The Minnesota State Handball Association Board is planning a new development program to encourage new players into the game. The committee, chaired by Greg Taylor, includes Dick Faunce and Sheldon Silberman. They will work with this year’s Youth Director Matt Hiber to contact potential players and offer basic equipment and instructions as well as tournament participation incentives.

Among the many facets of this program will be a MSHA (and possibly USHA) sponsored new player package to include gloves, family balls, eye guards, club lists and contacts, and other useful handball literature. We hope to obtain development funding from the USHA as well as contributions or sponsorships to fund the program. Greg estimates we need to contact 300 potential candidates to retain 100 individuals.

The committee is assembling a list of handball clubs and ambassadors. If you would like to be an ambassador for new players at your club, contact Greg Taylor.

Each of the MSHA state tournaments will include a special division for the new players. We will try various formats compatible with the skill levels of the participants to encourage participation. Regular MSHA members will get a half-price entry fee for bringing a novice to a tournament. If you are hosting a tournament, we encourage you to include a novice division and incentives - the MSHA will help sponsor this activity.

Stay tuned for more details.