big mouth beer. Great moments and I only had one and slept good for the ride home." David Wyrsch, John Bike, Al Delatorre, Richard Lopez, Jaimie Paredes [Scoop] How would you describe your game? [Dave] I'm a pitcher, you're the batter. I hide the ball, use all kinds of offspeeds, pass when you think I'll kill the ball. Always keep the opponent guessing. [Scoop] Who was your toughest opponent? [Dave] I remember facing Rick Christian. He'd get at least 10 aces a game off his serve. It's a mental thing until you beat a guy. You're thinking too much when you get a shot, should I do this? Do that? I finally found the way to beat him - keep him on the court and get him tired. Then the serves wouldn't crack out as much. That was a big deal when I first beat him. Editor's Note: David was 21 years old when he beat the great Rick Christian in the Santa Cruz Suntan Singles in 1985 21-15,(1221),11-1. Dean Crispen, Chris Tico, Artie Ward, and David Wyrsch Lennart Delatorre, Wayne Salo, Artie Ward, and David Wyrsch 14 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoFer Dave Wyrsch (cont). [Scoop] Going through your Pro showings, we were especially struck by your result in 1987 in Albany, New York at the "Colonie Court" for the "Spalding/Gatorade Pro Tour". In the event: 1. David Wyrsch qualified! 2. Beat No.2 seed Vern Roberts in Round-of-16! 3. Beat Jon Kendler in Quarters! 4. Makes Semi's, only beaten by Poncho Monreal 11-7 in a tiebreaker! [Scoop] What did you do to prepare for the Pro Tour? [Dave] I loved doing drills. You got to practice - and you need to know *how* to practice. Handball is also a lot to do with "form". You got to visualize your swing. I would watch the No.1 player Naty Alvarado Sr and practice his swing. When actually playing a match, forget about the score. I would repeat in mind several simple phrases to relax and play the game. Can you tell us a little about this? [Dave] It was great but also the beginning of the end. In Dave's words "In the qualifying rounds in Albany (New York) I knew I was playing good because I was able to give several doughnuts out and was in the zone. Those moments are rare." I remember shooting the ball well against Vern and Jon. I was actually up 12-4 in the 2nd game against Poncho when I started to cramp up. After the match I was supposed to play Fred Lewis. He had just finished playing a rough match against Naty Sr and was spent. I was bruised from hitting the floor ... my knees were bleeding, my elbows were roughed up, I was beat up. But I went over to Fred, jumping up and down, drinking Gatorade, saying things like "I can't wait to get in there and play our match!". Fred took one look at me and said he's done. I came home with about a grand in prize money and blew it on "mags (ie. rims) and wheels". That's when it sunk it to me ... I beat myself up, and there's just no way to make a living on the Pro tour. That's when I began to play more local tournaments, to have more fun and entertain the crowds. 1. "Let the ball drop". 2. "Take your time". 3. "Follow through". 4. "Bend your knees". These thoughts put me in a state of "flow", which is a beautiful thing. There are a lot of books on this topic. Don't think about the score. Sometimes I'd walk around with my head down during timeouts and just focus on my “phrases” to help stay in that state of flow. Also, use your timeouts to stop the other guys' rythm. Don't use them for getting your breath back, that's what 'wet gloves' are for, if you know what I mean :) [Scoop] Dave, another unbelievable draw was in 1988, at the "NCHA Hall of Fame Doubles" at the Olympic Club. Do you remember: 1. Quarters: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Mike Dunne Jr/Rich Dunne 2. Semis: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Don Chamberlin/Jon Kendler 11-10 tiebreak. 3. Finals: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Jaimie Paredes/Richard Lopez 21-8, 21-15. [Dave] Yes, I remember ... I actually played on the right, with John on the left. I normally played the left. We both hit the ball 300mph. If a guy got in our way, we'd hit them in the back. They'd back off and we'd blow it by them. [Scoop] One of your best doubles partners was Lennart Delatorre. You won at least 7+ Open Doubles titles with him. How did you guys mesh? [Dave] I was basically played "Dr. Phil" to Len ... he had all the shots, had great power and placement. He was always in good shape. Yes, I know he just won the 2015 USHA National Men's 50's title. [Scoop] We have a trivia question for you. The first Venice Beach event in '94 featured pro and junior events. Brothers Octavio and David Silveyra won the pro and 17-and-under events. In the pro event, then current three-wall Open singles champ was unceremoniously ousted in the first round. Who beat Eric Klarman at Venice in '94? Answer: David Wyrsch beat Klarman. Do you remember that match? [Dave] Did you know I played and beat Vern Roberts with my left arm in the 2nd round? My right arm was sore, Vern hit a lot of defensive shots. I served lefty and was able to win. Played John Libby after that and cramped up in the 3rd game. You know in 3Wall it's all offense. You have to fly everything. You need to always be going forward. [Scoop] We were also surprised to know that you traveled to Kuaui and slammed to get the royal title "Big Kahuna". It was reported in 15 Beers with …. 2015 NorCal HoFer Dave Wyrsch (cont). the Kuaui papers that "Californians David Wyrsch and David Balestrieri won the open doubles and Wyrsch won the open singles Sunday in the Kaua'i Open Handball Tournament at Kaua'i Athletic Club." 1. Open Singles: David Wyrsch d. Gary Sternberg, New Zealand. 2. Open Doubles: David Wyrsch/David Balestrieri (Burlingame/San Mateo) d. Bob Lozito/Jack Brier (Sacramento). [Dave] Yes, I remember they offered cash and I needed that doubles win to help pay for the trip! [Scoop] Besides "The Big Kahuna", did you have any other nickname of The Tour? [Dave] My name on the pro tour was the "California Cannon". [Scoop] What do you do for exercise now? Is there any ballplayers in your area? [Dave] There are no players where I live (Fort Myers). There are a *lot* of 3-Wall courts here yet they are not being used - people don't even know they were built for playing handball. I'd like to get a program started here. My current work schedule has irregular hours, so it's difficult to put out a schedule. Meanwhile I do a lot of Big Brother volunteer work, taking kids out and providing an adult figure in their lives. There are also a lot of golf courses here which I get on on, and I teach tennis. Florida gets very humid, and I'm constantly reminding my clients to hydrate. Some of the players in our league get quite competitive. I remind them "are we playing for cash? Here, why don't you just take the point!". Life is going by quite quickly out here, and every day is precious, you know? [Scoop] You've taught a lot of players, players at every level trying to get better. What is that experience like? [Dave] I coached everybody and anybody. From 5 years old to a hundred on how to hit a ball. Sometimes there was more satisfaction teaching then playing. When I was playing, I enjoyed when the crowd would get all riled up. I'm an entertainer, and played to entertain the crowds. That's why I peaked on the Pro Tour, then dropped back into playing all the local Open tournaments. Sometimes a handball match can drag along. I liked to pull people into the match, wanted them to enjoy themselves. [Scoop] Is there anything else you'd like to add to this interview? [Dave] I'd like to thank Joe McDonald for making it possible. I started in San Mateo, then moved to Burlingame. Joe helped get me a membership to play and train at the club. I'd like to thanks Don Davies for holding the Junior events. Ray Voight for a great tournament at the San Jose YMCA, I always looked forward to that one. Also the SoS Club ... we'd sit by the pool, drink some beer, and play. I remember Marty Goffstein at that tourney. Like to also thank Al Delatorre for the work he did on the newsletter. Oh and I remember the Jerry Cooke Open, great tourney. In Dave's words "There were several young players I played with and against as I was growing up. Mike McDonald, Lennart Delatorre, Fred Stadlberger, Brendan McDevitt, Cris Tico, Ray Voght Jr, Eric Voght, Chris McDonald, Mark Ohleyer, and Al Sandoval. I had great times with these people shaping my handball career on and off the court. Thanks guys for the great stories." Submitted by Mike Linnik Mark Ohleyer, Player, Lennart Delatorre, David Wyrsch David Wyrsch and Joe McDonald 16 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 The Nickname Game You may need to invite your local Old Timer into this trivia game - and he may need to invite his father, too. Google? Fuggaboutit. Can you match the player with his nickname? (Answers at the bottom) . NorCal Players: 1. Rick Christian 2. Tom Fitzwater 3. Arturo Suarez 4. Erik Torres 5. Raphael Massocarro 6. Bob Blanco 7. Bob Scherer 8. Lennart Delatorre 9. Billy Wyrsch Pro Tour players: 10. David Chapman 11. Luis Moreno 12. Naty Alvarado Jr 13. Emmett Peixoto 14. Naty Alvarado Sr 15. Paul Brady 16. Sean Lenning 17. David Wyrsch Great Champions from History: 18. Al Banuet 19. Angelo Trulio 20. Jim Jacobs 21. Joe Platak 22. Johnny Sloan 23. Bob Brady 24. Mike Treacy ... and their Nicknames: A. Chino B. Bamm Bamm C. The Great One (aka TGO) D. The Professional E. RoboCop F. Bullet Bob G. SF Flash H. King of the Beaches & Little Giant I. The Gunner J. El Gato K. Rubber Man L. Lefty M. Speedy N. The Slammer O. Blond Panther P. The Natural Q. The Rock R. Strong Boy S. Windy City Whiz Kid T. The Freak U. The Magician & The Ghost V. Baby Howitzer W. “Bottomboard” & “Backwall” ---X. California Cannon Answers to "Nickname Game": 1-N, 2-K, 3-L, 4-A, 5-M, 6-B, 7-E, 8-V, 9-W,10-C, 11-P, 12-D, 13-Q, 14-J, 15-I, 16-T, 17-X, 18-G, 19-H, 20-R, 21-O, 22-S, 23-F, 24-U. 17 Thoughts from the Back Wall with the third game pending. The loud shouts were heard upstairs, and a spectator rushed up to the Chief, to inform him what was going down. Both Chief Scott and Deputy Chief Keays went down and "discussed" the situation with the uniformed officers. They directed one officer to stand at the front door and the other at the back door, and the third game was played, with cheers and enthusiastic clamor. “Thoughts From the Backwall” Handball in the 70’s was a mixture of great players, great events, and great drama. Memorial Day Tournaments at the South End and The SOS Club in Modesto attracted all of the above. One Memorial Day Event, at the South End, sticks out in my mind, as one of the most talked about finals day ever. The current 5 times National Singles champion, Paul Haber, and his partner Paul Morlos, were playing in the finals against the current number 2 ranked Open team, from the Olympic Club, Geoff Capell and yours truly (Jeff Capell). The gallery was packed, and spectators were hanging through the sidewall window, in the upper right hand corner of the court. Besides the usual cast of characters watching, two SFPD leaders were present. Both handball players, they were Police Chief Don Scott, and Deputy Police Chief, and Hall of Famer, Bill Keays. The games had gone on for over two hours, and everything that could have happened in a grueling match, had. Paul Haber, despite his unmatched skill, was always scorned and ridiculed, for his awful on court behavior. The verbal abuse he usually received was fuel for his game, and the South End crowd just added to the fire. During the match he had yelled at spectators, argued with the referee, and insulted almost everyone else, and the crowd members were in a frenzy, and actually were screaming their support for the "enemy Olympic Club Team." With the games tied at one and one, and during the short break between the second and third game, two San Francisco police officers entered the Club and approached Haber, who was at the bar, having a beer and smoking a cigarette. They served him with an arrest warrant, (I won’t say what the charges were), and started to escort him out. The crowd was not going to let them take him away, To the crowds disappointed, and ours, Haber prevailed in that "tiebreaker" 21-19. Haber was immediately taken away, showerless, but with another title to his credit. Even with all the theatrics, Haber’s on court behavior towards his opponents was usually good. There were no blocks, double bounces, or personal