Scholastic Roundup: Handball making a PSAL push

September 9, 2022 Andy Furman

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Summer is almost over, but Inner-City Handball Outreach Classic – in cooperation with New York State Assemblymember Stefani L. Zinerman has its last outdoor free outreach tournament of 2022.

Organized handball returns to Bedford Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Brownsville and East New York – with high expectations of getting PSAL handball teams back in these communities.

The event is free – but limited to the first 50 online entries. Eye-guards are mandatory. One pair of free lensed eye-guards will be provided to each player.

And who can participate?

Any teen player interested in exploring tournament handball for the first time.

Any teen player interested in understanding the rules of handball

Any teen player interested in future scholarships in the sport of handball

Any teen player interested in volunteering for a community charity

Any teen player interested in meeting other teen players and having a fun weekend of handball

The event is set for St. John’s Park, Brooklyn, Saturday, September 17th. Registration: [email protected]

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St. Francis College women’s water polo coach has added some international flavor to his 2023 recruiting class.

The three incoming student athletes add to 17 returning Terriers, including leading goal scorer Sydney DeVroedt, according to coach Ilija Duretic.

And they hail from New Zealand, Serbia and Zimbabwe.

Greer Anderson developed her skills with Tauranga Water Polo and Seawolf Water Polo in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. She says she chose St. Francis College for the location of the school, quality of education and connection with the coaches and student-athletes. Her plans – to continue her education in the law field in the Criminology Program.

Anja Pavlin joins the Terrier program after representing Serbia at the European U19 Women’s Water Polo Championships in July. Pavlin and the Serbian team advanced out of Group A, along with Spain and Israel.

She plans to study Radiology at St. Francis with an eye towards a career in healthcare.

Wandile Banda arrives in Brooklyn after season at McKendree University. Th Bulawayo, Zimbabwe native appeared in 21 games for the Bearcats as an attacker and scored one goal. One of nine siblings in her family, she plans to major in Economics at St. Francis – with a goal towards helping the economy in her native Zimbabwe.

The 2023 season commences at the Bucknell University Invitational, January 29th.

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The Northeast Conference’s preseason coaches poll picks LIU men’s cross-country team to finish fourth behind Central Connecticut, Wagner and St. Francis.

“We’re bringing everyone back, and a lot of guys are having a phenomenal summer,” coach Chris Sauer released.

Sophomore Elyas Ayyoub comes off an impressive freshman year for the Sharks. He earned a spot on the all-conference team after being named Rookie of the Meet at the NEC Championships.

Other returnees include: Jonathan Gonzalez, Bryan Villafuerte, Brenden Rosario, Perry Balsamo and Lucas Fernandez.

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Former LIU Athletic Director Jerry Donner sends along a thought:

“With the NCAA’s Transfer Portal and policy creating chaos on all division levels, I would like to propose and add more insanity.

“The next level of transfers will allow trades of players between institutions. I say this tongue-in-cheek, but perhaps this is already going on behind the scenes.”

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Sheepshead Bay High and later Brooklyn College graduate Howard Kellman called the Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays baseball game on WFAN Radio (660-AM) and on the Yankees Radio Network last Friday – this after 46 years and some 6,000 games he’s called for the Indianapolis Indians. He says former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher – and Indiana resident – Carl Erskine told him that the organist at Ebbets Field used to play, “Back Home in Indiana,” when Hall of Famer Gil Hodges (Princeton, Indiana) batted and Erskine pitched.

“I talked to Carl recently,” Kellman said, “and he’s thrilled Gil was chosen for the Hall of Fame. There is no question that a lot of Carl goes with Gil to Cooperstown. I’m so very happy for Gil – and Carl.”

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Ivan Lee and his LIU women’s fencing team was recognized by the United States Fencing Coaches Association for success in the classroom.

The Sharks produced a collective 3.47 grade-point-average during the 2021-22 academic year, garnering them a USFCA Team Academic Award. LIU was one of only 15 programs nationwide to be honored.

Additionally, 12 fencers were individually honored for their 2021-22 GPAs.

Grace Scura, Anna Szantay, Madysen D’Angelo, Laura Fekete, Daniela Perez Leal, Khrystyna Sarkisian and Nicole Nicou earned Scholar of Distinction recognition and to the All-Academic Team.

Jillian Ortega, Alina Chen, Samantha Kalner, Sarah Ellis and Lurana Pekelman also were named to the All-Academic team.

All-Academic Team honors are presented to those student-athletes at member institutions who had an in-season GPA of 3.3 or higher. Scholar of Distinction honors are presented to those student athletes who had an in-season GPA of 3.7 or higher.

LIU women’s volleyball coach Ken Ko earned his 100th career victory when the Sharks defeated NJIT last Friday. He’s been at LIU eight seasons and owns a .538 winning percentage.

And the LIU men’s water polo team earned their first official win in program history with a 20-4 win over Penn State Behrend, last Sunday.

Against Penn State Behrend, freshman Charlie Downey led the Sharks with five goals.

Andy Furman is a Fox Sports Radio national talk show host. Previously, he was a scholastic sports columnist for the Brooklyn Eagle. He may be reached at: [email protected] Twitter: @AndyFurmanFSR.