Handball, having already made their mark after last year’s accomplishments, is taking an even bigger step forward this season.
Head Coach Mike Steele has brought in David Steinberg as an addition to the handball coaching staff.
Steinberg, a professional of his craft, has much experience to bring to the squad, and his resume stands to prove it.
Steinberg spent 15 years playing on the handball professional tour, spending most of that time ranked in the top ten in the country.
Twenty-one titles belong to him between National and World levels. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Steinberg has been honored by the U.S. Handball Association as a Grand Master.
Most recently, Steinberg has claimed the World Champion title at the World Tournament in Dublin, Ireland in October of last year. He took home the title in the 55 and over age group, not to mention having overcome a torn rotator cuff to get the win.
Now at Pacific alongside Steele, also a major component of the handball world, the team will have all the knowledge they would ever need to be successful.
“We are very, very fortunate to have him here.” Steele said. “It is a major upgrade from years past. We have never had anyone with his level of experience.”
“The program has grown tremendously over the last three years, maybe not in the way that other programs on campus might grow as in numbers of participants, but we have grown in talent,” said team member Gavin Brown.
Brown, an individual title winner at the national championship last year, knows of Steinberg’s history, and is looking forward to learning from him. Brown also hopes to continue with handball after his time at Pacific is up.
“Oregon is one of the states that handball is thriving in and I plan on continuing to be a part of it. At the state tournaments I watch people who are 60 to 75 years old who play each other in their own divisions. I plan on being one of those guys in 40 to 50 years, still sharing that love of handball,” said Brown.
Steinberg is also a licensed physical trainer. Steele is excited about his ability to help out in more ways than just handball. In fact, Steinberg has been assisting with the football team’s training staff. As far as future plans go, Steinberg will take the place of Steele as Pacific Handball Head Cwoach.
Steele, having a long run of his own, expects to step down into an assistant role once Steinberg takes over.
“We have had a lot of strong support from the athletic director and the rest of Pacific over the years,” Steele said.
For now, Steinberg will pass on his knowledge of the game to the members of the handball team and Pacific’s handball class as well as help around the many other aspects of Boxer athletics.
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