USA Team Handball (USATH) Women’s National Team interim head coach Julio Sainz announced today the preliminary roster of 28 athletes for the Women’s National Team. The Selection Committee met as stipulated by selection procedures on June 7, 2021.

The committee was comprised of Sainz, Women’s Junior National Team head coach Craig Rot, Women’s Beach National Team head coach Lisa Dunn, recently retired Women's National Team handball athlete and former USATH board member Tomukei “T” Ebuwei, current USATH board member and athlete representative Mark Ortega, and USATH CEO Ryan Johnson (non-voting member).

"I'd like to commend our coaching staff and all of the athletes that participated in this process for their commitment to the sport. The last year has been incredibly challenging for athletes to train and stay prepared for these kinds of opportunities,” said USA Team Handball Chief Executive Officer Ryan Johnson. “Our entire community is behind these athletes as they prepare for the NACHC Women's Championships later this summer in Elgin. We can't wait to see them take the court and represent Team USA.”

A total of 53 candidates were evaluated during the process, with 28 earning a spot on the preliminary roster and eight getting added to the Women’s National Team pool. The final roster selection will be announced on the day of the technical meeting for the 2021 North American and Caribbean Handball Confederation Championships, to be held in Elgin, Illinois this August.

The list includes local talent from clubs including Boston Team Handball Club, Rogue Handball Club, Army West Point Handball Club and New York City Handball Club. It also includes an array of American players currently training abroad in clubs from France, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Canada.

“I feel the selection of these athletes was fair and inclusive; we looked at this selection process from a holistic perspective, and the selection committee assisted me well in keeping our vision. The group is very balanced, as we selected athletes from all areas of the development spectrum,” said interim head coach Julio Sainz.

“As I promised, we looked at our local talent and found good athletes based here in the U.S. who form our local competition. Also, we felt it was important to allow experienced players to begin passing their knowledge and experience to the up-and-coming generation; therefore, the group has a combination of talent that not only will help us with our immediate task of qualifying for Worlds, but will help with the future outlook of our program. I am confident we will be able to represent our country well.”

U.S. Women’s National Team (Preliminary Roster)

Name	Age	Club	City/State of Residence
Binta Carvalho	30	Boston Team Handball Club	Chicago, Illinois
Bruna Lima	29	Boston Team Handball Club	Quincy, Massachusetts
Cecile Brown	20	Iddretslaget ROS	Oslo, Norway
Christine Marie Kaffka	23	Army West Point Team Handball	Scott Township, Pennsylvania
Eden Nesper	16	TV Hannover Badenstedt	Hanover, Germany
Elizabeth Hartnett	30	Rogue Handball	Fullerton, California
Emilie Johansson	20		Linköping, Sweden
Emily Myrmo	20	Bærum Topphåndball	Gjettum, Norway
Emma Ready	17	Vikhammer HK	Malvik, Norway
Gabrielle Martin	17	Handball Quebec Team & Celtique Handball Club	Montreal, Canada
Isabela Da Cruz	15	Boston Team Handball Club	Belmont, Massachusetts
Jennifer Fithian	37	Rogue Handball	Concord, New Hampshire
Julia Taylor	31	Draveil Handball	Bretigny-sûr-Orge, France
Karen Schultze	22	ASV Schwarz-Rot 06 e.V.	Aachen, Germany
Kathy Darling	39	Rogue Handball	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Maria Vallone	30	Rogue Handball	Rochester, New York
Marissa Faulkner	19	Team Handball Academy	Lake Barrington, Illinois
Mckenna Smet	31		Ashburn, Virginia
Moa Liberty Bengtsson	17	Kärra HF	Gothenburg, Sweden
Nicole Andersen	24	A.S Cannes-Mandelieu Handball	Cannes, France
Ria N Browne	25	New York City Team Handball Club	Brooklyn, New York
Sanna Wheeler	19	Oppegård IL	Norway
Sarah Gascon	39	Rogue Handball	Auburn, Alabama
Shani Levinkind	30		Colorado Springs, Colorado
Sif Skov Christiansen	19	Hillerød Håndbold Klub	Hillerød, Denmark
Sophie Fasold	27	TSV Nord Harrislee	Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Teasia Stewart	23	Army West Point Team Handball	Pikesville, Maryland
Zoe Lombard	29	Rogue Handball	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

About USA Team Handball
USA Team Handball (USATH) is the U.S. National Governing Body for the Olympic discipline of Team Handball, and is responsible for the development of grassroots programs, preparation of national teams for international competition - including the Pan American and Olympic Games - as well as the day-to-day oversight of the sport of team handball in the United States. The mission of USATH is to develop, promote, educate and grow the sport of team handball at all levels domestically, and to enable U.S. athletes to achieve sustained competitive excellence to win medals in international and Olympic competition. USATH is a member of the International Handball Federation, the North American and Caribbean Handball Confederation, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. For additional information, please visit usateamhandball.org

USA Team Handball Announces Women’s National Team Preliminary Roster

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