It's official: Auburn is the new home for team handball in the United States.
Less than one month after their visit to Auburn's campus, USA Team Handball has selected the University and the School of Kinesiology to host residency programs for both the men's and women's national teams.
"This is truly a great day for team handball in the United States," USA Team Handball CEO Matt Van Houten said in a statement. "Auburn University and the City of Auburn will be a wonderful home for our athletes and coaches. We now have a home and a world-class university to join with us to grow the sport regionally, throughout the State of Alabama, and nationwide."
Representatives from the national team, including men's head coach Javier Garcia Cuesta, visited campus in July to talk about the possibility of Auburn becoming the home for team handball in the United States.
Through the relationship with former women's national team head coach and Auburn alumna Reita Clanton, Auburn's stock soared in the eyes of USATH.
"From our perspective, we think the visit from USA Team Handball has gone very well," Clanton told The Plainsman in July. "We are very, very optimistic about the residency programs coming here. There are still a few details left to hammer out, but we all think this would be a win-win setup for the national team and Auburn."
The details were hammered out, and the national teams have officially announced the partnership with Auburn, which is scheduled to last through at least the 2020 Olympic Games.
According to USATH, Director of High Performance Dave Gascon returned to Auburn on July 31 to meet with several University and city officials. All involved showed tremendous support for the residency programs to be located in Auburn, and the deal was completed one week later.
"Our entire High Performance Team discussed every aspect of this offer and we are convinced this is an amazing opportunity for our athletes," Van Houten said. "We are grateful for the professionalism and sincerity of those wonderful people from Auburn University. Look for the United States to become a formidable opponent in this sport over the next several years."
As part of USATH's July visit, 29 male athletes from the area hit the court at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum for an open tryout with the Olympic training squad. Garcia Cuesta said he found several local athletes that he would like to add to the national team pool, and Gascon expects that number to rise.
"I wasn't surprised at all and I expect we will see a significant number of blue chip athletes try out for our National Teams," Gascon told the national team website. "We will be attracting Southeastern Conference players from various sports. The SEC is one of the most powerful conferences in the NCAA.
"Give Javier and Christian 18 months with some of these athletes and our returning players and both the USA Men's and Women's National Teams will be very difficult to handle!"
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