Three teams were quickly formed, who played each other twice to determine the winner.
The tournament kicked off with a real show right from the start. RIP San Diego was able to win the first set against Los Angeles Rip, but they quickly recovered and took the second set to drag the game to shoot-outs. Here RIP San Diego was able to take the win, but everyone was aware that the rematch promised to be as great.

The third team the San Diego Ambassadors were not able to win against the RIP teams, but turned out to be the deciding factor for the tournament overall placements.

Then the rematch of the day was on. Los Angeles RIP quickly took the lead in the first set, but RIP San Diego was able to come back and stole the set win with a late set 6m shot. Having lost another set Los Angeles RIP once more brought everything they had and won the second set by a 9 goal difference, leaving RIP San Diego stunned. The San Diego team was not able to recover and lost the following shoot-out leaving both teams with 2 wins and 1 loss.

The games against the San Diego Ambassadors brought the decision for final placements in the tournament. Despite loosing both games the San Diego Ambassadors were able to win one set against Los Angeles RIP, crowning RIP San Diego the winner of the tournament.

Final Result: 1. RIP San Diego, 2. Los Angeles RIP, 3. San Diego Ambassadors

See all results from the tournament here: San Diego RIP BHT

The USA men’s beach handball national team, noting their second appearance on the world stage after their 11th place finish in Budapest 2016, set it’s goals high for their return. The USA women’s beach handball national team, who qualified through a wild card for the tournament, set their goals on player development and gaining their first experiences in inter continental games.

For the first time the tournament was played with 16 teams participating, allowing for many debutantes to proof themselves against experienced teams like Brazil and Spain. The 16 teams were split in 4 groups a 4 teams for the group phase. The first 3 in a group would play the first 3 teams of a crossover group resulting in 2 main groups a 6 teams (previous group phase results count towards main group placement). The 4th placed teams from the group phase played a consolidation round against each other. 5th and 6th placed teams from the main group played then in a 3 stage knock out round to determine placement 9-16. The top 4 of the two main groups played in a 3 stage knock out round to determine placement 1-8. This playing system allowed for a total of 9 games for each team regardless of the final placement. (Complicated, but good job IHF!)

Opponents in the group stage:
Men: Brazil, Russia, Sweden
Women: Brazil, Russia, Thailand

Both USA teams were not able to win a single game in the group stage. The men team lost two of their games in nail biting shoot-outs, while the women had to start into the tournament with their must-win game against Thailand, which they unfortunately lost 0-2.

While the men were able to pick up their game and win the consolidation round dominating with 2-0, the women team was able to reduce the goal difference from set to set, but lacked the experience and calmness to get to their first set win in the tournament.

This first set win was ever so close in the first k.o. match of the placement round, but slipped the women’s team through the hands in the last seconds of the game against Vietnam. The men’s team who also faced Vietnam were able to win the game until their lucky streak ended against a strong Qatar team in the next match. The next opponent for the women was first game opponent Thailand were the women were able to get their first and only win of the tournament. (One can only wonder how the tournament could have developed if the women won their first match the same way…)

Final placement games: The men lost to Argentina, 2-1, in the 11th-place game, while the women lost to Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), 2-0, in the 13th-place game, resulting in a 12th place and 14th place finish respectively.

Congratulations to the men’s team of Brazil, who proofed their excellence once again after struggling in the group phase and the women team from Greece, who played an incredible match against an impressive Norwegian team.

The next international competition for the USA teams is already around the corner as the US is host of the ANOC World Beach Games hosted in San Diego, California!

The Men’s National Team first attended the Beach Handball World Championships in 2016 in Budapest, Hungary, as the 2016 Pan American Champion. The men’s team qualified for the 2018 Beach Handball World Championships in March 2018 after taking home the bronze medal at the Pan American Championships with a 5-1 record.

The Men will take on Brazil at 1:30 AM PDT and Russia 9:30 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. They will play their last game against Sweden in group play at 6:40 AM PDT on July 25, 2018.

The women’s team was awarded a Wild Card Qualification from the IHF when two spots at the competition became available. This will be the first time that the USA will send a women’s team to the Beach Handball World Championships.

The Women’s team will play Thailand at 12:40 AM PDT and Brazil at 5:40 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. And close out group play against host country, Russia at 7:30 AM PDT on July 25, 2018.

You can follow USA in action on our website and social media channels, and tune into the live stream at handballrussia2018.com

Equipped with fresh pinnies, the participants formed 4 teams and started warming up. A Group stage was played with the top two teams advancing to the big final and the remaining teams playing for the small final. Team Sangria, SF Granniez, Dirty 30 and Clock Work Orange displayed were playing hard and partied harder at the sideline creating a great atmosphere for participants and spectators. The games were officiated by the USA referee pair Garrett Perkins and Michelle Mensing, while Jill Perkins supervised the time and scorekeepers.

