Archive: Around Town

Last Friday wood was flying at Jim and Mary Sullivan's house.  Actually the logs were being tossed by members of the USA Team Handball Women's National Team.  The Sullivans needed the wood stacked, and the women took the opportunity to get a little practice in while getting the job done.  "They are really nice hard-working women," Mary says.  "They deserve to make it to the Olympics."


And that is the goal.  Under the guidance of Coach Christian Latulippe and Assistant Coach Dawn Allinger-Lewis, the team has converged on SUNY Cortland to train for the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, China.  Four of them, Tabitha 'Tabby' Lowey, Anne Coulter, Erin Kizer, and Chelsea Wagner, have rented a Lansing house together and formed 'Coaches Cleaning' to help pay their expenses.  "We're pretty much up for anything somebody wants to throw at us," Lowey says.  "So if someone wants us to come and help man a party and pour drinks we'll do that.  If someone wants us to stack wood we'll do that.  If someone wants us to clean the bathroom, we're up for it.  We'll do whatever to make this thing work."

Team Handball is a bit like soccer, but with some elements of basketball or volleyball mixed in.  The ball is smaller than a soccer ball, and it is tossed, passed, and bounced as the team moves along the court to score in a soccer-like goal.  It's a very physical game, and exciting to watch as the team practices in the field house in Cortland.  The game is not well known in the US, but is quite popular in Europe.  In fact it was the third most-watched Olympic sport in Europe, after swimming and athletics.

While the team receives some money from the US Olympic Committee, the players must raise more to pay their rent and expenses, as well as some expenses to do with the team.  "We have limited funding from USOC because we're a smaller profile sport," Kizer says.  "So we have to support ourselves as far as rent, food, the bills, that sort of thing.  Additionally we have to help pay for our travel."


"We have a lot of objectives that we want to achieve, and we can't do that on our own," explains Allinger-Lewis.  "So the athletes are asked to contribute.  For instance we are going to Sweden in December.  They're contributing for the tickets to get there.  Otherwise we wouldn't be able to do it.  Could we still get by?  Yes.  Would we be as competitive or have the experience that we need?  No."

The players are college graduates from all over the country.  Lowey, from Atlanta, played soccer at Northwestern University in Chicago.  Kizer, who played softball at Cornell, is from Houston.  Coulter, from New Hampshire, played volleyball and basketball at Colby-Sawyer College, and Wagner played basketball at the University of Oregon.


None of the four had played team handball before.  "We didn't know what it was," Lowey says.  "Most of us came in not even knowing what the sport was, and came for a tryout and found out there."  In fact, just about everything was new.  None of the women had met before, and all but Kizer were new to the area.  But it all clicked, and they have bonded quickly off the court as well as on.  "There's been so much going on, and I spend so much time with them that it's an easy fit," Lowey says.  "We have the same interests and the same goals, so it makes it a lot easier."

The women are working hard to make reach those goals.  Kizer works at Subway and has a part time softball coaching job at Cornell while they try to build Coaches Cleaning to the point where she can concentrate on the one business.  "Hopefully this will take off and it will be better for our schedule," she says. 


And so far the women say the community has been welcoming.  "We really really like living in Ithaca," Coulter says.  "When we first came here from Oregon, Texas, Georgia, and New Hampshire, we all met here.  We didn't have anything but our clothes."  She logged onto FreeCycle, a Web site where people can trade items, and found Mary Sullivan, who had posted some furniture there.  "We met her, and she's been calling us to do little jobs," Coulter adds.  "She's been getting the word out."

That's been the tough part, getting the word out.  Word of mouth by people like the Sullivans has helped, and they have been distributing a flyer that asks people to contact them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to call at 319-0692.  The four are starting to get some regular jobs, and are learning how their clients like things cleaned.   "We like to work together, because we're a team," Coulter says.  And when they can, they use the work to prepare for the game.  "The best workout was definitely stacking wood," she adds.

"I think winning the gold would be a major fulfillment," Lowey says.  "It's something that I've always dreamed about -- I can't even imagine it becoming a reality, but that's what we're going for.  After that I think it will help us to grow the sport in the nation, because I think team handball has a lot of potential here."  Kizer agrees.  "That would be great for the sport in general," she adds.  "It's a fast paced and physical game that's geared to the US personality."

Coulter sums up, "We are the underdog team.  With the whole cleaning business, we want to clean up at the Olympics!  That's our goal, and we're cleaning one house at a time."

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