Chelsea Wagner and competition are synonymous.
The fiery Oregon graduate made her mark on the women’s basketball team during her three years in Eugene. Oregon’s legendary sharpshooter is now learning a sport of a new variety – handball.
Wagner, a Springfield native, arrived in New York two days after graduating on June 17 and has since dedicated herself to picking up the nuances of handball. The quicker she picks it up, the greater the reward, with a regular role on the U.S. National Team looming.
“I wouldn’t say that handball’s a difficult sport, but obviously trying to play on the national team after never playing it before – it’s been a huge transition,” said Wagner by phone from Ithaca, New York.
The upcoming year is important for the U.S. National Team’s goal of qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
The national team is participating in the Senior Quebec League and plans to play in the first three matches of the 2006-07 season. The team then heads to Sweden from Dec. 1-10 as they continue to prepare for the North American Pan-American Games Qualification.
In the beginning of January, the national team is playing in the North American Qualifier, a best-of-three competition between the United States and Canada with the winner earning the North American spot at the 2007 Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The national team returns to the Quebec League, where it competes in the regular season through March 2007 and attempts to earn a playoff spot in April.
Wagner is immersing herself in handball, learning the sport and gaining on-court experience. She’s taken the time to adjust to a city she describes as similar to Eugene.
“I didn’t think I would actually be able to find a place that was as beautiful as Eugene with all the green and how beautiful it was and I’ve found another place,” Wagner said.
All the handball players live in apartments throughout Ithaca, New York. Handball is a growing sport in its infancy in the United States. The handball team is receiving minimal funding until they can prove they can be successful.
Wagner and her teammates are working to find sponsors and put together their Web site www.usateamhandballwomen.com. For those who are interested in helping Wagner, individuals can make tax-deductible donations through her profile on the Web site.
“It’s a lot of sacrifice but we’re kind of laying down the groundwork for the future of this national team, where hopefully in five years this will be a common sport in the U.S.,” Wagner said.
Team members have full-time jobs during the day and train at night. Wagner found a job she loves, working as a nanny for a 4-month-old boy named Max. Wagner and her teammates practice every night, except Mondays and Thursdays, and practice twice on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday practices also include a 1-1/2 to 2-hour video session.
“I love kids so it just happens to work out that I can play for a national team and actually have a job that I like. I’m pretty lucky,” Wagner said.
Wagner thrived at Oregon despite a variety of injuries, namely a knee injury that cut short her junior year. She took the spring term off after last season to spend time relaxing, visiting with family and friends and to attend classes.
The time off made a difference, Wagner says, who lists a sore shoulder as her biggest issue. She spends time on a stationary bike, which helps her knees.
“This is maybe going to sound stupid, but I’ve been injured so much it’s like, ‘OK, obviously I’m going to get injured so I’m not going to be scared of it because I already know it’s going to happen, so it’s just a matter of when I’m going to get injured,’” Wagner said. “I’m definitely not afraid to go out there and play 100 percent and give up my body for the play.”
Handball is a physical sport, much to Wagner’s enjoyment.
“You practically tackle each other,” she said. “People have bruises all over the places. You get people (with) broken noses and concussions and things like that. It’s pretty intense. It’s like women’s football almost.”
Wagner’s teammates have come from all varieties of backgrounds, whether it is basketball or soccer. She learned of the opportunity to play handball through an e-mail from national team head coach Christian Latulippe, who wanted athletes interested in pursuing the Olympic Dream.
“When I got the e-mail, I thought that sounds like so much fun,” Wagner said. “You get to tryout a new sport and then when I got more information about it, I was really excited about it.”
Wagner is in a competition with four others for the circle position. The circle position sets screens and picks and shoots hard and fast from the six-meter line. Latulippe commends Wagner’s defensive abilities, while he looks for her to continue to develop in the next 6 to 8 months.
“I think her weakness right now is understanding the offensive part of the game,” Latulippe said.
Wagner remains cognizant of her lifelong love of basketball. Wagner completed her senior season last year with averages of 9.3 points per game and had 57 three-pointers to lead the team.
She is up front in saying that she’s not forgotten basketball.
“I plan on going overseas to play basketball, but I had never thought about ever playing for our national team for basketball,” Wagner said. “That was never going to happen – for this opportunity to be presented is pretty cool.”
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