insults, unless he didn’t like you! Just another great weekend of handball entertainment at the South End. Submitted by Jay Capell 18 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Wayne's Way: Mike Treacy the Ultimate HoFer … WaynesWay_2015-08-09 Golden Gate Park, San Francisco“GGP_pt.deux” WaynesWay staff doesn't get out to handball tournaments much anymore. We find hypothesizing on the mental aspects of handball much more thought provoking. EA Sports is currently in negotiations with us for WayneWay_2015_Rollout Tournament. Could xBox and ps4 be the next handball bastian with courts vanishing faster than the polar ice cap? We haven't even attended a HoF tournament or banquet in ages. Shoulder and elbow rubbing is always great fun at these star studded affairs. I once got to talk with Steve Evart, the only fella to build a 3-wall court in Castro Valley/bay area, he extolled fascinating tales of aliens in gamma quadrant or laser beam tech to battle the martians. I don't think enough got waxed about one of the truly great masters of the black orb and HoF status. Yes he was a blackball player, and did not play much with the new blue one in the late 70s-early 80s when it was intro'd. I once heard Mike Kelly say that the new blue ball was just a piece of plastic, terrible, in that Kelly drawl. Most players today could not tell you that they have ever witnessed this mysterious ghost of HB lore(No, not Mike Kelly). The so far unnamed player could massage and manipulate a handball like no one you may ever see again. If you were lucky enough to watch Mike Treacy launch into a serve, your mouth had to be closed manually with both hands. Oh, come on, really? Just listen grasshopper! The Great Mike Treacy at the Golden Gate Park Handball Courts WaynesWay, before he had a staff or a Way, arrived at Golden Gate Park in 1978. Anyone that was hooked on handball, this is the equivalent of arriving at Haight/ Ashbury(not far from the courts) to get an LSD prescription from Dr. Timothy Leary. Dr. Timothy Leary As a D class player sitting in the stands at GGP and watching in awe at the variety of talent, and listening to stories of Mike Treacy, Mike Kelly, Eddie Coleman, and Gary Ryan were the most entertaining. I can't remember how long it was before I actually saw the legend everyone talked about, but it was memorable. Paul Haber with Gary Ryan, GGPark Great I was playing Mike Carlisle(circa 1978-9?), a competent B player, on the B court at GGP, and The Magician(his most common nickname) tapped on the glass to call winners. That is how games unfolded at the park, violent affairs played at tournament fury that resulted in the loser sitting out or going home because the wait was interminable. Go home, have lunch, and return for the cocktail show maybe. I thought, I've got to win this game so I can play The Magician. This is like getting to be in the same room with the Dalai Lama in a Nepalese cave. Cool and nerve racking all in one. I won the game, whew, then Mike walks in the court! If you ever looked him square in the face, he has eyes that say something to effect that he knows what you are going to hit before you think it. He looks right through you, and is mesmerizingly hypnotic. I think he went easy on me, because I got 8 points, no really, I'm not fudging like I usually do. Ok, that was not the punchline, that I lost and got a whopping 8 points. Maybe he hypnotized me and told me I got 8 points. Somewhere during the first few points he hit a ball off the backwall towards the left corner, and I had a pretty good D level lefthand backwall kill. I struck the backwall shot and thought to myself, ooh, 19 Wayne's Way: Mike Treacy the Ultimate HoFer … (cont.) take that you ghostly magician. I knew it was gold somewhere very low to the left side of the front wall. Hey, what the....!? Mike is standing closer to the front wall than anyone I have ever seen before. He Google mapped my game before google was invented. He is so far past the serve area I could have lobbed it over his head for a winner. Good guess Mike. Somewhere just a bit later in the game, he hits me the same leftside backwall shot. I'll show him, I'm going so downtown bottomboard on this bad boy. Come on, seriously, I think he could have been leaning against the front wall when he rekilled my flat kill. He's in my head, get out of there! He's crushing me with ridiculous court position. Part three happens sometime in the latter part of the game. He hits me the same backwall to the left AGAIN. The WaynesWay computer was smoking by now, what the heck do I hit now? Lower is somewhere into some wood. I went for the Vern Roberts Ace Handball Magazine Vpass on the right wall. Where's Mike, he's in lawn chair two feet from the front wall on the left side. Damn, he was going to change my game to his will. There is a lesson here. Probably the most famous match Mike Treacy ever played was NOT his doubles National Final in Vegas with Mike Kelly. I think this duo was the first Nor. Cal. players team to make the doubles National Championship. Stories say that Vegas did them in, and those stories stayed there. Someday I want them stories. Players for years talked about the money match between Mike Kelly and Mike Treacy, which probably had more spectators than the Nationals in Vegas, for $100. I think that is over a $1000 in 2015 money. I believe Mike Kelly won the match by a point. What a hop fest that must have been. They didn't know how to hit a straight ball. Championship pool players hitting masse shots on every shot. Look up masse. After my first lesson against Mike Treacy, I probably did not play him again for another year at GGP, so I was quite a bit better by then, and had seen some of the other hop masters at GGP. Hopefully I could improve on my 8 points from the previous round. The game progressed, and I was doing better, but realized I was still out-classed. About half way through, I noticed that he was dialing up the torture to another level. I gotta dig in. Mike hits a serve from the right side of the service box to the middle of the court. Normally this is not a dangerous place to hit a serve or return one. But if you ever saw Mike serve, you knew that his violent gyration with 100% of his body behind it, was an ominous thing. Well, this one looked like he put nuclear power into it. I twisted to hit this with my left hand. The ball went from the middle line down the court 90% to the left side wall, not the backwall! Holy **** Batman how do I return this? The Magician had done something with mirrors or smoke or something not earthly. Was he worried about the more-than-8points I was getting? That was maybe my only hope at a moral victory, getting a King Cobra to even acknowledge me as a threat. This is where the story gets better. Better than a serve that defies human logic and physics? Yes, beer breath! As the ball is heading to the leftsidewall, I think I can retrieve it, foolishly. I don't believe I got within 6 feet of it. I'm not kidding! I stood up from an all out prone dive through the air at fruitlessness, and looked down at my Converse tennis shoes. I had ripped right through the side of my right shoe. All the way out of my shoe, and not just a toe or two! My whole foot was out of the shoe. I had to borrow Renard Perucho's(only one that had a 13) tennis shoe to finish my demoralizing match. I cannot remember the score because the SERVE over-wrote any other memory of this event. Well, that must be all the Mike stories we have, NOT!! Mike had backwall killshots with both hands that also broke all laws of human body movement. We marvel at David Chapman or Gary Beaver backwall kills for being able get their hand down to the floor. Gary Beaver Mike took the backwall to a new low with the same the violent twisting and turning while 20 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Wayne's Way: Mike Treacy the Ultimate HoFer …(cont.) sweeping off dust cleaner than a broom. Mike not only got his hand to the floor, his elbow would nearly bang the wood surface. The left hand kill went to the right corner, and the right went to the left, with either backwall kills or regular kills. Now if you stole his theory of getting close to the front wall when he had a backwall, he just hit the ball over or by you. Eyes in back of head? The corner kill was devastating and you needed to cover it when the trade mark arm went up over his head. Yes, he could roll it out from over his head too. If only I had some more Treacy lore to pass on. Wait we just found a lost folder in the archives. Here it is. I think at this point it is interesting to note that I saw Mike Treacy, sometimes called The Ghost(ghosts were seen more often) too, only a handful of times, ever, to come up with these amazing tales of orbness. Mysterious people need their mystique in tact. These other worldly experiences do not come from hundreds of sightings, but less than ten in total. That is amazing in itself. Almost every Mike Treacy sighting comes with a jaw dropping story. I think I had finally made it to the C level doubles at a Sacramento Open one year, maybe 1979, and Mike was entered in a tough field that included a National Open winner of Cliff McCorkle and Kevin Soulies. Kevin Soulies That was the finals by the way, with Kevin winning easily in two games. My thought of that match, someday I want to be able to roll out backwall kills from a foot of the floor in any back corner like Kevin did, wow. OK, back to Mike, I don't know who he lost to, but he didn't win the tournament. Kevin said he never played Mike, so I'm guessing Cliff beat him. Frank Chavez(HoF'er) and I were watching the Magician tackle a local Sact'o player in the second round that looked like he had two hands coming off the pro tour, Angel Muela. Frank and I were the only two to witness what was again something physicists have been unable to duplicate to this day in a lab with million dollar equipment, seriously! Mike is serving from the far leftside of the box. I don't remember him doing this often either. Angel is standing in the middle of the court to receive something he's never seen before. Mike uncorks a body whirling serve to Angel's right. To beyond his right arm! Angel takes one big step to hit the ball with his right arm. Neither Frank or I could speak for several seconds after what unfolds. Angel is sure of his swing and is ready to unleash, and he had a strong arm too. The serve lands on the floor beyond his body, and completely changes direction to the middle of the court. Read last sentence two more times. Those of you doing the math on this, get your T-squares and triangles out, and I think you will agree with the WaynesWay Pythagorian theorem, we witnessed a 120% hop from the hardest angle to achieve such physics defying hops. This ball went away from its natural flight path to the right and went left against its natural momentum. The other boggling fact, Angel did try to put his left on it, and wasn't even close!!! It was like someone on the right caught it and threw it 120% left?! After a considerate amount of morning for poor Angel, I looked at Frank Chavez and said, "Did you just see what I saw?", and all he could mutter was, "YES". No one has ever, in my knowledge performed the ultimate handball magic trick. The Penn and Teller Show would send him to Vegas and declare him the magic finals winner after one one act. Penn wouldn't even confer with Teller and say, "We don't know how you did it!" Mike actually told me once, and it requires using your entire hand to pull off the trick. Is that it? NO!, but we are close to the end. A match I never witnessed is also famous among the park crowd for containing one of the gutsiest park shots of all time. As the story goes, Mike Treacy and Billy "Bottomboard" Wyrsch were batlling in the open finals at the OC. I don't know what the title was. Billy Wyrsch It is a knockdown drag out battle to the bitter end of a three sets of 21. 