Team handball in the United States is growing fast – but not always in straight lines. With no unified league structure, invitational tournaments, and players balancing full-time jobs alongside competition, the American scene can be hard to follow. In this in-depth Power rankings, former top-league player and current DC Diplomats head coach Ozan Sülüm breaks down the 2025–26 season so far, guiding us coast to coast through the clubs shaping U.S. handball – and the chaos that comes with it.
When it comes to the United States and the sport of handball, it is hard to navigate. The league is still not professional, nor as organized as its European counterparts, but the sport is growing each year. With regional leagues, invitational tournaments, and US Team Handball’s new season-long tournament, the inaugural USATH National Cup, the US Handball scene is a lot to digest.
But don’t worry, as a sports journalist who moved to the States three and a half years ago, played in the top league, and now coaches his local team, DC Diplomats, Ozan Sülüm is taking us on a wild ride from east to west.
Things to know
Before we start, to keep track of handball in the US, you need to know a bunch of things. As I mentioned above, competition is not unified, nor professional. There are club teams and college teams, yet they can play against each other in the league or in the tournaments. Oh, and the tournaments are not mandatory, but invitational. Of course, the goal for each team is to make it to the national finals, or “The Nationals,” and there are two divisions: Elite and Open. Teams need to qualify via their respective league standings – top two, if you’re lucky enough to have a regional league- or wildcard points they can earn via their tournament results to go to the Elite Division. If they can’t make it to the Elite Division, they can play in the Open Division National Championship. With me so far? But wait, there is more.
Since the teams aren’t professional or have significant sponsors, players mostly pay for their own costs for travelling and accommodation. Which is not ideal, as you can imagine. Apart from college team members, players of every single club have regular jobs, so sometimes they aren’t able to make it to a tournament their team is participating in, or they are unable to make it to league matchdays. All of these issues mean that teams sometimes can’t make it to a scheduled event and forfeit, or aren’t able to field their strongest teams and have to compete with their secondary players, or even with no subs! So you never know what you are getting in a matchup or in a tournament.
And one last thing, the inaugural USATH National Cup – a season-long event which is the culmination of three major handball tournaments in the US – acts as the national league in a way, as the champions will qualify for the 2026 North American and Caribbean Club Championships, which holds the ticket for the IHF Club World Championships, formerly known as Super Globe.
All of these make it hard to do a proper power ranking when it comes to handball in the US. But let’s give it a go. You would at least get to know the clubs, which would be a great start. By the way, you can find all the tournaments on YouTube for free if you want to watch them. The top ten ranking consists only of the club teams and teams that played at least five games so far in the season.
By the way, they call it “Team Handball” here.
1: New York City Team Handball Club (NYC THC) 8-0-0
Current Standing: 1
Photo: New York City Team Handball Club
Founded in 1973, with 25 League and 11 National titles, New York City Handball Club is one of the oldest, most organized, and successful handball clubs in the history of the US. While all the other aspects of handball in the US are looking for it, they are the epitome of consistency. As their motto, “The World’s Handball Club,” suggests, they have players from all over the world, which gives them their unique multi-cultural style of handball.
NYC THC has more weekly training than most of the teams in their division, can field two separate teams in any given tournament, does regular handball clinics for the community with great handball players such as Andrea Lekic or Thierry Omeyer, and are helping to spread the word on handball throughout the country. And have been winning at least one trophy each year.
With eight wins out of eight games, not to mention retaining their title in Chicago, at the Michael Lipov Memorial Cup (the three major tournaments hosted both The National Cup teams, and the ones who opted to stay out of it), and leading the Northeast Team Handball League’s 1st Division with a 100% record, they are the team to beat this season.
They have opted to stay out of the new National Cup, yet there are other ways to show that you are still a powerhouse.
With the top scorer with 29 goals at Michael Lipov, right back Togba Aboubacar’s athleticism and speed, tournament MVP Yauheni Halubichny’s left wing prowess, and Jackson Justimiano’s almost unmatchable saving rate in goal, NYC is hard to beat.
Their consistency in fielding their best team in every single match and the above-average quality player pool is their strength, none of the other clubs can compare.
