Usually handball teams in the U.S. take a break after Nationals in May. Everybody takes their well deserved vacations, visit friends and families at home and waits for the new indoor season to start in September. That was not the case in California and especially not for SF CalHeat.<\/p>\n
Summer time is Beach Handball time in California. Under the direction of USA Beach Handball Elite Team Player Michelle Mensing, the SF CalHeat players soon found a new home court at Ocean Beach, in San Francisco and on the grass fields of Mountain View. From June to September the orange lines and white PVC goals attracted not only club members, but also non-handball players and international guests to play Beach Handball, which is in consideration to become an Olympic Sport. <\/p>\n
A SF CalHeat record of 22 practices (10 beach and 12 grass handball) provided attendees with fun, lessons in basic beach handball techniques, and a lot of new friends. But the practices were not just for the lovers of the game, they were the perfect preparation for the summer season highlight: The 11th annual SoCal Beach Handball Championship<\/a> in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n As a tournament regular, for SF CalHeat it means meeting old and new friends, and it is always a pleasure to play under the Californian sun in Huntington Beach. SF CalHeat was able to send a women and a men team to this year’s tournament, with Jean-Marc Junique Froloff attending for his 11th time (tournament record). This year’s tournament saw the strongest line-up ever with National Teams and players from Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, USA, Australia and New Zealand. <\/p>\n The men team consisting of nine SF CalHeat players started strong with two straight wins in the tournament. During group play the team only lost against Jacob’s Birthday Party and Electric Bird, both teams featuring multiple USA Beach Handball National Team players. With the second place in group B the team went on to the semifinals to face RIP HC, another team consisting mostly of National Team players. SF CalHeat managed to win the first half, but was forced to shootouts and lost those by 4:1 goals. In the bronze medal match they faced Jacob’s Birthday Party again and as in the group play were not able to have the upper hand, finishing the tournament in 4th place. <\/p>\n The women team, competing only with six players throughout the entire tournament, missed the start of the tournament. Losing the first half by golden goal and the second half by dominance of Mexico’s brilliant center-pivot combination, the women lost their first match against last year’s tournament winner. The team was able to recover and win one half against the Tornado (Team USA\/LA), but the Tornado kept the upper hand in the shootout. Determined to win their next game, which would result in direct qualification for the semi-finals, the team regrouped and changed their strategy leading them to win against Trinidad & Tobago.<\/p>\n On Sunday the women team faced the second USA Nationals \/ LA players team, named Two Points. With newly won confidence and a great offensive strategy the team played itself into a rush, dominating the first half and winning the second. The next game would see the women facing team Tornado again in the semi-finals, with the bitter loss in the shootout payback time was on and the women team delivered. Winning both halves they qualified as in the previous year for the tournament final and like the year before the opponent would be Colima\/Mexico.<\/p>\n Without a warm up (the sun and playing with only one substitute for 5 games was warm up enough) the women kicked-off the game one last time with a strong “CALHEAT”. And strong they started, almost eliminating the center-pivot plays the girls won the first half. The second half was hazard to bad passes, too many simple errors and fatigue, and forced the game once again to shootouts. Shootouts create legends and so did this one. Lead by two incredible saves from Helena Bondan<\/a>, the team could win the shootouts with two simple one-point goals (end score: 7:6) securing their first ever gold medal at the SoCal Beach Handball Championship<\/a>. <\/p>\n SF CalHeat wants to thank USA Beach Handball<\/a> and the Los Angeles Team Handball Club<\/a> for hosting this excellent tournament and would like to invite everyone to our own beach handball tournament on September 23\/24 in Ocean Beach, San Francisco. (More information here: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NorCalBeachHandball\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n SF CalHeat will resume its indoor practices on Monday September 11th at the Centerville Junior High School Gym in Fremont, California.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Usually handball teams in the U.S. take a break after Nationals in May. Everybody takes their well deserved vacations, visit friends and families at home and waits for the new indoor season to start in September. That was not the case in California and especially not for SF CalHeat. Summer time is Beach Handball time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18269,"featured_media":5881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Summer, Sand, Sensation","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-web-links"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/21231581_10155099171499353_5296519802466871774_n.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7INHg-1wM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9199,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/2024-handball-scholarship-awarded-to-san-diego-state-freshman-paulo-barr-gutierrez","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":0},"title":"2024 Handball Scholarship Awarded to San Diego State Freshman Paulo Barr-Gutierrez","author":"Martin Bilello","date":"June 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"San Francisco CalHeat President, Jean-Marc Junique, and Youth Development Director, Martin Bilello, met with San Diego State Freshman, Paulo Barr-Gutierrez to congratulate him on being the 2024 awardee of the \"SF CalHeat Handball Scholarship\". This unique scholarship was created to provide financial help for Graduating Seniors who have played Handball\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/blog"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PauloScholarship2024.