21 Wayne's Way: Mike Treacy the Ultimate HoFer …(cont.) Yes, real men played marathons to 21 points for three games. To make this short, it is 20-20 in the third game and Billy has hit a low drive to the left deep corner to hopefully get the serve back. As much as I like the park shots mind numbing power with its 3-wall angle kill, sometimes it is not advised. Mike did not heed the laws of low averages in any part of his game. Mike took this decent drive to the left corner and immediately did the unthinkable, hit it into the left sidewall. What is he doing!? The ball rockets over to the front rightwall a foot from frontwall down low, and then kisses the frontwall going sideways away from a diving Billy. Game, match, champion, done. We are near the last of my candle waxing endeavors. This story comes via the Quail Lakes Club in Stockton, circa 1979. I'm pretty sure this is around my initial year or two of GGP playing and still a Z player. Hey, I'm getting closer to the C's again as time goes by. So I had obviously lost my matches whatever they were, and wandered down to the glass court to watch the Magician play in the open finals. This is the first time I got to see another future HoF'er, Jerry "killshot" Fagundes. HoFer Jerry Fagundes I had never seen Mike play in a tournament at this point. I was in for a treat. To this day, Jerry may agree, it was one of his worst defeats. I believe he scored 3 points the first game. I was glued to glass in utter shock. I don't remember Jerry scoring only three against anyone ever, to this day. He had tough matches with everyone from Rick Christian on down the line. Rick Christian Now think back to the story about the foot coming out of the shoe. Mike does not serve one ball to Jerry's right side, what a sportsman. Well, yes and no, after you see what happened. He served every ball in the middle to left side, with 90% hop inducing directions. Jerry would lean left and sometimes the ball would pass him down the middle. Sometimes he would wait for the hop, and it was already disappearing into the left wall. I played Jerry three times, and I think if you added up the points it could go either way for the most total points. In fact if you had to pick a guy to watch at a tournament, it would be Mike or Jerry. Both are the most amazing. Mike went on to win that next game and the match, but you could also see Mike dial it down a notch. You don't dial it down a notch against Jerry. He'd run ten points on you if you try coasting. Mike could do that though. You watch handball enough and there are memories that you cannot sledgehammer out of your head. Other than these stories here, I've seen Mike Treacy only a few other times, either playing or watching. So what is that, 75% of what you see from a guy is HoF stories that are over the top great. I'd have to think hard who could muster up an array novels this deep in the universe of handball. The Ghost or Magician, was special. I just had an interesting thought. He never trained, and was one of the best in the world. I have no doubt he also could have taken his magic act out to three wall or one wall and blown the no-wall doors off of the best guys playing that game during his day. I did not even get to see him before 1978-9 to see how much more awesome he was then. The park is quiet now and no one has stories other than the raccoons clattering around on the roof. Do it WaynesWay, and put a hop in your step. Stay tuned for GGP_pt.Trois(3) Handball helps keep me youthful and relevant ☺ 22 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Great Matches Remembered ... Columbus, OhioPerhaps the most technically perfect match was at a three wall National Tournament. I was in Columbus Ohio in one of the two years (72 & 73) before the Toledo crowd took things over. I think it was in the quarter finals in the Open. Paul Haber vs Steve Sandler. Both just a tad past their prime. But, they put on a clinic. Sandler had beaten Wally Ulbrict very easily - just always kept him moving in the previous round (Wally often played with Joel Wisotsky or Fred Munch or John Sabo and was a multi time winner of the Open 3-Wall. Steve had help from Wally who kept trying to pass Steve --- translated - he hit everything to Steve on a fly. You do NOT do that to a one wall player, especially perhaps the best one wall player of all time - Sorry Joe (Durso). Perhaps with that in mind, Haber hit EVERY ball to Sandler on a bounce. This allowed Haber to control the rallies. Sandler got one point in two games. Steve looked like he went into shock at the end of the match. What a rout! San FranciscoIn 2nd place were two matches that took place in successive years at The Olympic Club. They were for our Open Singles Championship in the early nineties and featured Al Sandoval and Jon Kendler. Paul Haber Jon Kendler I called them the "Alamo Matches." By that I mean -everyone kinda felt that Jon had too much for Al and he did. Jon was younger, faster stronger, and probably ranked # 1 in the world around then. Al matched him toe to toe scoring between 14 and 18 points a game. The rallies were exquisite to watch, a chess match really. Although Al was inevitably dragged over the edge of the cliff, those matches made me think that maybe, just maybe Al should play left side when he and I played our "Hennessy" doubles matches Friday afternoons against Jay Capell and Vic Aissa. Submitted by Bernie Samet Scott Sandler Al Sandoval 23 Circa 1904 … Women in Handball 24 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2nd Annual "Handball in Golden Gate Park" Fun Day San FranciscoGreat day at the park. We had 20 players show up. Olympic Club members Dean Crispen and Bob Del Torre organized the annual event. Everyone played several games during the day then enjoyed a great BBQ. Players from the South End, San Mateo Elks, Petaluma Club, and Santa Rosa Club showed up. About 50 people who were visiting the park walked in through out the day and watched the games. Submitted by Bob Deltorre 25 2015 Inductee as Player: David Wyrsch defeated Poncho Monreal 21-9,19-21,11-5 to become the 19-andunder Junior National Champion. I can still remember that day, it was one of the greatest shooting days I have ever seen. I remember how sweaty Dad and I were and how proud my Dad was of David. If you were playing great, Dad would say, "That’s my Son playing just like me." If you missed a shot Dad would say, "That is not my son. He is adopted, I was overseas." David Wyrsch 2015 NorCal Hall-OfFame Inductee Dave Wyrsch is a Bay Area legend who dominated NorCal handball for 20 years from 1982 to 2001. He made it to the Pro level, and was ranked as high as No.5 on the Spaulding/Gatorade Pro Tour. In his prime Dave had wins over the best players of his day such as John Bike Jr, Poncho Monreal, Fred Lewis, Vern Roberts, Rick Christian, Eric Klarman, Randy Morones, David Steinberg, and Richard Lopez. David started playing handball at the age of 5. Our Dad (Howie) would take David to the South End Rowing Club every Saturday and Sunday. David played Freddie Stadlberger or Lennart Delatorre. You could see he had natural talent. He was lucky he inherited my Mother’s left hand. Sometimes he would play older players, George the Waiter and Jean Parrett with a racquetball. Dad took David to all the tournaments. During timeouts David would run on the court with his kneepads and eye guards on and start hitting the ball. All the fans would cheer for David and boo the players when they tried to come back. Every year you could see him getting stronger. In 1980, David teamed up with his dad Howie to win 1st place at the "Father and Son" Handball tournament at the South End Rowing Club. As he got older he was winning all the tournaments. Then came the Jr. Nationals, he had won the 17’s already. In the 19’s, my brother Howie Jr., my sister Noreen, Dad and me told David if he trained really hard and won we would all chip in and buy him a Chevy Camaro that he had his eyes on. David, never much of a trainer, trained really hard and beat Poncho Monreal in three games. It was 1983 in Burlingame, California, Dave In the 1986 National Collegiates, Dave faced the future USHA HoFer John Bike Jr. The match was played at the University of Berkeley (California) and Dave defeated John 21-2,21-2 to earn the Men's "A" National Collegiate Champion title. David’s great nemesis was Rick Christian. When David was still young and coming up, Rick would work David over. Dave's breakthrough came in 1985 when David was 21 years old beating the great Rick Christian in the Santa Cruz Suntan Singles 21-15, (12-21), 11-1. Once David beat Rick you knew there was a new king on the court. David’s most devastating loss was in the NorCal Doubles against Joe 26 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Inductee as Player: David Wyrsch (cont.) McDonald and me. David was playing with Lennart Delatorre. Before the match Al Delatorre was interviewing David and Lennart for The Scoop. They said we were a bunch of Twinkies and then they lost the match. [From Pro David Steinberg] "A bit more history for David Wyrsch, he and I qualified in a Pro doubles event in Tuscon, 1986, coming from behind against John Bike and Gordie Pfeiffer, down 17-3 in second, Wyrsch goes nutz flattening every shot to win 21-17 11-8." In 1987 Dave qualified for the Pro Tour beating No.2 seed Vern Roberts in Round-of-16, Jon Kendler in Quarters, and was just edged out in the Semi's by Poncho Monreal 11-7 in the tiebreaker. Also in this year David teamed up with John Bike Jr and made it to the finals of the US Nationals Doubles in Baltimore, Maryland losing by only 5 points in the tiebreaker to Jon Kendler/Poncho Monreal (11-21),21-9,116. Dave was involved in the toughest draws ever seen in NorCal. One epic battle took place in 1988 at the "NCHA Hall of Fame Doubles" on the famous wooden courts of the Olympic Club. Dave's matches were: - Quarters: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Mike Dunne Jr/Rich Dunne. - Semis: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Don Chamberlin/Jon Kendler 11-10 tiebreak. - Finals: David Wyrsch/John Bike d. Jaimie Paredes/Richard Lopez 21-8, 21-15. Dave won numerous NCHA Regionals Open Titles, California State Championships, at least six NorCal Hall-of-Fame Doubles, and overall captured an incredible 40+ Open Titles winning in Singles and Doubles divisions. He won at the SoS/Modesto Memorial, the San Jose Labor Day, the Park Point Turkey Shoot, the Sacramento Open, the Santa Cruz Suntan Singles, Chabot College, and the San Mateo Elk Lodge's Top Gun to name a few. Special thanks go out to Joe McDonald for sponsoring all the Juniors back then. He gave gloves and uniforms to all the kids. Thanks Joe! David lives in Ft. Myers, Florida with his girlfriend Mila. David is a certified tennis instructor in his free time. In ending this story, I wish my Mom, Pat and Dad Howie were here to see David inducted into the Hall of Fame. I would have loved to have had my Dad on stage with me so we could have made fun of David together. "May your next shot be a kill shot". Submitted by Billy Wyrsch 27 2015 Inductee as Player: Al Sandoval Monreal, and made it to the finals in the Open, losing to David Steinberg 21-16 and 21-18. Al Sandoval Olympic Club Al began his career following in his older brother Carlos' footsteps. Being a threesport star, at Westmore High School, he saw his first tournament, at the Olympic Club. It was the Hall of Fame gathering in 1977. To quote Al, "I was watching a B group and Carlos said, Al come over and watch these guys." It happened to be the Capell brothers playing against Henry Chaparro and Bob Brady. At that moment, he was hooked. He played his first games at Golden Gate Park and was tortured by many of the Park veterans. What could be more fun then abusing a beginner? It probably was here, that he became the intense, never say die competitor that I have known for years. Al joined the San Mateo Elks and fell under the tutelage of Hall of Famer, Howie Wyrsch. Knowing Howie's "kind and gentle approach," Al became even tougher, and carried this "attitude" for the rest of his career. After several years of playing at the Elks, and continuing his "initiation" at the Park, Al joined the Olympic Club in 1981. He breezed through the lower classes and became an Open Player quickly, competing against many of the Olympic Club greats, such as Jon Kendler, David Wyrsch, Chris Tico, Dean Crispen, and many others. Victories at St Patrick's, Cinco, Memorial Day tournaments and a host of other events polished his game for future National runs. In 1988 he played in his first big tournament, a pro stop in Santa Rosa. He fought his way to the quarters where he beat the current number two pro Vince Munoz, 21-20 and 21-20. He lost in the semis to the current National champion Naty Alvarado. That year, at the Nationals in Berkeley, he entered both the Pro Division and the Open. He lost in the 4th round Pro Division to Poncho His later career included four National titles. Two National