by Brett Broxey

The first four tournaments of the season - The Coney Classic, Al Warren, U of M Classic, and The Mankato Experience - are over. Following the USHA Nationals and World Tournaments last summer, I thought players would be fired up for this season's tournament schedule. However, all of the tournaments have had incredibly low turnouts. I know the Tournament Directors are disappointed in the level of participation. As the State Tournament season rapidly approaches I can't help but wonder, WHERE HAVE ALL THE HANDBALL PLAYERS GONE?

One of the MSHA's corporate purposes as stated in our charter is:

We take this statement extremely seriously. We take great pride in our tournaments and try to get as many players to participate as possible. The MSHA board was concerned about reducing the number of State Tournaments from four to three this year. We decided to try a format of two doubles tournaments and one singles tournament. The reasoning was that we get more participants in doubles tournaments. We hoped another singles tournament would be scheduled by another club. The Mankato Experience should have fit right in.

If you haven't played in the state tournaments for a while, this would be a great year to try again. We are playing at different sites, with different souvenirs, and awards. Hospitality will be upgraded and we are trying different dates. The Hall of Fame Banquet will be held in conjunction with the State Doubles Tournament and at a new site. Details on new locations, dates and sites are in this newsletter. It is a year of change and we hope you will give the tournaments a another try!