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Junior Men's Roster Named for Upcoming World Championship

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by USA Team Handball

USA Team Handball announced today the 17 players named to the roster for the 2025 IHF Men's Junior (U21) World Championship, set to be held in Poland from June 18-29.

JUNIOR MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM BY POSITION – WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ROSTER

GOALKEEPERS: Benjamin Pedersen, Grayson Wide

BACKS: Martin Brunvold, Csaba Darvas, Benjamin Edwards, Nepomuk Grabner, Tristan Morawski, Maximillian Olesen, Owen Rodgers, Oskar Trummer

WINGS: Rodrigo Campos, Jordan Fernandez, Jamie Merkel, Matthew Spranda

PIVOTS: Kaeden Kuhlmeyer, Kahlil Liden, Maksim McCauley


The squad enters the tournament on a historic stretch, winning the Gold Medal at both the IHF Trophy Continental and Intercontinental Phase. The American side looks to build on the chemistry they have developed over recent years to improve upon their 27th-place finish at the 2023 edition of the World Championship.


“This group has been together for 18 months and has evolved into a mature team that is very receptive to our coaching methods and philosophy," Head Coach Danilo Rojevic said. “The roster is well balanced with an experienced core with 5 players making their second appearances in this competition (Wide, Edwards, Grabner, Morawski and McCauley), and several new players like Csaba Darvas, Rodrigo Campos, Benjamin Pedersen, and Oskar Trummer, who’ve added quality across different segments of the game.”

Additionally, Kahlil Liden and Owen Rodgers play their club handball at colleges in the U.S. - at the University of Pittsburgh and United States Military Academy at West Point, respectively - which Rojevic sees as an "important objective for the program."


Based in Sosonwiec, Poland for the preliminary round, the group will be joined in Group C by Japan, South Korea, and Sweden. Sweden qualified for the tournament by finishing fifth at the 2024 European Men's U-20 Handball Championship, while Japan and South Korea booked their slot by making it to the gold medal match at the 2024 Asian Junior Men's Handball Championship. Japan defeated South Korea, 32-27. Although the group stage is a challenging one, Rojevic sees this as another point of opportunity for the team.


"This is going to be by far the most challenging competition we’ve attended this cycle and our goal is to show that we’ve evolved since 2023, and are now slowly but surely closing the gap with other established handball nations. Often easier said than done but I believe we are in a position to surprise teams like Japan, South Korea, and others on our way to a better ranking," Rojevic said.


The United States will play two friendly matches in preparation for the tournament, against a team to be determined on June 14 and Slovenia on June 15.

I believe we are in a position to surprise teams...on our way to a better ranking.
Danilo Rojevic, Head Coach

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