YMCA titles, one in singles and one doubles in 1994, and two USHA Master Double's titles in North Carolina and New Mexico. In his New Mexico run, he beat Fred Lewis in the doubles finals. Lewis later commented that, "Al's performance was the best exhibition of two handed offensive handball, that I have ever competed against." Al's career was cut short by continuing serius back issues. Had it not been for this, many more victories surely would have followed. Lately, he has donated numerous hours, of his personal time, teaching young players at the Olympic Club. It was my privilege to play against Al for many years, every "Hennessey Friday." For 10 years he dominated our game. He was a great player, great competitor, and even a better person. Congratulations Al, you are a true Hall of Famer! Submitted by Jay Capell 28 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Inductee as Contributor: Roy Bukstein Gene Craft, Joe Thomas and Landon Curry. He played every day at the Gregory Gym; it did wonders for his game. Roy Bukstein Biography Roy Bukstein’s first exposure to handball was at age ten when he found treasures in his dad’s closet, an old black "Ace" Handball and some crusty old gloves. He asked his father what were these "things", and his father explained the game of handball to him. Roy was raised in South East Missouri in the little town of Cap Girardeau, and went to Central High School, graduating in 1971. He preferred tennis to getting hit on the football field. After high school graduation, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, but only for one year. He spent the summer between his freshman and sophomore year of college in Dallas, Texas. He quickly decided that Dallas was the place to be, so he transferred to Southern Methodist University (SMU) where he started playing handball seriously. According to Roy, the coaches were always fun to play, and he would always have a game. After graduating from SMU, he worked for a year. Roy stayed in the Lone Star state where he attended the University of Texas graduate business school earning his masters in accounting. In Austin, he met up with handball greats Pete Tyson, In 1978 he married and because his wife lived on the West Coast, they moved to Northern California. He was the 12th hire at Larry Elison’s newly formed company Oracle, and was their first CFO. Because of his workload and raising a family, he didn’t play handball for over fifteen years; in fact, he didn’t do anything but work. His wife told him to get a life, and that led him back to the courts. Hillsborough was close to the San Mateo Elks and The Olympic Club, so he joined both clubs, two of course being better than one. He had won several tournaments, once slamming at The Olympic Club winning both the "A" singles and doubles. His big claim to fame though, and something very few people have ever done, is he beat the current number two world ranked handball player Emmett Peixoto. There is a little side note to this story, he did it in a "B" tournament when Emmett was only 11 years old, BUT STILL very, very impressive. The transition to becoming a top contributor came very innocently. When you are super hyper (Type A), having been raised by a mother who never could sit still, love the game of handball, want to give back, and can not say NO, it was a no brainer. He fell victim. Roy was asked to help out at the Northern California Regionals Handball Tournament held at Joe McDonald’s Royal Racquet Club, and was forever hooked. He then took over as treasurer of the Northern California Handball Association in 1999, and when asked to moved up the line to president in 2004, he accepted, and was, and still is, part of that on-going handball contributing history. Anyone who participated in Northern California handball tournaments from 2000 to 2010 has probably met Roy. He was the guy always "hawking" you to join the NCHA. Roy is the ultimate giver. He took over the Northern California Handball Association when there was very little going on. There were a lot of qualified people who were just too busy to give back. Roy dug in and quickly brought the association back, but at a 29 2015 Inductee as Contributor: Roy Bukstein (cont.) big price: he got burnt out doing everything himself. He painfully endured and finally, with a recent push for more participation by the membership, people responded and things started looking up. Roy survived, and so did our association, probably for the better. Roy has always believed that you have to give back to something that has done so much for you. You want others, especially those coming up, to have the same or better benefits and rewards that the perfect game of handball has given. He believes that giving back is: promoting handball, running tournaments and play days, raising money for youth programs, and getting kids to tournaments. It’s about writing, communicating, recruiting, donating, organizing, and that is what Roy has done and is still doing. Roy loves handball and everything about it. According to Roy, handball is about the friendships, the competition, being able to hit the ball with both hands equally, it’s about sweating with your buddies, and it’s about really getting to know players especially in defeat. It’s physical, using all parts of the body, and it’s about the adrenaline rush before, during, and after. It’s the perfect game. Roy is head and shoulders above his peers. He has been involved with the NCHA as treasurer, secretary and president (sometimes all at the same time), for over 14 years. He is still in the trenches, we being the lucky ones. But Roy’s most endearing quality, as far as I’m concerned, is his ability to listen, and that my friends is a breath of fresh air now-a-days, the true formula for success. Thanks Roy for all you do for handball, and congratulations on being inducted in the Northern California Handball Hall Of Fame. Submitted by Geoff Capell 30 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles Tournament and “Dennis Moser Invitational” Men’s Open Finals: Erik Torres, Loren Collado, Nacio Delgado, Luis Bustos Men’s A Finals: Sean Haley, Alex Tico, Albert Negrete, Gabriel Negrete Men’s B Finals: Matt Davey, Tom Aller, Randy Witte, Lars Rustman, San Mateo- The annual handball bash/party at the San Mateo Elks Lodge happened once again on a sunny weekend July 11-12th. The tourney is also referred to as the Dennis Moser Invitational in respect to one of their handball legends and Hall-of-Famer (’08) who passed away on New Year’s Day, 2015. Players came from all over NorCal ... Santa Rosa, Fresno, Granite Bay, San Jose, and San Francisco. There's nothing like balling at an Elk’s Lodge. A glorified ManCave (a good thing), guys can relax on worn out coaches, drink & spill adult beverages, gnaw on grilled meats (including dry rub ribs) from Frank Vasquez's Texas Barbeque, and watch players square off and pound the ball into rubber dust in one grueling match after another. For those that ventured outside, the sounds of swimming, laughs from the nearby Cantina grill/bar, and a warm breeze made it tough to get into warrior mode beware of the distractions of summer, or you can easily be booted out of the tourney and finish the day refereeing matches. Actually, is that so bad?! A brief look at some of the action: Mens Open's: The 1st round pitted Mike McDonald/Jessie Ward against Mike's long time sparring partner Lennart DeLaTorre/Coleman McGrath. First of all, did someone lose a bet to pit 2 powerhouses against each other in the 1st round? It was a tremendous battle of course, great for the fans, with Mike directing traffic for his partner Jesse "I got da' legs" Ward like the great 50's player Johnny Sloan "The General". Of course the match came down to a tiebreak. Of course it also came down to 10-10. It went back and forth a couple times, but Mike/Jesse got rewarded with the win. In the Semi's, a valiant effort got McDonald/ Ward close to victory in game two, but an athletic Luis Bustos, and a fresh Nacio Delgado kept the pressure cooker lid on tight. in a fantastic rally, Jesse got a clear shot at a game winning kill. But if it was not a McDonald rollout, Luis was digging them back, and he flipped back a soft pass, with reverse, down the left to elude the speedy Ward. Match to Luis/ Nacio. 31 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles (cont.) Men’s 50 Finals: Ray Graham, Tom McGrath, Tom Fitzwater, Mike Linnik Luis Bustos, Albert Negrete, Nacio Delgado, Gabriel Negrete In the Final's .. a confident team of Loren Collado and Erik Torres played most of the 1st game in 2 gear against the somewhat weary team of Bustos/ Delgado. Collado was serving and killing the ball flat, allowing his partner Erik to work the ball around the court which kept Nacio/Luis guessing as to where to stand and where to place the ball. Erik has an easy but explosive wrist snap that can send a ball into a corner kill or a screaming pass. As the Nacio/Luis team pressed, Loren and Erik continued to elevate their game, tightening the passes, and lowering the kills. On what seemed to be a great kill by Nacio that got re-killed by an even greater kill by Erik, all Nacio could do was stand and smile at the Pro Torres and concede to the next generation of superstar players. Collado/Torres won easily in two games to become the 2015 TOP GUNS CHAMPIONS!! Men's A's Loren Collado, Raul Jasso, Erik Torres, Adam Gonzales Mens A's is always a slugfest ... the 2015 version was no different. Pitting hard-hitting Alex Tico/Sean Haley versus San Jose's Albert Negrete/Gabriel Negrete. Alex is fearless when sizing up a killshot, regardless of degree of difficulty. Sean had a nice balanced game, and can hit the floor and keep a rally alive with the best of them. But Albert is an intelligent playmaker, constantly adjusting the strategy. His partner Gabriel used to train MMA, had a bad muscle pull, yet fought through it to play inspired handball. Tiebreak? Of course. 1010? Expect anything else? The steady play of the San Joseans carried them to victory and the Top Gun Men's "A" title. Mens 50's: Want another tiebreak? Sunday battles were fierce, and the 50's were no exception. The 2015 Men's 60's National Doubles Champion Tom Fitzwater joined forces with Mike Linnik to face Tom McGrath and Ray Graham. Great rallies, lots of pounding by Graham, finesse shots by Tom Fitzwater, fist wraps by Linnik, and sharp killshots by McGrath peppered each rally. In the tiebreak, the constant pressure and pace of the shots gave McGrath/Graham the edge and the victory. Men's 70's: One more tiebreak! Bob Braine is b-a-c-k after a small hiatus, and coupled with the fierce play of the athletic Jerry Schiffman, faced off against Tom 32 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles (cont.) Ricci and Tom McGee. The seeds held as Braine/Schiffman won the tiebreak 11-4 against the speedy and agile Ricci/McGee. Scores: Men's Open Doubles: Round-of-16: Raul Jasso/Adam Gonzales d. Steve Chen/Rene Lopez 2118,21-17; Mike McDonald/Jesse Ward d. Tom McGee Jr/Oscar Aviles 21-14,21-7. Quarter-finals: Erik Torres/Loren Collado d. Jasso/Gonzales 218,21-0; Raphael Mascorro/Joel d. Alex Tico/Sean Haley 2113,21-15; Atanacio Delgado/Luis Bustos d. Albert Negrete/Gabriel Negrete 21-12,21-20; Lennart Delatorre/ Coleman McGrath d. McDonald/Ward 2112,(19-21),11-10. Semi-finals: Torres/Collado d. Mascorro/Joel 21-15,216; Delgado/Bustos d. McDonald/Ward 216,21-20. Finals: Erik Torres/Loren Collado d. Atanacio Delgado/ Luis Bustos 21-12,21-8. Men's A Doubles: Semi-finals: Alex Tico/Sean Haley d. Tom McGee Jr/Oscar Aviles 21-15,21-13; Albert Negrete/Gabriel Negrete d. Steve Chen/ Rene Lopez 21-19,21-6. Finals: Albert Negrete/Gabriel Negrete d. Alex Tico/ Sean Haley 21-12,(1821),11-10. Men's B Doubles: Quarter-finals: Richard Perez/Kyle Knapp d. Tom Aller/ Randy Witte 21-15,21-19; Tom Brunette/John Stelmach d. Clyde Minter/Julio Fabien 213,21-6; Travis Poindexter/ John Field d. Lars Rustman/Matt Davey 21-10,21-17; George Mendiola/Mauricio Jiminez d. Mark Haskell/ Betty Fabien 21-11,21-10. Semi-finals: Perez/Knapp d. Brunette/Stelmach (1321),21-11,11-2; Mendiola/Jiminez d. Poindexter/Field 21-7,2110. Finals: Richard Perez/Kyle Knapp d. George Mendiola/Mauricio Jiminez (6-21),21-17,11-1. Men's C Doubles: Semi-finals: Tom Aller/Randy Witte d. Clyde Minter/Julio Fabien 21-10,(10-21),1110; Lars Rustman/Matt Davey d. Mark Haskell/ Betty Fabien 21-12,21-19. Finals: Tom Aller/Randy Witte d. Lars Rustman/Matt