Happy New Year handball players!

The new year is an exciting time for us to take stock of 1998 and make plans and resolutions for 1999. I hope you are all planning to play more handball in '99. Many of you are looking forward to the state tournaments. The entry forms are included with this newsletter. Please note the new format this year. Due to declining participation overall, the Master's Singles and the Senior's Singles have been combined with the other singles divisions into the Open/Master's Singles tournament on a trial basis. Once again, we will be calling in February to remind you of the entry deadline for the first state tournament. You may be wondering how you can help make this a great tournament season. Here are some suggestions:

1. Play in the tournaments.

2. Recruit players for tournaments.

3. Become a tournament sponsor.

Congratulations to Pete Crouser, Matt Hiber, Anna Christoff (formerly Engel - she married last summer), Paul Schulz and Gary Rohrer for their recent outstanding handball performances. These players have served notice that handball is "alive and well" in Minnesota. Pete qualified for the first two pro stops of the season at the Victorville, California qualifier on October 30 - November 1. Pete defeated formidable players Rob Pearse, Andy Schad, and Norm Dunne before losing a tie-breaker in the finals to tour veteran John Davis. California is known as the toughest place in the country to qualify due to the tremendous quantity and quality of the players.

Pete joined fellow Minnesotan and tour regular Matt Hiber in Kansas City for the season's first pro stop on December 4-6. Matt was coming off a victory over Pete in the finals of the University of Minnesota Classic Tournament. He started the season with a bang in Kansas City by having his best tournament as a pro. Matt defeated James Komshoeft in the first round to set up a quarterfinal match against John Bike. Matt shocked Bike to earn a spot in the semis against Naty Alvarado, Jr. Matt's amazing run came to an end against Naty. After falling to Vince Munoz in the third place match, Matt ended up with a remarkable fourth place finish and a nice pay day.

Pete lost to Danny Bell in the first round. He defeated James Komshoeft in the consolation bracket before losing to Andy Schad. Good luck to Matt and Pete at Pro Stop #2 January 22-24 in Concord, CA.

Anna continued her dominance of women's handball by slamming at the National 3-Wall tournament in Toledo. (How many National Championships has she won now?) She followed the Nationals with the title at the first Venice Beach Women's Pro Stop in October.

Paul and Gary successfully defended their Golden Master's title at the 70th annual National YMCA tourney in Dallas. And Dr. Rohrer once again proved he is the best slamming for another National Y Singles Title.

See you on the courts!