The “Handball Lobos” are ready to get a hand on their second year as an official club team.
The handball team was formed last fall by four students from the handball class offered at UNM.
Former research biology professor Carl White coaches the team. He said the team has only four players, but he expects more to join this year. He said the team needs six players in order to have a full roster.
“The competition is improving,” he said. “We lost one player to graduation last year and I am hopeful to get a couple more.”
Its first-ever tournament was at the National Handball Championships last February in Tempe, Ariz. The team placed 16th out of 34 teams.
White said he was impressed with how well the team did in its first tournament.
“It was not bad, I was very pleased with it,” he said.
Team member Jennifer Saunders, a graduate student at UNM, is currently ranked as the No. 10 female player in the world by United States Handball Association. Her ranking is based on points earned at professional tournaments, which are held every two months.
Last year at nationals she came down with food poisoning and was not able to fully compete.
“We went to collegiate and did extremely well last year,” she said. “I could only imagine how much higher we would have been ranked if I would have played.”
Saunders said she competes both in college and professional handball tournaments.
“As long as you are a full-time student they let you compete at the collegiate level and at the professional level,” she said. “It gives college players a chance to see what it’s like to play at a pro level.”
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White said the team keeps its expenses low, but last year it cost the team about $1,600 to go to nationals. He said the team receives most of its money through donations from the community.
“To rent out the courts, as long as it’s for UNM students, there is no fee because it’s through the recreational services,” he said. “The big thing is traveling to nationals, but we had enough to cover it.”
This year the team hosts its first tournament on Oct. 29 at UNM. White said the tournament is open to all students, regardless of skill level.
The team’s first test will be at the local Dog Bowl tournament in December, where more than 100 people compete each year.
Next spring the team will travel to Springfield, Mo., to play in the 2012 NHC, and Saunders said she thinks the team will place much higher than it did last year.
“Out of the four, three of them have only been playing for about three years and they are getting really good,” she said. “They are coming a long way. We have gotten a lot of support from the community to help us get to nationals.”