Davey 21-14,21-4. Men's 50+ Doubles: Quarter-finals: Francis Breining/Jim Silla d. Frank Vasquez/Rory Moore 21-15,21-12; Ron Strausbaugh/Mike Barna d. Artie Ward/Lou Barberini 21-10,21-15; Tom McGrath/Ray Graham d. Augie Herrera/David Kennedy 21-11,21-20. Semi-finals: Mike Linnik/Tom Fitzwater d. Breining/Silla 21-13,(5-21),11-10; McGrath/Graham d. Strausbaugh/Barna. Finals: Tom McGrath/Ray Graham d. Mike Linnik/Tom Fitzwater 217,(16-21),11-4. Men's 60+ Doubles: Quarter-finals: Billy Wyrsch/Ed Campbell d. Dennis O'Donnell/Dave Balestrieri 21-10,21-9; Mike Rodriguez/Roberto Chavez d. Roy Bukstein/ Julio Monge 21-9,21-12; Rene Collado/Steve Williams d. Paul Casale/ Isaac Burns 21-7,(821),11-0; Frank Lazzaretto/Martin Arredondo d. Randy Badler/Tom Capen 2118,(18-21),11-6. Semi-finals: Wyrsch/Campbell d. Rodriguez/Chavez 2112,21-8; Lazzaretto/ Arredondo d. Collado/ Williams. Finals: Billy Wyrsch/Ed Campbell d. Frank Lazzaretto/Martin Arredondo . Men's 70+ Doubles: Quarter-finals: Bob Braine/Jerry Schiffman d. GP Van Vraken/Bill Gilbert 214,21-0; Jay Latona/Gary Zackovitch d. Joe Pearce/Dave Rios (2021),21-15,11-4; Mike Dunne Sr/Dick Keltner d. Sheldon Sugarman/Larry Miller 215,21-9; Tom Ricci/Tom McGee d. Tom O'Donnell/ Bernie Dulburg 21-7,21-9. Semi-finals: Braine/Schiffman d. Latona/Zackovitch (2021),21-18,11-5; Ricci/ McGee d. Dunne Sr/ Keltner 21-2,21-20. Finals: Bob Braine/Jerry Schiffman d. Tom Ricci/Tom McGee 2117,(13-21),11-4. Submitted by The Scoop Larry Gerrman works nonstop at The Desk 2015 HoF Inductee Roy Bukstein helping run matches 33 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles (cont.) Tom Fitzwater Sean Haley Raphael Moscorro, Joel, Alex Tico Michael Fabien, Tom McGrath, Coleman McGrath Julio Fabien and Adam Gonzales Jesse Ward and Billy Wyrsch Maxine Strausbaugh Jesse Ward and Erik Torres Loren Collado Steve Williams Jim Silla and Sue Crothers Mike McDonald and Artie Ward Alex Tico and Sean Haley 34 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles (cont.) Sheldon “Shel” Sugarman, aka ‘Beer Dude’ Jerry Schiffman Bob Braine, Jay Latona, Gary Zakovitch, Jerry Schiffman Gary Zakovitch Mike Dunne Sr and Steve Williams Mike McDonald, Luis Bustos, Nacio Delgado Frank Vasquez BBQ Margo Zakovitch Nacio Delgado, Mike McDonald, Loren Collado, Luis Bustos Steve Chen Larry Miller, Dick Keltner, Mike Dunne Sr, Sheldon Sugarman Cheryl McDonald 35 40th Annual Top Gun Handball Doubles (cont.) Ray Graham, Nacio Delgado Somehow Big Ball broke out at a Small Ball Tourney Billy Wyrsch (left) in the Men’s 60’s. Mike McDonald and Artie Ward/Tournament Director 36 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament StocktonOn a beautiful summer day on July 18th a "Small Ball" tourney broke out in "Big Ball" country, the brain child of Inshape's club Handball Manager Angel Hernandez. The invite went out and the response was overwhelming ... some of NorCal's finest Open players were coming to Stockton! Gabe Delao (left) and Mike Ramirez (right) congratulate the Men’s Open Champs “Lefty” Suarez & Isidro Garcia Tourney directors congratulate Raul Jasso and Danny Solorio on winning the Men’s “A” Doubles. Pro Erik Torres and Big Ball "Commish" Nacio Delgado clashed with tournament directors Gabe Delao/Mike Ramirez ... National Champ Luis Bustos and a tough lefty Jeremy Lasater squared off against Fresno standout Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano and Hugo Lopez ... veteran Raul Jasso and Danny Solorio squared off against Sac Open Finalist Paul Delao and ballcrusher Adam Gonzles ... finally Fresno players Sam Olivares an Chuck Riojas had to face current 2015 National 40's Champion Arturo "Lefty" Suarez and the talented 3-wall baller Isidro Garcia. No where to hide in the Open/A. Game on, if you weren't ready, you were crushed, pounded, wrapped up, and dropped into the referee's chair to call the next round. B/C was just as competitive as Big Ball players showed off their Small Ball skills and refused to be beaten. With 21 point games, and Games 2 out of 3, players were getting great matches and knew that this format truly rewarded the players with the strongest legs, freshest arms, and best teamwork. The showcase court at InShape is a great venue for the fans, but the challenges to the players quickly separated the wannabe's from the more skilled players. From the dark glass, the slick side walls, the crazy bits of carpentry that made for crazy back wall bounces, and the front wall logo's that camouflaged the balls, Court # 1 demanded the best out of the players. The Hawaiian BBQ came in at 1pm, which helped fuel the players to finish the day strong. That combined with the 80's music (Elton John, Boy George) gave the tourney a relax-and-chill feel that helped offset the epic battles happening inside the courts. Lots of tournament directors came out and pitched their upcoming tourneys ... Sam Olivares from Fresno (the Fresno Open is August 1st/2nd), Everettt Leon Guerro/John Field from Modesto, u 37 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament (cont.) Mike Linnik (the Campbell 3-wall Small Ball Doubles is August 29th/30th). What a day ... lots of tired but happy players enjoyed the high level of competition, the ability to see Small Ball showcased at the Inshape Club, and for the players to see the variety of swings, shots, and strategies used by some of the best Small Ballers in the country. Tourney directors congratulate Angelo Mendez Christian Gonzales winning the Men’s “B” Doubles. 1st time tournament directors Gabe Delao and Mike Ramirez, along with Club Handball Manager Angel Hernandez, did a great job getting Stockton Small Ball handball back on the map, and players will certainly be looking forward to the 2nd Annual. Great job, good times. Men's Open: Betty Fabien, Christian Gonzales, Julio Fabien, and Angelo Mendez John Field & Dorothy Ramirez Dorothy & Nacio. The Open Final was set as the number one seeded Erik Torres and Atanacio Delgado squeezed passed Luis Bustos and Jeremy Lasater. The youngsters played well and fought tooth and nail to try to knock off the number one seeded team. On the other end of the draw, the number two seeded team of Arturo "Lefty" Suarez and Isidro Garcia made good on their seed with a win in the semi finals over Adan Gonzales and Paul DeLao. The first game seemed to be an easy win for Suarez and Garcia as it seemed Delgado and Torres were still fatigued from the battle that had ensued in the Semi Final. With effortless motion and smooth moves the younger Isidro seemed to put balls away with both his left and his right hand with ease. Isidro has always been a force to be reckoned with on the court, and with Lefty taking shots out of the air as is his "claim to fame" if you will, the two seemed to push Torres and Delgado around the court like two bullies on a playground picking on a helpless "wimpy kid". The first game was over before Delgado and Torres even knew what was going on. Game two seemed to start off the same as game one. Something had to be done if Delgado and Torres didn't want to fall two straight. Scratching and clawing, collisions on the court between the veterans Delgado and Suarez, the younger Torres and Garcia seemed to be involved in their own cat and mouse game of sorts. Both shooting in front of each other as though they both had to prove something to one another. By the end of the second game, there were controversial calls, two semi-injured 38 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament (cont.) players, and a partridge in a pear tree. Game two finished with Delgado and Torres coming out with 21 points first. This one was going down to the TIEBREAKER! The tiebreaker started with a quick side out. Torres and Delgado seemed like they could come into the breaker off of the momentum and make a 11-0 run for the win. But this was not to be the case. The punishment of a one day tournament got the best of Delgado. He could no longer help Torres. If you could call what he was doing help in the first place. (= The number one seeded team would have to take a bow to Suarez and Garcia as they walked off the court at 11-5. Winning the first annual "Last 2 Standing" Handball Tournament and proving why they should have carried the number one seed to begin with. Just a few months back, Isidro and Arturo played at InShape West Lane where this tournament was held and were the Champions at that tournament as well. Good job guys. See you all at the next one. Submitted by Nacio Delgado Can the Big Ballers elevate and bring them down? Seeing the tenacity and their desire to master both balls, it's just a matter a time. But for now, hail The Kings ... Lefty "Chau!" & Isidro. Scores: Men's Open Doubles: Round-of-16: Gabe Delao/Mike Rodriguez d. Mike Linnik/Joe Sandoval 2120,21-19. Quarter-finals: Erik Torres/Nacio Delgado d. Delao/ Rodriguez 21-9,21-15; Luis Bustos/Jeremy Lasater d. Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano/Hugo Lopez 21-14,21-10; Paul Delao/ Adam Gonzales d. Raul Jasso/Danny Solorio 2119,21-16; Arturo "Lefty" Suarez/Isidro Garcia d. Sam Olivares/Chuck Riojas 21-9,21-19. Semi-finals: Torres/Delgado d. Bustos/Lasater (2021),21-13,11-3; Suarez/Garcia d. Delao/Gonzales 2111,21-16. Finals: Arturo "Lefty" Suarez/Isidro Garcia d. Erik Torres/Atanacio Delgado 21-15,(6-21),115. Men's A Doubles: Semi-finals: Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano/Hugo Lopez d. Mike Linnik/Joe Sandoval (13-21),2110,11-10; Raul Jasso/ Danny Solorio d. Sam Olivares/Chuck Riojas. Finals: Raul Jasso/Danny Solorio d. Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano/Hugo Lopez (8-21),21-13,11-9. Men's B Doubles: Round Robin: Angelo Mendez/ Christian Gonzales: 8 wins/0 losses; John Field/Everett Leon Guerrero: 1 wins/3 losses; Angel Hernandez/Bob Deltorre: 1 wins/6 losses; Betty Fabian/Julio Fabian: 7 wins/0 losses; Robert Carranco/ Dorothy Ramirez: 2 wins/5 losses. Erik Torres, Gabe Delao, Mike Rodriguez (swinging). Angelo Mendez/ Christian Gonzales went undefeated in Round Robin play, 8-0. Submitted by Mike Linnik Hawaiian BBQ! Erik Torres in the Open’s Arturo “Lefty” Suarez 2015 US 40’s National Champion Al Quitoriano, Nacio Delgado, Sam Olivares 39 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament (cont.) Nacio Dlgado, Gabe Delao, Mike Rodriguez, Erik Torres Paul Delao, Danny Solorio, Raul Jasso, Adam Rodriguez Jeremy Lasater, Luis Bustos, Nacio Delgado, Erik Torres Everett Leon-Guerrero & John Field Paul Delao, Lefty Suarez, Isidro Garcia, Adam Gonzales Michael & Julio Fabien Everett Leon-Guerrero, John Field, Bob Deltorre, Angel Hernandez 40 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 1st Annual “Last 2 Standing” Doubles Tournament (cont.) Angel Hernandez, Betty Fabian, Bob Deltorre Angelo Mendez, Christian Gonzales, Robert Carranco, Dorothy Ramirez (airborne!) “B” action “B” action “B” action Angel Hernandez making the magic happen 41 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament Fresno- Fresno’s Centerpoint AC (formerly 4WallsWest) Mike Flores, Emmett Peixoto, Sean Lenning, Nacio Delgado Anthony Sullivan, Luis Bustos, Armando Ortiz, Vic Perez The 2015 Fresno Open produced fireworks on the court all weekend with exciting Pro Handball action. The Open Singles produced names like Sean Lenning, Emmett Peixoto, Armando Ortiz, Vic Perez, and Erik Torres. Anyone who stood in these tough competitors way met an unfortunate fate to fall to the top seeds. "It's not very often that we can play against a Pro and I probably would've paid twice the amount I paid to play in the Fresno Open to do so" said Greg Perez of Fresno Ca. The fire power of these top players proved to Fresno's "Open" level handball players that there is definitely another level of handball out there. "It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience to get to play against Lenning in a tournament" said Atanacio Delgado of the Fresno Handball Club. Delgado plays tournaments on a regular basis and is used to making the final in most of them. Producing only 8 points in the first game against Lenning and 10 in the second, it was evident that the Pros meant business. With their eyes on the prize the top two seeds forged their way to the final round of the tournament on Sunday. With 24 Open/A Singles entrants, both Lenning and Peixoto had to play 2 matches on Saturday and 2 matches on Sunday. Along with the Open Doubles category, this made for a LOT of handball play. Both men were fighting for first in a fiery finals match. In the end, Sean came out victorious. Winning 2 games straight over Peixoto. A big thank you goes out to Sean Lenning, Emmett Peixoto, Armando Ortiz, Vic Perez, and Erik Torres for showing up to our local tournament. Hopefully we can get these players to return for another local event. 