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PauloScholarship2024.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PauloScholarship2024.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PauloScholarship2024.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/PauloScholarship2024.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3436,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/first-youth-california-cup-hosted-by-sf-calheat","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":1},"title":"First Youth California Cup Hosted by SF CalHeat","author":"Martin Bilello","date":"November 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On November 5th\u00a0SF CalHeat Team Handball Club hosted the first Youth Team Handball tournament in the history of the Bay Area. At the Centerville Junior High Gym, in Fremont, Sterne School, Stanbridge Academy, Lyc\u00e9e Fran\u00e7ais de San Francisco, and Bayhill High School competed in 2 x 20 min. games against\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/blog"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_2040.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_2040.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_2040.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5840,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/sf-calheat-and-hummel-usa-change-the-bay-area-through-team-handball","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":2},"title":"SF CalHeat and Hummel USA change the Bay Area through Team Handball","author":"Michelle Mensing","date":"September 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"SF CalHeat is beyond excited to announce that Hummel USA will be the official equipment and sports apparel sponsor for the SF CalHeat Youth Team Handball Program (SFYTH). Over the course of the next two years SFYTH and Hummel will be working together to spread the knowledge of the sport\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/blog"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HummelAnnouncement.jpg?fit=600%2C399&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HummelAnnouncement.jpg?fit=600%2C399&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/HummelAnnouncement.jpg?fit=600%2C399&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3742,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/sf-calheat-women-and-mens-teams-going-to-usaths-2017-national-championships","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":3},"title":"SF CalHeat Women and Men\u2019s teams going to USATH\u2019s 2017 National Championships","author":"Martin Bilello","date":"May 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"San Francisco CalHeat Team Handball Club will be sending one women\u2019s team along with one men\u2019s team to USATH\u2019s 2017 National Championships held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on the weekend of May 19th - 21st . Our players are looking forward to represent the Bay Area during this tournament,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/blog"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/TeamSmall.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/TeamSmall.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/TeamSmall.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9619,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/two-sf-calheat-mens-teams-travel-to-huntington-ca-for-the-xviii-socals-beach-championship","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":4},"title":"Two SF CalHeat Men\u2019s teams travel to Huntington, CA for the XVIII SoCals Beach Championship","author":"Constance Duvert","date":"July 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An incredible weekend of beach handball has officially wrapped up as SoCals XVIII came to a close on August 25th. For nearly two decades, this tournament has held its ground as the largest and most vibrant handball event in the Americas, bringing the entire community together on the sand. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Web Links"","block_context":{"text":"Web Links","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/web-links"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/538867816_18288765013283163_4118836144277729705_n.jpg?fit=958%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/538867816_18288765013283163_4118836144277729705_n.jpg?fit=958%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/538867816_18288765013283163_4118836144277729705_n.jpg?fit=958%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/538867816_18288765013283163_4118836144277729705_n.jpg?fit=958%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5747,"url":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/sf-calheat-women-went-to-usath-open-nationals-2017","url_meta":{"origin":5876,"position":5},"title":"SF CalHeat Women went to USATH Open Nationals 2017","author":"Martin Bilello","date":"June 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For this year\u2019s nationals, the SF CalHeat women team traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with high hopes of performing well and accomplishing a better standing than the previous season. This year Calheat had a full roster of very strong players from different nationalities; it is always great to see\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/category\/blog"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/SFCalHeatWomenTeam2017Carrousel.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/SFCalHeatWomenTeam2017Carrousel.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.calheat.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/SFCalHeatWomenTeam2017Carrousel.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5876"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5893,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5876\/revisions\/5893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calheat.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}