2: Los Angeles Team Handball Club (LATHC) 7-0-1
Current Standing: 3
Photo: Los Angeles Team Handball Club
Now Los Angeles is an interesting case. Owned by former US National Team member and entrepreneur Lewis Howes, LA is about to change the handball scene in the US.
After Howes acquired LATHC, the hype created around the team took over social media. First, the investment he made into the program, then the donations from GoFundMe created such a budget for the club, they signed the likes of Viran Morros, Tobias Reichmann, Vid Kavticnik, and many more… To play in the inaugural USATH National Cup. On paper, nobody should be able to stop them. Now, you are thinking, “But all of those guys are retired players”, yet imagine them playing against players who can train one or two times a week in a middle school gym. You can see the big picture.
Of course, gathering great names to build a new team will not immediately make them the best team in the country. As the other American sports have, the East vs. West rivalry is pretty much on in Los Angeles THC’s case, as the New York Athletic Club and New York Handball Club, two historically major handball cultures, are still one step ahead of them, and Howes and Co. will need some time.
The team was off to a great start in the first half of the season, as they steamrolled National Cup opponents at the Michael Lipov Memorial, suffering their only loss of the season against NYAC by four goals. The defense looked great throughout the tournament – having Viran Morros helped no doubt – but not playing together enough looked like the main issue against NYAC in the final in critical moments.
They took their revenge from NYAC in Denver, though, beating them 32-31 while they made their way to the top of the National Cup standings with a 7-1 record, taking the first spot from Chicago Inter. Only one loss and top of the National Cup is not a bad look for Howes’ ex-pros.
3: Chicago Inter 6-0-2
Current Standing: 4
Led by their captain, Aljaz Supovec, and their German gang, they play like a proper European team. Powerful, technical, and tactically adaptable, Chicago Inter brings value to the US handball scene.
Chicago Inter started the 2025-26 season a little slow. A defeat against CalHeat – they scored only 15 goals, a season-low – and a draw against Milwaukee United at Minnesota Fall Classic, followed by a defeat against NYAC at Michael Lipov, they had to wait for their fourth game of the season against Army West Point Black for their first win of the season. And since then, they have been flying.
They had one of the toughest fixtures at the Samala Super Cup. Starting off with a 36-26 loss against up and running LATHC, they’ve bounced back against San Francisco CalHeat, went on to win their remaining games against Army West Point Black and NYAC, which took them one step above NYAC with the skin of their teeth.
Inter now sits only behind LATHC with a goal difference advantage against NYAC in the National Cup, but they need to win against the leaders next time they meet. Will their strong European core be enough to match former pros? We shall see.
4: New York Athletic Club (NYAC) 6-0-2
Current Standing: 5
Great start but bitter ending in the first part of the season for NYAC. New York’s red team has always had a great depth when it comes to their player pool, almost always played the season with two different teams, leading to the Nationals, and in the end, their former professionals took over from the regulars for the finals. This season is different, though, because of the National Cup.
Scoring 35 and winning against Chicago Inter in their first official match was impressive. With their fluid back movement, which can feed wings very easily, they are not easy to defend. On defense, their Danish gang gives them the power and the edge one-on-one, while they provide technical and tactical prowess against most of the teams. No doubt they were able to win the first leg of the National Cup at Michael Lipov, beating LATHC 28-24 – probably the most impressive win of the season – they were on top.
The momentum continued in Denver as well, until the last day of the tournament, as they suffered their first losses of the season back to back, losing against LATHC and NYAC, a fixture you can argue to be brutal, playing two of the best teams in the country back-to-back, nevertheless, those losses left them with some bitterness at the end of the first half of the season.
No doubt they will bounce back.
5: Minnesota Team Handball 7-0-4
Current Standing: 2
Hosts of the annual Minnesota Fall Classic, Minnesota Team Handball, are having a great first half of the season 2025-26 with seven wins out of eleven games.
Lead by their top scorer, Sam Erickson, the team took the second place at their home event, Fall Classic – only beaten by three goals against West Point Black – were fifth at the Michael Lipov Memorial Cup – which acts as the first event of the inagural USATH National Cup – and won their first ever US Team Handball sanctioned event at the Samala Super Cup in Denver – in their division, not the part of National Cup — after an MVP worthy performance from Erickson, beating San Diego Team Handball in the final.
