Alberta, New York City and San Francisco California Heat won the three gold medals available at the 2019 USA Team Handball National Championship played over the weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. SF Cal Heat claimed the title in the elite men’s division, Alberta in the men’s competition, and NYC in the women’s tournament.

The elite men’s competition saw a thrilling day of finals, with SF Cal Heat taking a 31:30 victory over NYC in the trophy match. Meanwhile, New York Athletic Club celebrated the bronze medal following a 32:30 win versus Los Angeles. 2018 Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Gil Pires was named Most Valuable Player and was also the top scorer in the elite men’s division, tallying 46 goals across the three-day event. SF Cal Heat’s Lucas Kroger was selected as best goalkeeper.

SF Cal Heat had a perfect run to the title, defeating NYC 2 32:20 and DC Diplomats Team Handball 32:28 on the opening day of competition. On Saturday, they beat NYAC 29:26, thereby qualifying for the semi-final later that day. SF Cal Heat progressed to the final by way of a 28:23 victory over Los Angeles Team Handball, while their final opponents, NYC, beat NYAC 32:22 in their semi-final.

In the women’s championship, NYC clinched the title with a 34:28 victory over Chicago Inter, while the DC Diplomats won a low-scoring 3/4 match versus Boston, 16:15. Though her team ranked fourth, Boston’s Noelia Anton Bolanos impressed on an individual level and was named MVP. The top scorer was Kathrine Agger, with 38 goals for SF Cal Heat. Her teammate Athena Del Rosario was awarded best goalkeeper.

NYC’s clear win in the final was something of a surprise, given they had drawn 26:26 with their opponents in the ultimate match, Chicago Inter, in their first game on Friday. NYC followed the draw with two victories – 27:18 versus Alberta later on Friday then 25:15 against SF Cal Heat on Saturday. In the semi-finals, NYC defeated the DC Diplomats 26:20, while Chicago won 23:19 versus Boston.

It took two periods of extra time for Alberta to defeat the Houston Fireworks 36:31, while Inter Miami took a decisive 26:18 win versus SF Cal Heat to take the bronze medal. Despite the loss in the final, Houston goalkeeper Eliud Fonseca’s performance was enough to earn him the title of best in his position. The MVP was Carolina Blue’s Mateusz Piec, and Long Island Tigers’ Alriel Briggs and Saskatchewan Juniors’ Matt Grohs were the joint top scorers with 45 goals apiece.

Unlike the elite men’s and women’s competitions, which both saw two preliminary round groups from where the four semi-finalists proceeded to the knock-out stage, the men’s division one championship was comprised of four playing groups followed by quarter-finals.

Before claiming the title on Sunday, Alberta had a bumpy start to the competition, beating Philly Team Handball 32:18, then suffering a 20:26 defeat to Firehawks. Alberta nevertheless qualified for the quarter-finals, where they won 22:18 against Carolina Blue, before collecting a 26:23 victory in the semi-final against Inter Miami Team Handball.

More information, including all results, can be found on the official USA Team Handball website.