2016 anyone? The B/C Singles was a "full" draw as well with a round of 16 play. This field could have been conquered by any ONE of the entrants. With familiar names like Coromac and Ruiz, Matt Sullivan (yes Sullivan, the dad, not the son), and Jorge Mendiola, these athletes definitely show how hard our sport really is. With relentless rallies and gruesome gets, nobody was ready to give up. Scratching and clawing their way through the crowd to reach the next tier of the tourney, each competitor tired from matches that seemed like they would last a lifetime. 42 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) 3 Fresno players and one from Los Angeles would comprise the Semi finals. On the top side, Gabriel Castro of Fresno faced Emilio Rosales of Fresno. While on the bottom bracket, Dave Rodriguez of Fresno faced Marco Coromac of Los Angeles. Coromac fought off a tough Dave Rodriguez with an 11-6 tiebreaker. Nobody seen this coming. As "Hat Dave" as he is known around Fresno has been making his way up the handball ladder around Fresno, he surprised everyone to make it to the Semi Final of the B Singles. Good showing Dave. On the other side, Gabriel Castro was another surprise in the B's. Besting the veteran Mendiola in the first round of play, he would go on to face Hugo Lopez of Fresno in the quarters. Lopez recently won the C Singles in the SOS Memorial Day Handball tournament. At 17 years old and only playing small ball handball tournaments 4 times, this youngster was fighting to become the B Singles Champion in Fresno. However, Castro wouldn't make it that easy. It was an exciting quarters going 21-15 and 21-20. The young Lopez nearly had his chance to pull it out in a tiebreaker but a hand error on 20-20 sealed his fate. Castro advances. Castro faced Emilio Rosales of Fresno and seemed a little more confident against Rosales. Castro's quarter final match seemed like his Semi and vice versa. Castro cruised to a victory over Rosales and into the final. Castro pulled off what Fresnans thought he probably couldn't. Winning the B Singles just 6 months after starting to play with the small ball. Castro defeated Marco Coromac 21-15, 21-7 to become the B Singles Champion of the 2015 Fresno Open. Running a Singles and Doubles tournament in the span of 22.5 hours is no easy task. With 13 divisions to play on 8 courts and very limited time, it can get a bit hectic. With the help of every single person lending a hand with refereeing games, serving food, posting results up on draw sheets, helping out with the juniors, donating time, donating money, donating food, and going above and beyond, we ALL made this tournament possible. I personally want to thank Sam Olivares and his entire family. His wife puts up with the countless hours Sam puts in to making these tournaments a success. She was also there helping serve the food. His sons were also on deck to help serve and prepare some of the food. It takes an army of hands to help in these things. If you ever want to know how much effort it takes, volunteer to help run a tournament. GET INVOLVED. A thank you nod goes out to you all. Because without the players, there would be no tournament. I am ever so grateful to the handball players before me that started this tournament. I am honored to help keep it alive. Thank you Mr. Frank Zuniga. Until the next one, from Fresno, thanks a bunch. Submitted by Nacio Delgado player, Sam Olivares. Sam is a former soccer player, is fearless with his shotmaking, has a quick hands, and goes on offense with either hand. He would need those skills as Mike Linnik, Joe Sandoval, and Ron Strausbaugh threw down against Sam. Endurance combined with mental toughness to withstand the hot courts and brutal rallies gave Sam the edge he needed to not only win the 50 Singles, but partner with Chuck Riojas and win the 40/50's Doubles to nab the rare handball "S-L-AM". Playing is tough enough - playing and running the tournament? That's one heck of a weekend, congrats to Sam and the Fresno Handball Club. AddendumWith 8 courts, and lots of help, matches were timely and well organized due to the efforts of the Fresno Handball Club. Mike Flores, Sam Olivares, Nacio Delgado, and Danny Solorio not only helped direct the event but played as well. Thanks to all the Ladies who supported the Guys, and who helped with the BBQ, managing the desk, and greeting the visiting players thank you. Men's 50's: In the Golden's, San Jose sent three of their best and brightest at the lone Fresno Scores: Men's Open Singles: Round-of-32: Nacio Delgado d. Larry Aguiar; Isidro Garcia d. Osvaldo Torres 21-14,21-12; Greg Perez d. Ricardo Palma; Arturo "Lefty" Suarez d. Nick Coronado 21-11,21-16; Travis Greer d. Andrew Garcia 21-11,2112; Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano d. Gabe Delao 21-6,21-17; Melchor Santos d. Rene Guiterrez 21-10,2114; Martin Garcia d. A. Ruiz 21-13,21-20. Round-of-16: Sean Lenning d. Nacio Delgado 21-8,21-10; Isidro Garcia d. Ric Rodriguez; 43 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) Erik Torres d. Greg Perez 21-15,21-4; Vic Perez d. Arturo "Lefty" Suarez 215,21-5; Armando "Mando" Ortiz d. Travis Greer 21-5,21-9; Anthony Sullivan d. Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano (18-21),2119,11-5; Luis Bustos d. Melchor Santos 21-20,2110; Emmett Peixoto d. Martin Garcia 21-1,21-7. John Field, C. Arciniega, Guy Hoover, Rich Polson Quarter-finals: Lenning d. Garcia 213,21-7; Perez d. Torres 218,21-8; Ortiz d. Sullivan 21-3,21-1; Peixoto d. Bustos 21-13,21-7. Semi-finals: Lenning d. Perez 2114,21-9; Peixoto d. Ortiz 21-6,21-5. Ron S., Mike Olivares Hugo Lopez, Bob Deltorre Finals: Sean Lenning d. Emmett Peixoto 21-11,21-14. Men's Open Doubles: Nacio Delgado and Sean Lenning Luis Bustos, Brandon Ramirez, Anthony Sullivan, Martin Garcia Round-of-16: Larry Aguiar/Geoff Smythe d. Andrew Garcia/Ricardo Palma (8-21),21-12,11-1 Ric Rodriguez/G. Perez d. Nacio Delgado/ Gabe Delao 21-20,(1521),11-0. Quarter-finals: Anthony Sullivan/Luis Bustos d. Martin Garcia/Brandon Ramirez 21-11,21-5 Arturo "Lefty" Suarez/Isidro Garcia d. Martin Garcia/Brandon Ramirez; Sean Lenning/ Alphonsus "Al" Quitoriano d. G.Perez/Ric Rodriguez 21-0,2106. Semi-finals: Anthony Sullivan/Luis Bustos d. Larry Aguiar/ Geoff Smythe; Vic Perez/ Armando "Mando" Ortiz d. Arturo "Lefty" Suarez/Isidro Garcia 21-3,21-5. Finals: Vic Perez/Armando "Mando" Ortiz d. Anthony Sullivan/Luis Bustos 21-3,21-6. Men's "A" Singles: Quarter-finals: Gabe Delao d. Andrew Garcia 21-13,21-20 Larry Aguiar d. Nick Coronado 21-13,(1521),11-5 Osvaldo Torres d. R. Guiterrez 21-20,21-14 Semi-finals: Osvaldo Torres d. Gabe Delao (15-21),21-11,11-4 Ricardo Palma d. Larry Aguiar (17-21),21-12,11-6 Finals: Osvaldo Torres d. Ricardo Palma. Men's "A" Doubles: Finals: Martin Garcia/Brandon Ramirez d. Atanacio Delgado/Gabe Delao 2118,21-19. Men's "B" Singles: Round-of-16: Emilio Rosales d. Dorothy Ramirez 21-4,21-7 44 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) D. Rodriguez d. G. Garrido 21-1,21-3; Emilio Rosales d. Elias Zandate 21-19,21-18; T. Weinschenk d. Chris Coronado 21-5,21-4; M. Coromac d. L. Ruiz (20-21),21-12,11-6; G. Castro d. E. Rosales 21-15,21-10; Elias Zandate d. Bob Deltorre 21-6,21-10 Quarter-finals: D. Rodriguez d. Matt Sullivan 21-18,21-20 G. Castro d. George Mendiola Sr 21-6,21-6 Hugo Lopez d. L. Russman 21-16,21-19 M. Coromac d. T. Weinschenk 21-20,21-16 Semi-finals: G. Castro d. Hugo Lopez 21-14,21-20 M. Coromac d. D. Rodriguez (19-21),219,11-7 Finals: Gabriel Castro d. Marco Coromac 21-15,21-7. Men's "B" Doubles: Round-of-16: Tannan/Spohier d. Borja/Elias Zandate 214,21-10. Quarter-finals: George Mendiola Sr/Matt Sullivan d. Tannan/Spohrer 2119,21-6. Span/Guitierrez d. Lopez/Deltorre 2118,21-12; Marquez/Ruiz Sr d. Garrido/Rodriguez (19-21),21-12,11-4. Rodriguez/Rosales d. CA/Chavez 21-4,21-1. Louie Ruiz/Marco Coromac d. Marquez/Ruiz Sr 2112,21-10. Ron Strausbaugh d. Joe Sandoval. Ron Strausbaugh d. Mike Linnik 21-13,21-16. Juniors: Semi-finals: Gabriel Spann/Rene Guitierrez d. George Mendiola Sr/Matt Sullivan 21-5,21-19. Louie Ruiz/Marco Coromac d. Rosales/ Rodriguez 21-9,(1921),11-7 Winner: Samuel Olivares 3 wins/0 losses Finals: Louie Ruiz/Marco Coromac d. Gabriel Spann/Rene Gutierrez. Mark Zamora/Red d. Joe Sandoval/Ron Strausbaugh 21-6,(1421),11-1. Men's "C" Singles: => 40/50 Doubles Round Robin was won by Sam Olivares/Chuck Riojas. Quarter-finals: Bob Deltorre d. Dorothy Ramirez 21-9,21-15; Matt Sullivan d. C. Coronado 21-11,21-7; L. Russman d. L. Ruiz 2113,21-16. Semi-finals: Matt Sullivan d. Bob Deltorre 21-10,21-12; George Mendiola Sr d. L. Russman 21-5,21-8. Finals: George Mendiola Sr d. Matt Sullivan 21-9,21-13. Men's "C" Doubles: Finals: Bob Deltorre/Hugo Lopez d. Rodriguez/ Gonzales (9-21),2111,11-2. Men's 50's Singles (Round Robin): Samuel Olivares d. Mike Linnik 21-14,21-17. Finals: Won by Mike Flores/Jes Lopez 11-6 tiebreaker. Men's 40/50's Doubles: Samuel Olivares/Chuck Riojas d. Danny Solorio/Willie Murrietta 21-6,21-13. Pablo d. Frankie Strausbaugh 21-17,21-7. Winner was Isaac Fagundes, grandson of Jerry Fagundes d. Maxine Strausbaugh by 2 points. Submitted by The Scoop Men's 60's Singles: Quarter-finals: Lance Meyers d. P. Calabriesi 21-10,21-4. Semi-finals: Danny Carrillo d. Lance Meyers 21-10,21-9; Geoff Smythe d. Joe Pearce 21-5,21-1. Finals: Danny Carillo d. Geoff Smythe 21-10,21-7. Men's 60's Doubles: Rudy Guzman/Garrison d. Eng Nichols 21-8,4-2 Injury Forfeit Guy Hoover/Rich Polson d. C. Arciniega/John Field 21-3,21-2. Mike Flores/Jes Lopez d. Guy Hoover/Rich Polson 21-13,21-15. 45 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) Martin Garcia, Emmett Peixoto Isidro Garcia, Sean Lenning Mando Ortiz , Emmett Peixoto Erik Torres, Vic Perez Luis Bustos, Emmett Peixoto Sean Lenning, Emmett Peixot. Vic Perez, Arturo Suarez Emmett Peixoto, Mando Ortiz Match point Vic Perez, Sean Lenning Mando Ortiz, Emmett Peixoto The famous glass wall. 46 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) Women’s Pro-Players-In-Training Anthony Sullivan, Mando Ortiz Linda and Danny Carrillo Vic Perez, Mando Ortiz, Al Quitoriano Vic Perez, Mando Ortiz, Luis Bustos Anthony Sullivan, Mando Ortiz, Luis Bustos Joe Sandoval and Ron Strausbaugh Sean Lenning, Jorge Mendiola BBQ! Ron Strausbaugh and triumphant Sam Olivares Ron Strausbaugh and Mike Flores (Tourney Director) 47 2015 Fresno Open Handball Tournament (cont.) Gabe Delao and Dorothy Ramirez The Fresno Handball Club ran an exciting tournament. Matt Sullivan and Bob Deltorre Gabe Delao, Nacio Delgado, Brandon Ramirez, Martin Garcia Ron Strausbaugh, Geoff Smythe HoFer Jerry Fagundes watches grandson Isaac Luis Bustos, Nacio Delgado, Mike Flores, Anthony Sullivan. 