Of course, two defeats against New York Athletic Club’s second team and Dallas at Michael Lipov is not a good look, showing that they are still one step behind the elite teams, yet one title and one final is not a bad look for them.
6: DC Diplomats (DCD) 9-0-5
Current standing: 7
A great yet awful first half for DCD so far. Let me explain.
First of all, you can definitely call me biased, since I am the head coach of DC Diplomats. I won’t challenge that. Keeping their momentum from last year, where they got sixth place in the Elite Division at Nationals, the DC Diplomats started the season in a good manner. On paper, they have the capability of achieving a lot since now they have a depth of 30 players, two separate teams for the Northeast Team Handball League’s Division 1 and Division 2, multiple high-rated talents across the field, and a substantially sturdier defence compared to last year; they should even be higher on this list. Especially after winning the Tar Heel Invitational, beating Miami Storms in the final. Yet, they aren’t.
The Diplomats are struggling to find their best team on the Division 1 matchdays, for the reasons I’ve mentioned above. They’ve lost all their Division 1 games so far, being able to field only 9 players in both matchdays – one of which was their unfit coach – yet they are leading the Division 2 with only one loss in six games, and they have managed to win a USATH-sanctioned tournament in North Carolina. It is clear that if Diplomats are able to field their best team, they can challenge anyone. Will they be able to find the same team that won the THI? I personally hope so.
7: Denver Wolves 5-0-8
Current Standing: 6
Denver Wolves is probably one of the busiest handball clubs in the States right now. Two men’s teams in almost every tournament, friendly games, their successful women’s team (Front Range), and the way they approached the season is quite impressive.
Wolves seem to be punching a bit above their weight class, as they are one of the committed teams to play in the National Cup; they are finding it hard to compete against the likes of NYAC and LATHC. The defeats against those giants are not shocking, given the fact that their bench isn’t as deep as the favorites, they weren’t able to spread their performances throughout 60 minutes.
However, led by their top scorer Bambo Drame, they struggle less against the teams just below the top, like San Francisco CalHeat and Milwaukee United. Two defeats against Army West Point Black are not great, but competing against the very best will get them there… If they can manage to have a deeper bench.
8: Pickerington Pandas 5-0-0
Current Standing: 8
Pandas are just below DCD and Denver Wolves despite their Buckeye Fall Classic title and being the only second unbeaten team, having played at least five games, and at least one tournament. It’s due to whom they’ve played against.
Buckeye Fall Classic was a walk in the park for them, scoring 211 goals in five games, with Matt Bolger being the top scorer of the tournament; they did not have any issues. It is an impressive first half of the season, but it feels like they have not been tested yet. Hopefully, we will see them play outside of Ohio this season. Carolina Blue Cup, maybe?
9: Miami Storms 4-0-1
Current Standing: 9
Powerful, aggressive, and experienced, Miami Storms are hard to handle. They had the tougher group in the Tar Heel Invitational, playing against Carolina Blue and the Tar Heels in front of a home crowd, but their defensive qualities made the difference. A very controlled semi-final against a young and athletic UNC team – the repeat of last year’s final – made them see the final, yet they failed to find answers against DCD’s solid core defense. Losing their big pivot, Jeff Langrock, to DC did not help either.
Miami is always solid in tournaments but lacks momentum in the season since they do not play regularly enough. Hope to see more of them soon.
10: San Francisco CalHeat (SFCH) 3-0-8
Current Standing: 10
Not long ago, San Francisco CalHeat were the National Champions and the team that went to the IHF Super Globe. They look very far away from that now.
Only one win in the Minnesota Fall Classic, followed by a disastrous Michael Lipov Memorial performance where they only won against Army West Point Black in four games, the season is not more than a step down for the club. At least for now.
Of course, losing their former pivot, Drew Donlin, to LATHC did not help, not to mention having a narrower player pool for this season; it is a rough start. Their top scorer, Maxi Baensch, not being available for the Samala Super Cup meant all the pressure was on Omid Bazanjani to lead the team, but they did not even have the numbers.
SFCH can only hope for a better second half.
Author: Ozan Sülüm