USA Team Handball Announces Staff for Inaugural U16 U.S. Women’s National Team

Team to compete in Mexico City at NACHC Championship and IHF World Championship Qualifier, June 29–July 1

USA Team Handball is proud to announce the staff for the inaugural U16 U.S. Women’s National Team, which will compete in Mexico City, Mexico, from June 29–July 1 at the NACHC Championship and IHF World Championship Qualifier.

The event marks a historic step forward for the women’s national team pathway, as the United States launches formal international competition at the U16 level and continues to expand opportunities for emerging athletes across the country.Dr. Sarah Gascon, Women’s Senior National Team Head Coach and Women’s National Team Program Director, will serve as head coach for the U16 team. 

Gascon will lead the inaugural squad while also helping steward several new program leaders in their national team coaching debuts.Gascon’s leadership of the U16 program comes as other women’s youth and junior national team coaches lead the U.S. Women’s U20 National Team at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship in China during the same period. U18 Head Coach Pauline Marangoni, U20 Head Coach Thomas Baeckmann, and Assistant Coach Elizabeth Hartnett will guide the U20 team in China. [Read more about the U.S. Women’s U20 National Team at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship here.]

Joining Gascon on the U16 staff is Wade Sutton, the longtime Carolina women’s team handball head coach and Handball Futures regional coach. Sutton brings decades of U.S. handball experience to the staff, including extensive recent coaching work in the women’s game and a 2025 U.S. Collegiate National Championship with Carolina.

Maged Bahrawy also joins the staff, bringing significant international youth and women’s handball experience. Bahrawy has coached women’s senior, junior, and youth club teams in Alexandria, Egypt, including with Alexandria Sporting Club and Smouha Club, and has further youth coaching experience with Al-Duhail and Al-Gharafa in Qatar. He has also served on staff in Chapel Hill over the last three years, contributing to athlete development and the club's best finishes alongside Sutton.

Stephanie Moreno, instrumental to the inaugural U16 event preparations in also serving as Team Leader, will make her national team coaching debut with the U16 program. Moreno previously competed as a goalkeeper in the U.S. system, vying for selection within the Women’s National Team pool, and has remained active in the club landscape with continued work in youth and community development.

Together, the staff reflects both continuity of domestic impact and expansion within the women’s national team pathway: senior national team leadership guiding the launch of a new age-group program, experienced domestic and international coaches supporting the team’s first competition, and a deep staff spawning further development within the U.S. system.

The inaugural U16 U.S. Women’s National Team will compete in Mexico City with a place at the IHF World Championship at stake, opening a new chapter for young women’s handball in the United States.