Beach Handball
National Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Team
All activities postponed due to COVID-19.
U18 Junior & U15 Youth Men/Women
Members of the U18 Junior and U15 Youth Men and Women’s Beach Handball teams trained every Monday and Wednesday at OMV, and Saturdays at the Maliu Mai Beach Handball Court. Due to COVID-19 restrictions in place by the government, our regular training fields and courts were closed.
The 2020 Oceania Championships/Youth Olympic Qualifier – due to be held in the Cook Islands – has been postponed due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Training is organised into three phases; strength/conditioning, skills and tactics. Social distancing is implemented as much as possible at training.
Try outs continue for U15 Boys’ and U15 Girls’ teams for the 2020 Oceania Championships.
Beach Court
The beach court at Lions Park is near completion, thanks to assistance from DPR, Larry Sanitoa, Dean Hudson, Fletcher Construction and CBT, with assistance from American Samoa National Olympic Committee (ASNOC) SDO, Laulaau Laulu.
Indoor Handball
Men’s Indoor
Try outs for the 2020 U17, U21 and Senior Men’s Oceania Championship teams are suspended until further notice due to COVID-19 tournament rescheduling.
2020 Oceania Youth and Junior Championships is the Cook Islands have also been suspended, with a new date yet to be set.
Woman’s Indoor
U13 training; weekly.
U17 and Senior; off Season.
Development
Lupelele Elementary School PE suspends partnership with grade levels 5, 6 and 7 throughout the quarter, due to COVID-19 Code Blue restrictions.
Youth Handball
Suspended until at least July 1, 2020.
Handball for Fun
Usually held every Wednesday at the Sports Complex – currently suspended.
Member Accolades
ASNOC’s 2017 Top Junior Female Athlete and 2018 Youth Olympic Games Women’s National Beach Handball Captain, Stephanie Floor, has again been named as an All-American Scholar by the NCAA. Stephanie wrestles for Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
2020 International Tournament Schedule
Oceania U15 Beach Handball Championships/2022 YOG Qualifier (Men & Women)
Oceania U21 & U18 Men’s Indoor Handball Championships
Special Report
There has been zero reported cased of COVID-19 in American Samoa. The government has put in place a Code Blue alert, requiring people to maintain a 6-foot distance from each other, and restricting all non-family gatherings and sports. All flights have also been suspended.
The American Samoa Handball Association (ASHA) was able to maintain training by adjusting all training to the directives of the Code Blue.
ASHA July Update
We decided that because the U16 Oceania Beach Handball Championships kept getting postponed due to COVID-19, we would host an in-house tournament. The tournament was designed to showcase the skills of our U16 athletes for their families and supporters.
As it becomes more difficult to train at an elite level due to the cancellations, we also thought this would be a way to keep our athletes committed. Along with this concept, many of our new athletes have never competed at a high level so by creating a high caliber Championship Tournament, complete with sleep over, dignitaries and special guests, our athletes would understand the importance of proper preparation for a tournament of this level.
We modelled our tournament after ones in Australia in a mixed team format, where two men and two women must be on the court at all times.
The athletes were divided evenly into two 10-person teams, while a team of veterans was formed to challenge the younger players. In addition, each team was coached for six weeks by inexperienced new coaches under the direction of our National Coaches, CJ Sagapolutele Floor and Joey Sagapolu, who would then officiate the games.
The tournament, which took place on Saturday 1 August, was a success as it gave the athletes the needed experience, and showcased their abilities to their parents and supporters.
With the COVID-19 restrictions loosened up ,we now train our National Teams every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Both Indoor and Beach Handball are taught in these sessions, as our player will cross over between the disciplines.