48 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Calgary, Alberta, Canada Saturday August 22nd 2015 ... the World Finals! Starting at 8am, and going throughout the day, tired but proud players shook off their aches and pains to compete one more day to decide which color they would bring back to their country ... silver or gold. Kevan receives the gold medal from Tournament Director Guy Martin Kevan, Guy Martin, Curt Creed Kevan, Lew Buckingham Kevan Del Grande Los Gatos, CA Grand Master and the reigning World Champion Kevan Del Grande was competing for two medals, in the Men's 80 Singles & Doubles. Kevan had been playing multiple matches down at the San Jose YMCA against legitimate "A" players to polish his game for Canada. It worked. Kevan played Lew Buckingham (Greencastle, PA) in the Semi's. Lew used a Pro Lob Serve that would have made David Chapman jealous. But Kevan is the ultimate competitor, and tried various ways to cut off the serve and get Lew out of the front court. In the finals, Kev faced the crafty southpaw Curt Creed (Wichita, KS) who has a nice hop and pass shot. Kev cut off volley shots, and kept Creed deep in the right side with a "reverse fist" serve that faded into the back corner. Kev won 21-10,217. When asked about the match, Curt could only say "same guy, same result". Kevan took that momentum into his Men's Doubles Finals, and along with dream partner Charlie Wicker (Tucson, AZ), bested Ben Marguglio/Lew Buckingham (Dallas, TX/Greencastle, PA) 215,21-13 to get the rare World Championship SLAM. A tired but happy Del Grande remains the World Champion, he continues to beat Father Time, and remains the "guy to beat". Inspiring ... amazing ... insert your own adjective! Like the Rockies outside the courts, Kev continues to "hike every mountain, ford every stream". Congrats to the Grand Master and current US National/World Champion! Keith Thode congratulates Kevan 49 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (cont.) Ed CampbellL Granite Bay, CA One of the most stunning performances at the World's belongs to Watsonville-nowGranite Bay resident Ed Campbell. An unseeded (!) Ed faced the best of the best, on his march to the Gold Medal. In the Men's Singles Small Ball Veteran Super (65+) Ed defeated: Quarterfinals: (# 1 Seeded) Dan Scilley (Red Lodge, MT) 21-9,218. Dan has numerous National titles. Eugene Kennedy and Ed Campbell Eugene congratulates Ed on the win. Semifinals: Greg Raya, with many National titles, (Las Vegas, NV) could not keep up with Ed in the tie-break losing 21-2,1121,11-4. Finals: (# 2 Seeded and former World Champion) Eugene Kennedy (Dublin, Dublin) 21-15, 621, 11-7. This was a 2 hour Battle Royale. In the dictionary under "toughness" you'll see Eugene's picture. There is no quit in this proud Irishman, who was fighting to hold onto his World title. Ed Campbell was also feeling the pressure of the long week, the 3,500 foot altitude, and the deep Kennedy crack serves. At one point in the match, the referee "donated" a timeout to the players, who were fighting to keep conscious after multiple 20 shot rallies. In the end, the "sprinters" legs of Ed Campbell allowed him to weather the storm and fire in a few more kill shots for the win. Both men struggled to simply get through the court door after leaving everything they had on the court. Great for the spectators, rough on the players because Eugene had a doubles finals in the next hour! (...and yes, he won! How?! These guys are just made of "different stuff"). An amazing triumph for Eugene and the Kennedy family, a World title in the Men's 65's Doubles, and a Silver Medal in the Men's 60+ Singles Big Ball One Wall 60+. Dan Scilley and Ed Campbell 50 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (cont.) Jim Smith Watsonville, CA In the Men's Doubles (70+), Watsonville handball star Jim Smith teamed with Bill Morse (Boise, ID) to defeat Thomas Olson/Dennis Tallman (Vergas, MN/West Fargo, ND) 9-21,21-14,11-7. Jim is a USHA Grand Master, a 4-and-3wall specialist, was coming off of knee surgery, and was still doing was he does best - win. Great job Jim, congratulations on your World title. Jim “Smitty” Smith fires in a backwall shot. Jim’s bolo fist punch kept his opponents in the backcourt. Somehow the ball is still-up-in-the-air while Jim is shaking hands with his opponent. 51 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (cont.) Terry Britt Castro Valley, CA Terry Britt and Jack Prather If you ever played in the Super Bowl Tournament in Pleasanton, California, you'll have seen the hand and foot work of the fiery Terry Britt. World new comer Terry decided to try the Men's Singles Super Master B (60+). Terry was unseeded, and never lost a game. In the finals, he played the tenacious 3-wall player Jack Prather (Hamilton, OH). This was probably Terry biggest challenge, and as he admitted "my offhand (ie. right) did not miss". Along with killshots and diving paddleshots, Terry kept the tall Prather in the backcourt, owned the "red carpet", and never let up to get the title 21-18,21-11. Lance Myers San Ramon, CA In the Men's Doubles Super Masters B (60+), Terry teamed up with long-time partner and fitness expert Lance Myers (San Ramon, CA) to defeat Chuck Gause/Steve Hamrick (Athol,Idaho/Green Valley,AZ) 21-5,21-7. Opponents averaged a scant 5 points per game against the "guys from Pleasanton". Lance gets the gold, and Terry brought back "The Slam". Good job fellas! Terry congratulated by Jack Lance, opponent, and Terry The World’s Logo, Lance Myers, and Terry Britt 52 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 NorCal Men win 7 Gold Medals at the World's Handball Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (cont.) So that was the NorCal result. The USA is like a Dutch boy trying to hold back a leaky dam with a single finger ... basically the Irish is fielding strong teams everywhere, across the board, Men and Woman, to dominate the "Perfect Game" for decades to come. We've seen 11 year olds, with beautiful Irish jerseys, hitting fist shots to the ceiling. We've seen the Irish woman get involved in large numbers and elevate their game. The Men's Open Semi's and the Women's Open Semi's were all-Ireland. Although they are truly proud of this accomplishment, they also admit enjoying the competition from other countries. From Canada, to the USA and Mexico ... the Irish have set the bar ... will the rest of the world meet this challenge? But meanwhile ... CONGRATS TO THE IRISH PLAYERS, COACHES AND FAMILIES. They have truly embraced the game, made it fun, filled the draws, and kept the grand traditions alive and well. Erin Braugh! A quick look at "other" World results: In 1-Wall action: In the Men's Singles Small Ball Open: Sean Lenning (Shoreline,WA) d. Victor Lopierre (Richmond Hill,NY) 21-16,21-9. In the Men's Singles Big Ball Open: Timothy Gonzalez (Bronx,NY) d. Tywan Cook (Brooklyn,NY) 21-9,21-15. In the Women's Singles Big Ball Open: Danielle Daskalakis (Brooklyn,NY) d. Sandy Ng (Brooklyn,NY) 10-21,21-19,11-9. In the Men's Doubles Small Ball Open: Joseph Kaplan/William Polanco (Brooklyn,NY/Brooklyn,NY) d. Andres Calle/Timothy Gonzalez (Middle Village,NY/Bronx,NY) 21-19,21-19. In the Men's Doubles Big Ball Open: Tywan Cook/William Polanco (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn, NY) d. Andres Calle/Timothy Gonzalez (Middle Village, NY/Bronx, NY) 21-6,21-20. In the Women's Doubles Big Ball Open Danielle Daskalakis/Sandy Ng (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn, NY) d. Karen McConney/Lorraine Havern (Jamaica, NY/Newry, Co. Down) 21-14,2116. (Danielle SLAMMED!) In 4-Wall action: Men's Open Singles Semis: Paul Brady : Loughduff, Co. Cavan Robert Mccarthy : Westmeath, Co Westmeath Killian Carroll : Cork, Munster Diarmaid Nash : Scariff, Co. Clare -> Paul Brady d. Killian Carroll 21-8,21-2. Women's Open Singles Semis: Aisling Reilly : Belfast, Co. Antrim Ciana Ni Churraoin : Galway, Co Na Gaillimhe Martina McMahon : Limerick, Munster Catriona Casey : Ballydesmond, Co. Cork ->Aisling Reilly d. Catriona Casey (10-21),21-16,11-6. In the Men's Open Doubles: Diarmaid Nash/Robert McCarthy (Scariff, Co.Clare/Westmeath,Co Westmeath) d. Joseph McCann/Rikki O'Gara Ballaghaderreen,Co.Roscommon/Roscommon,Co. Roscommon) 21-18,21-4. (Previous World Champions Americans Andy Nett/Luis Moreno Minneapolis, MN/Tucson,AZ) were defeated by Nash/Mccarthy 215,21-5). In the Women's Open Doubles: Martina McMahon/Aisling Reilly Limerick,Munster /Belfast,Co.Antrim) d. Aishling O'Keeffe/Catriona Casey (Mallow, Co.Cork,Co.Cork/Ballydesmond,Co.Cork) 21-15,21-13. This gave Aisling Reilly the World "SLAM"! Submitted by Mike Linnik 53 "O Canada" ... the World Handball Championships Experience Calgary, Alberta, Canada Over 700+ players made their way to the great country of Canada, and over half (!) the players were from the Emerald Isle of Ireland. Peyto Lake and the Canadian Rockies Ireland and USA’s top players at the BBQ Calgary made a huge investment in facilities, notably the construction of brand-new 1-Wall courts to enable 1-Wall Small and Big Ball competition. The weather was beautiful ... crisp mornings, longeared Jack rabbits escorted players to the University of Calgary recreational center. Yes, there was altitiude ... 3,500 feet. Players had to adjust their shots, because all kill shots were staying up, rallies got extended, and cardio-vascular was being tested. Perfect for determining a World Champion. On days off, players enjoyed the beauty of Banff and the incredible stone Fairmont Hotel, the glacial waters of Lake Louise, and the wildness and beauty of the Rockies of Jasper National State Park. Opening Ceremonies Canada truly has "Wild life" ... chipmunks, jack rabbits, and deer. Elk? Moose? Bear? We looked but the warmer temperatures chased them up to high altitudes. Yet somehow San Francisco's Jim Silla was standing at a bus stop and saw 2 moose. Go figure. In Canada, restrooms are called "washrooms". At the University, we saw the world class speed skaters from China train at the "Olympic Oval" that was built for the 1998 Olympics. The coaches from China were all business, and it was inspiring to see this level of dedication. Another observation from the handball action: to see the Junior winners console and put their arm around their fellow Irish competitor after the last point was played. Very special to see, good sportsmanship is obviously taught at an early age. Now the tremendous matches: there were marquee battles EVERYWHERE! Here's highlighting just two of them: Sean Lenning vs. Robbie McCarthy in the Men's Open: A classic. Sean Lenning was sore from winning the 1-Wall World title earlier in the week, yet dug deep to battle the athletic and finely conditioned Robbie McCarthy. With Coach/Dad Robbie 54 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 "O Canada" ... the World Handball Championships Experience (cont.) Ireland’s great Michael “Ducksy” Walsh serves USA’s Marcos Chavez cheering him on, Robbie looked good in the 1st game. In the 2nd game, Sean reapplied himself, hitting impossible angles and crisp passes to push the match into a tie break. In the tie break, no one could get a burst of points, they traded scores back and forth till the end. On match point, Robbie had a wide-open killshot into the left corner that un-explicable fell short. Then Sean himself had a look at a wide-open backwall setup to finish the match and somehow Robbie got the ball back. Finally Robbie served for the match to win 10-10 in the tiebreak. Michael "Ducksy" Walsh vs. Marcos Chavez in the Men's 40's: New York ballplayer and NorCal’s Loren and Anthony Collado at the BBQ in Fort Calgary True Irishmen call him "Michael", and once again the Great Walsh reminded everyone why he is one of Ireland's greatest champions. The 2nd game was a masterpiece. Marcos played tenacious, with all of his incredible range and wrist shots. But the technical level of Michael's game is peerless ... as pristine as the Rocky's, as precise as a laser beam, as unforgiving as the Sahara desert. Walsh is a throwback to the "Irish Whip", and it whipped reverse serves to Marcos left that died in the corner. If Marcos could get a hand on it, Michael would wait ... and wait ... for Marcos to make a move. If he moved forward, a vicious pass shot was hit. If Marcos laid back, Michael hit beautiful reverse kills into the right corner that "squeaked" they were so low and angled. Ducksy also was the master of deception ... waiting to the last minute to "sell" a shot down the left, only to do a "whip fist" down the right that had Marcos futilely chasing the ball. In the 2nd game, Ducksy was up by about 13-2 when Marcos made a shot and mimed "reeling Walsh in". Michael's response? A vicious, low roll out that had a little extra heat on it in response. At one point, Marcos hit a kill and exclaimed "that's a Paul Brady kill!". Later, Michael rolled out a beautiful kill and responded "THAT'S a Ducksy Walsh kill!". The gamesmanship was all good natured, and seemed to bring out the competitive juices in Walsh who relished a good challenge and dominated the American 21-15, 21-10. An unbelievable match, not video-recorded, but witnessed by a lucky USA/Irish crowd. We play handball. These guys are playing a different game, at a different level, and it was a privilege to see 55 "O Canada" ... the World Handball Championships Experience (cont.) and experience such world-class play. P.S. Michael Walsh *also* collected a Gold Medal for the "Men's Singles Big Ball One Wall 40+". Once again, Erin Braugh! Submitted by Mike Linnik Lake Moraine and the majestic Rockies Erik Torres retrieves from Martin Mulkerrins in the “Contender’s” bracket Paul Brady, Kevan Del Grande, Aisiling Reilly, Merv Deckert NorCal’s Jim Silla, Sue, Terry Britt, Sharon Linnik, Rory Moore, Mike Linnik Mounted Police’s James Macleod The Japanese had shirts made for the World’s Women’s Open action Rory Moore elevates Deer let us walk right up and snap away. Ned Corrigan caught all of the h'ball action. 