Handball originated in Ireland almost a millenium ago. Evidence of the sport has been found in the baths of Rome and later in Spain and France. Handball came to the US with Irish players in the 1880's.

Handball is played in walled courts or against a single wall, with a small rubber ball that iis struck with the hand or fist and against the wall. The object of the sport is to cause the ball to rebound with variations of power and speed and at such an angle that the opposition cannot return it

There are thre variations of Handball: four-wall, three-wall, and one-wall. Matches can be singles or doubles our held round-robin style with a tournaments in lladder format.

Handball is still a popular sport in cities with New York being one of the cities that boasts the most handball players. Two of the city's most reputed courts are right on campus: the West 4th St. courts and the Carmine Courts at 7th Ave.

Now Handball has come to NYU. The Handball club features three-wall handball played in the raquetball courts of the Coles Sports Recreation Center. There are several regional as well as national tournaments that club members can attend. Handball is a city-oriented sport--new members, whether they have played or not, can get a feel for the essence of NYC by playing this sport.

For more information, see the United States Handball Association at http://www.ushandball.org/.