post

Team USA Places 4th in Tournament

Team USA at the Le Pouzin Town Hall earlier this month

Team USA at the Le Pouzin Town Hall earlier this month

Team USA closed out the Bernard Ritter Challenge Tourney in Chomerac, France, yesterday with a narrow defeat to French club, Port de Bouc (N3) 28-27.

Tournament Result Summary:  Link (Note:  the score of the USA-Etoile is transposed; the USA won that match)

Below is a summary of the team’s recent results in France

Aug 14, vs. Le Pouzin (N1) Loss (34-14)
Aux 16, vs. Le Pouzin (N1) Loss (44-13)
Aug 17, vs. Le Teil (N2) Win (28-25)
Aug 21, vs. Livron (N3) Draw (27-27)

Bernard Ritter Challenge Tournament
Aug 23, vs. Etoile sur Rhone (N3) Win (25-24)
Aug 24, vs. St Julien Denice (N3) Loss (30-12)
Aug 25, vs. Port de Bouc (PN) Loss (28-27)

An explanation on club levels in France:  As is the case in most European countries handball is organized in a pyramid structure with a small number of elite clubs at the top and more clubs playing at lower levels.  In France the structure is currently

1) LFH:  1 pool with 10 clubs (10 total clubs)
2) D2: 1 pool with 12 clubs (12 total clubs)
3) N1: 3 pools with 12 clubs each (36 total clubs)
4) N2: 4 pools with 12 clubs each (48 total clubs)
5) N3: 8 pools with 12 clubs each (96 total clubs)
6) PN or Pre-National: Locally organized competitions (~200-300 clubs)

Caveats on the USA’s results:  The USA team is composed of a limited number of players with widely varying experience levels from ages 16-32.  Additionally, the team has had to “borrow” goalies from other teams and has had at least one of their players (veteran Kathy Darling) unavailable due to club commitments with Le Pouzin for some of the matches.