After the USA Beach Handball men’s team shocked the beach handball community in 2015 by claiming first place at the Pan American Championships, the young program was under pressure to proof themselves once more in 2017. It was also time for the women’s program to take the stage after several years of absence from the competition.
In March 2018 USA Beach Handball hosted the Pan American Beach Handball Championships in Oceanside, California. Due to the split of the Pan American Team Handball Federation and location of the tournament some national teams were not able to participate in the championships, resulting in the following line-up of teams ordered by placement in the competition:
Men’s Division: 
Brazil*, 
Uruguay*, 
United States*, 
Argentina*, 
Paraguay, 
Mexico, 
Trinidad and Tobago, 
Puerto Rico
Women’s Division: Brazil*, Uruguay*, Paraguay*, Mexico*, Argentina, United States, 
Chile, Trinidad and Tobago
(*) qualified to 2018 Beach Handball World Championships
Despite the circumstances the tournament set a record with the largest team participation since establishment of the pan American beach handball championships, a proof for beach handball’s growth in presence.