After three group games that had to be decided through shoot outs the small final saw Dirty 30 play Clock Work Orange with the later taking the game in two sets. The big final had everything a beach handball fan could wish for. 360-spins, Alley-oops, great goalkeeper saves and of course a shoot out for the win. Team Sangria, true to there name already down by one player, rescued themselves into shoot-out extension against the SF Granniez, who won the group match against them. Raphael Renault winning the game for team Sangria with a 2 pointer after being denied his first attempt.

See all tournament results here: NorCal Beach Cup

Find tournament pictures here: NorCal Beach Cup Facebook Page

I want to thank all the volunteers that helped us set up and at the score table. I am especially grateful for Constance Duvert, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes on permits, BBQ and entertainment and created an atmosphere many will remember and expect in the years to come. Also a big thank you to Garrett and Jill Perkins traveling all the way from Dallas,TX, who truly understand what it means to grow and promote a sport without resources.

We hope to see you next year.

Michelle Mensing

USA Beach Handball is honored to be working with Level 4 Physio, Wellness & Performance as the Official Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainers for Team USA Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Teams. The Level 4 PT Team also served as the Official Physical Therapy and Medical Care provider for the 2018 Pan American Beach Handball Championship and the on-court Athletic Trainers for the USA Women’s National Team. (https://www.level4pt.com/beach-handball­)

The Level4 Physio, Wellness & Performance Team Members are leading experts in Physical Therapy, Women’s Health and Overall Wellness, with a primary focus on active, healthy lifestyles and maximizing performance. Located in Encinitas, Founders Drs. Oscar, Dawn and Chris are the trusted health experts to the region’s media, the weekly health Columnist for the Northern San Diego Tribune, Encinitas Advocate, Del Mar Times and Carlsbad Mail, and are a regular in local community events providing emergency responders, athletic training, women’s health and sports medicine services.

During the 2018 Pan American Beach Handball Championships, a four-day tournament in Oceanside, CA, Dr. Chris and Dr. Nick served as our official medical care providers, and treated athletes for all over the Americas including members of our own men’s and women’s teams.  Dr. Chris also served the Athletic Trainer for the Women’s Team and was critical in helping our veteran defensive specialist and team captain Marilyn Elder come back from a game-time neck injury. Says Marilyn, “If it had not been for Dr. Chris and Level4PT, my Pan Am journey may have ended with me cheering from the sideline.  His gentle, calming words helped me get through the initial shock, and his expert neck and shoulder treatment helped me come back faster than I expected.”  Dr. Chris is known as a leading spinal / shoulder and sports performance enhancement specialist in the San Diego area, with special areas of interest in rehabilitation of overhead throwing athletes and sport-related spinal, ankle and knee injuries and prevention.  

For more information on Level4 Physio-Wellness-Performance and scheduling a session with one of their practitioners, check out their website:  https://www.level4pt.com .  Here you can also download their free pain reports to help you get started on your recovery journey. Their office is located at 171 Saxony Rd. Suite 105  Encinitas, CA 92024, and you can also contact them by email: theteam@level4pt.com  or phone: 760-503-4440

Thank you from USA Beach Handball for all your help during the Pan Americans and we look forward to their presence as our men compete in the 2018 World Beach Handball Championships this July in Russia.

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.

In March 2016 the USA Men went down to Venezuela in their first ever competition in the new formation. The top two teams from the tournament would advance to the World Championships. The tournament featured several high level programs with experienced players. Starting the tournament off 1-3 they were in a must win against Ecuador to advance to the medal round. This is where the US team was truly born. The defense held Ecuador scoreless for the first 6 minutes of the match and defeated them in two sets. Next they faced the undefeated #1 seed and host country Venezuela who was ranked #7 in the world in the semi-finals. Splitting the sets 1-1, the US won on the last shot in shootout to advance to the gold medal game. Facing defending Pan American Championship Silver medalists Uruguay they once again split sets 1-1 and again won on the last shot in shootout to claim the Gold Medal.

By winning the Pan American Championships, the USA men team qualified into the 12 team field of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Being their first World Championships the international expectations were not high for any success. In the first game of the tournament, the USA Team shocked the international handball world by defeating the #5 team in the world, Ukraine in straight sets. Needing one more win in the next 4 games to qualify into the top 6, USA fell just short against defending World Champion Brazil, lost a close game against defending bronze medalist Qatar, then lost 2 extremely tight shootouts against Egypt and Bahrain. Finishing out of the medal rounds, USA then lost a close shootout to Oman and finished the tournament with an emotional win against Australia in the rain.

After the success of the men’s team in Venezuela, former assistant Coach for the men’s team Juliano de Oliveira was announced head coach of the newly formed USA Women Beach Handball Team. With that announcement the women’s program relocated from Miami, Florida to Hermosa Beach to have both programs benefit from the conditions in California. By recruiting current players of the USA Team Handball Women National Team and the local Los Angeles Team Handball Club Coach de Oliveira formed the core of the team that would go on to compete in the 2018 Pan American Beach Handball Championship.