January 22, 2009 USA Team Handball: Tale of a tryout Play video

(Adam Hart, NECN) - Watching the Beijing Olympics, one would be hard pressed not to notice a particular sport with fast paced action -- a sport unknown to many in the United States. That sport is Team Handball.

Popular in Europe, Team Handball is missing on the main page of the American sports landscape. USA Team Handball, the official governing body of the sport in America, is looking to change that fact.

With sights set on the 2012 Olympic Games in London, USA Team Handball, based in Salt Lake City, has put fliers out via their website USATeamHandball.org for all interested to apply to try out for the national team.

The national team is fairly set. The search is more for junior players to develop a strong foundation of the program's future -- for 2016 and beyond.

Despite only playing the game in his high school gym class, NECN.com producer Adam Hart applied for the West Point tryout scheduled for January 16, 2009. Understanding that the game is not well known, the application asked for an athletic resume from which organizers would accept or reject one's opportunity to take part in the tryout.

On December 22, 2008, Adam received an official invitation from USA Team Handball to try out for the national team. With less than a month to prepare, Adam spent much of his time outside of NECN preparing himself physically, sometimes spending four hours in a single day on training

When the day came, he declared himself fit. Conditioning, he thought, would not be something that kept him off the national team's radar.

The tale of his tryout, from the application process to the day he stepped back into his house with exhausted legs in the early hours of January 17th, can be viewed in the video player above. Do not be fooled by his mostly failed attempts at humor; Adam trained seriously for this opportunity. He simply prefers to look back at painful life experiences with a good sense of humor. Because laughter is the best medicine.

Tryout conditioning results found at BostonScore.tv

As for how one can get involved in the sport of Team Handball, USATeamHandball.org is a terrific resource. Not only does the governing body list clubs for areas across the country, but it approves new clubs for membership on a weekly basis. Also, the equipment necessary to play Team Handball is available in the website's store.

Thanks to Jennifer Thompson, Beth Hart and Russ Hart for manning Adam's video camera. Without their efforts, this video would not be possible.