56 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Paul Brady - Greatest World's Handball Champion of All Time Dublin, Ireland- Great to see such a crowd at Dublin Airport this morning to welcome back our Team Ireland from the 2015 World Handball Championships - Great efforts by all involved with GAA Handball and a special Congrats to Paul Brady on his fifth successive World title. The form that made Cavan’s Paul Brady the most feared player for 15 years. Killian Carroll waits for Paul’s return in the Men’s Open Finals. Courtesy Keith Thode. GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) President Aogan O'Fearghail greets 5 time world champion Paul Brady on his arrival back to Dublin airport. Calgary, Alberta, CanadaPaul Brady entered the Men’s Open Final seeking his unprecedented fifth consecutive world title in the past 12 years, while Killian Carroll entered the event as the # 7 seed and a dark horse to make the semifinals. Brady narrowly escaped a tiebreaker in his quarterfinal victory against Charlie Shanks and demolished Irish team captain Robbie McCarthy in the semifinals to earn his spot in the final. Killian Carroll overcame a 16-3 first game deficit and first-game loss against U.S. # 1 Luis Moreno in the quarterfinals to win a thrilling 11-9 tiebreaker and defeated frequent rival Diarmaid Nash in two games in the semifinals to reach the final. The final was one-way traffic, as are most Paul Brady finals. Taking control of the match with the best serve in the game, Brady was never pressed at any point in the match. “I guess I just have good genes and that allows me to play my best handball late in tournaments,” stated Brady when asked how he plays his best handball in the finals. “I just feel looser and less stiff as the tournament wears on.” Brady allowed just eight points to his countryman in game one and raced to a 15-0 lead in game two, leaving no doubt as to who is the best player in the world. Brady would allow Carroll just two points in the second game, likely making his fifth title his most dominant title. “I knew I had to play my best today because if I didn’t I would have lost,” stated Brady after the match. “I put a lot of training into winning this event. This will be my last appearance at the world championships. I came in a champion and I want to leave a champion.” Brady defeats Carroll: 21-8, 21-2. Courtesy David Fink WPH Senior Writer; WPH Youth and Donor Development Director 57 Paul Brady - Greatest World's Handball Champion of All Time (cont.) From Paul Brady's PostFinals Interview: University of Calgary, Canada[Dave] How do you feel? [Paul] I feel just relieved, and thankful it's all over. It got a bit emotional there, but, obviously I just feel proud of myself. After the Men’s Finals with host CHA – Canadian Handball Association. Thanking his fans in Cavan and world wide. All smiles at the World’s Banquet with Kevan Del Grande (USA), Aisling Reilly (Gold MedalistWomen’s Open) and Canada’s Merv Deckert (Gold Medalist). [Dave] You have a whole group back in Cavan where you play Gaelic football. A lot of them have the last name "Brady", and a lot have the nickname "Gunner". Talk about it. [Paul] I wanted to thank them. I've got a match on Sunday, I fly out Saturday, I'll be home Sunday morning. I've got to rest and get ready for Sunday evening so I got to stay focused and hopefully this is the start of a big year for us (in Gaelic Football). So I want to thank all the people in my home parish, and my family in particular and all my friends back home. [Dave] You've won your 10th (US) National title, and now you've won your 5th consecutive World title. How does this compare to the 1st four? [Paul] I wanted to live a World Champion and I wanted to die a World Champion. That's the way I'm going to leave it now. I don't care if I'm still No.1 (3 years from now), that's it for me here. I'm just going to relax and enjoy my life now. Obviously I want to win some more Nationals and I'm looking forward to the (WPH) Tour this year, the US Open next, and obviously I want to thank you (WPH) guys, it inspires me to keep going, and I'll keep pushing myself for another year. [Dave] When this career ends, are you done with Open competition? Will will see you still playing the sport? [Paul] I'm unsure if I will. On some level I'll always be around the sport, it's been my life for so long. One of the goals I have is to coach someday, try to coach athletes and coach teams and do great things there. Hopefully the next chapter of my life will be even better. Life is for living, and I only get one chance at it, so I want to make the best of it. If I have kids I'll have them play the game as well, I'll be able to coach them a bit, teach them a thing or two. Courtesy of WPH's Dave Vincent and Dave Fink 58 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Improve your Game...Learn to Win "Never Give Up". This is the book you've been waiting for. Build a Handball Machine. . Break through to the next level and WIN. . Secrets to winning handball tournaments. . The first thing to improve your game. . The rule of 10. . Scouting your opponent. . Developing a game plan. . Eat to win. . The top ten mistakes made by players. . ... and more. Over 500 tips to improve your game. The Book. All proceeds go to Junior/Youth Handball programs (ie. USHA’s 1st Ace, Junior WPH, NCHA). Or your local handball coach. You designate. "The game is 90% mental" ... we do a deep dive and explain what that means. Help yourself. Help Youth programs. Make it happen. Start winning. To browse a few pages go to: http://www.teamclehandball.net/PowerBook/index.html Order at: . USHA: http://www.ushandball.org/webStore5/ . WPH: http://wphlive.tv/category/products/misc/ . Or email [email protected] ... will inscribe it, too Your Breakthrough. All donations help fund Youth/Junior programs World-wide. Thanks, Coach Mike . 6-time National Champion . World Silver Medalist . 3 time Open Champion . Las Vegas One-Wall Champ . San Jose YMCA Youth Handball Coach . Winning Coach of the California Cup 59 In Memory … Hayam “Hi” Fujii Palmer, Walt Firstbrook, and Greg Payne. For years at the San Jose YMCA Labor Day Tourney he would be "the guy" taking pictures of all the finalists. Hayam “Hi” Fujii Hayami "Hi" Fujii was a regular at the San Jose YMCA. Hi was a lifelong "C" player, who just enjoyed being on the court and competing with his handball brethren like Glenn From his wife Phyllis: "Hi just passed in his sleep peacefully this morning. I know he really missed his handball group and enjoyed playing with you all. It made him so happy when he would go to the Y and spend his days on the court or in the gym". "Hi" was a great, upbeat guy, he played for many years, and he will be missed – The San Jose Handball Club. 60 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 2015 Boosters of the NCHA … much appreciated! Diamond Vic Aissa David Balestrieri Roy Bukstein Geoff Capell Bill Conlon Mike Dunne Sr Mike Kelly Brad Komsthoeft Tom Lynch Tom McGee Dennis Roberts Harry Schlitt James Silla Tom Sove Stephen Wise Platinum Lance Meyer Tom Urquhart Gold Isaac Burns Alex Dierkhising Pete Garris Robert Hackl Jurdy Hughes Marty Itzkowitz Ken Moeller Ben Thum Al Wehrly Silver Cy Epstein David Kennedy Mike McDonald Jim Peixoto Tom Ricci 61 Next World Handball Championships … Alaska in 2018 The 2018 World Handball Championship will take place from September 20th to 30th in Anchorage, Alaska USA. “Yes”. It’s early … but start a piggybank account now. Organizers are excited about bringing more handball to Alaska after successful Pro Stops and a USHA National Master’s events. They attended the World’s in Canada, and hope to duplicate their success. Of course, like Canada, Alaska offers raw natural beauty to the players and their families. Also, it takes people to run a huge tournament like the World’s, so try to reach out and help/volunteer. 62 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 Tournament Schedule September 2015 12th: NCHA Play Day in Concord at the "Big C" Athletic Club Contact: Sean Haley 925-356-1197 [email protected] Flyer on http://www.norcalhandball.org/ 26th,27th: 2015 Golden Gate Park "Frank Vasquez Sr Memorial" Doubles Contact: Wayne Black 707-773-2710 [email protected] Entry on http://www.norcalhandball.org/ Deadline is September 20th. October 2015 10th: 2015 Fleet Week Doubles "Age Brackets 100,120" Tournament, S.E.R.C. Contact: Jim Silla 415-850-7020 [email protected] Info on http://www.norcalhandball.org/ 22nd-25th: 2015 US Open of Handball and 25TH Naty Alvarado Classic Los Caballeros Indoor - Fountain Valley, California Contact: Naty Alvarado 760-221-9737 [email protected] Enter at http://www.r2sports.com/tourney/home.asp?TID=13448 24th-25th: A K (Kevin) Soulies Memorial Doubles only Handball Tournament Sacramento Elk’s Lodge Contact: Steve Williams 209-993-7370 [email protected] or…Ron Domingos 916-479-0448 [email protected] Entry on http://www.norcalhandball.org/ 31st,Nov.1st: 2015 Hall of Fame Doubles Tournament, San Mateo, CA Contact: Tom Sove 209-404-6394 [email protected] Entry on http://www.norcalhandball.org/ November 2015 20th-22nd: 2015 35th Annual Parkpoint Turkey Shoot Tournament Contact: Niamh Winslow [email protected] Contact: John Nikula 707-544-6757 [email protected] Entry (not yet posted) http://www.norcalhandball.org/ 63 Tournament Schedule (cont.) December 2016 26-30th: USHA National Juniors 4-wall Tournament Latoff YMCA, Des Plaines, Illinois Contact: USHA 520-795-0434 [email protected] January 2016 February 2016 6-7th: Super Bowl "Fred Bancalari Invitational" Tournament Enter on R2Sports (not yet posted). 24-28th: 64th USHA National Collegiate Champinships, Minneapolis, MN University Recreation & Wellness University of Minnesota 123 SE Harvard St Minneapolis, MN 55455 Contact: USHA 520-795-0434 [email protected] March 2016 April 2016 7-10th: 2016 Masters Doubles Invitational Los Caballeros Fountain Valley, CA Contact: SCHA Larry Fisher [email protected] May 2016 5-8th: 2016 Masters Singles Invitational Multnomah Athletic Club Portland, OR Contact: USHA 520-795-0434 [email protected] June 2016 USHA 4-Wall National Championships See USHA for details. Note: Got a date for your tourney? Let us know! 64 NCHA SCOOP SEPTEMBER 2014 From the Editor 1. Tournament Directors/Players: take pictures and write up your event. Big ball, small ball, 13-4 wall, it can be featured in here to get the word out. 2. NCHA: become a member. Or become a 3 year member for $50 - that’s a nickel a day. 3. Keep Handball in plain sight: printout "The Scoop" and place in the gallery of your YMCA, Lodge, Club, or Pub. Good reading while waiting for an open court. 4. Lots of great tournaments in Sept/Oct/Nov … you can get info and flyers from http://www.norcalhandball.org 5. If you can’t play in the San Mateo Hall-of-Fame, come out for the dinner! Good time guaranteed, keep a great tradition going. It’s October 31st. yes you can come dressed as a pirate. Mahalo, Mike 65 NCHA Scoop Newsletter 790 Clydesdale Drive Hillsborough, CA 94010 Bill Risko- Played for the San Francisco 49ers back in the 1940’s. Played handball couple times a week for 40+ years. Always helped out with the cooking at the San Jose Labor Day tournament. Welded a beer keg into a "wine steamer" to keep the grilled chicken warm for players. Always interested in handball players and their battles. Soft voice, big man. E-mail [email protected] The Newsletter for the Would-Be Champion Check our website out for updates to the Handball Schedule Bill’s picture on the San Jose YMCA’s challenge board. ABOUT THE The NCHA is a voluntary organization composed of handball players who want to contribute to the "Perfect Game." The Northern California Handball Association (NCHA) fosters the development of handball in Northern California and is the regional governing body of the United States Handball Association. There are many ways to contribute, including membership, coaching NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HANDBALL ASSOCIATION 790 Clydesdale Drive Hillsborough, CA 94010 We’re on the Web! Visit us at: www.norcalhandball.org MEMBER NAME ADDRESS CITY, STATE ZIP NCHA and mentoring young handball players, supporting the Handball Hall of Fame, joining the NCHA Board, contributing your time, talents, and money, or playing in our regional tournament.