Subject: USA U21 National Team

Hi everyone, just wanted to give a recap of our US U21 Handball year.


Beginning of Season Outlook:

We came into the season a very young team with an unbalanced roster. 4 of our top 6 OV players were goalies and 10 of our top 20, being just 20 years old. While we did have some solid defensive players, there was a real lack of depth and attacking ability throughout the team, and a severe lack of speed. The main goal was to remain competitive in world cup qualifying, while getting many of the 20 year olds playing time to develop some chemistry.


Friendlies:

We went 2-3 in friendlies, against some quality competition and did a nice job developing at the preferred style for this season, a slow methodical pace to help maximize our advantages at GK. I was particularly happy with our ability to keep a close game with a very solid Croatia team.


World Championship Qualifying:

We did a good job qualifying out of group 1 with a 4-4 record, although our lack of offensive ability really shown through against Turkey and Germany. At home, we were able to keep matches close and turn them into low scoring slug fests, but on the road, we could rarely get anything going offensively.


World Championships:

The world championships were a disappointment. Highlighting two particular games, Portugal and Italy, we made some tactical adjustments to play at a higher pace, and we generated a lot of shots and easier looks, especially on the fast break. But our shooting in these games was abysmal.


Next Season Outlook:

While playing with a very young team is not ideal, it does offer some excitement going into next season. I think we will have one of the strongest GK duos in the world next year, with Oli Wolfe and Joe Raymond both being excellent options for this level. We return our best offensive winger, and a very strong defensive foundation to build around. We also have an extremely strong group of field players coming through from the U19 this next season, that should be able to see minutes early. I think next season we can make a push to win a few World Championship games.


Lastly, thank you to everyone supporting the Nation Teams. Please feel free to shoot me a message anytime about anything, and if you have interest in helping as an assistant, please let me know.

Go USA