Justin Grosz, a junior at Wallenpaupack Area High School, is a busy student both in the classroom and with a variety of extracurricular activities that he not only participates in, but also takes an active role and puts plenty of time and energy into.

Besides being a professional race car driver in the midget car association, he is a member of the National Honor Society, National Society of High School Scholars, and Future Business Leaders of America, and now as part of his senior project, a requirement for graduation, he is trying to promote a new sport to the area.

Team Handball is the sport he is hoping to make people interested in and aware of and is setting up a tournament at the High School on May 19. Team Handball is played in 159 nations by an estimated 39 million people, and is a cross between basketball, soccer, and lacrosse, combining the fast-paced elements of each of these sports.

“I did my graduation paper on globalization and marketing of sports and saw that handball was one of the sports that is real popular across the world, except for here. I figured I would try to take a grassroots approach and try to get something started in Pennsylvania with Team Handball,” said Grosz.

The tournament on May 19 will not only promote the sport but will also be a chance for the U.S. Team Handball Olympics Organization to get their sport noticed and they are helping Justin along the way to make the event successful.

“They are recruiting players for the 2016 Olympics and they figure if they can start training them young, right now, that they’ll be ready for the Olympics,” said Grosz.

The reasons for doing the project are simple as Justin showed in three simple yet effective statements that he displayed in part of the project’s paper:

1 - Show a grassroots approach can be successful;

2 - Prove through first-class marketing, an event can flourish;

3 - To prove the theory  that if a sport can interest young adults, that they can immerse themselves in it and stay out of trouble.

“The last reason for this event is to prove that sports can keep kids out of trouble. There are many examples of this, but with athletes using steroids or committing felonies this theory has recently been thrown out. But I believe that team handball is a sport that can help people get back to the old mindset. The sport takes leadership, teamwork, and commitment,” said Grosz.

Usually the game is played with six players on a side and a goalie but for this tournament the teams will be made up of five players. Players may dribble, pass, and shoot a ball into a goal, similar to a soccer goal on each end of the court. There is a zone, the three-point line on the basketball court, that players cannot cross into while attempting to score. A goal results in one point. Defensive play is similar to the action under the hoop in a basketball game, with some contact at times, but mainly it is a non-contact sport.

“It’s really interesting. It’s face-paced. It’s kind of like football and basketball but it combines all the aspects,” added Grosz.

There is a $5 entry fee per team, which breaks down to $1 per person with the proceeds going to a prize pool for the winner of the event. Justin is also collecting donations to present to the FBLA and has already had a number of businesses and individuals donate items to the event. The event will have a main sponsor that comes through a raffle of all the businesses and individuals that donated that will be randomly chosen as the “official sponsor”.

So far the following have donated to the donated: Weis Super Market, Hamlin Dental Center, JG Motorsports, Zalenski Optical Gallery, Angela McCloy, Joyce Spinell, Helen Grosz, Grosz and Son Construction, Debi Feuante, Mary Zoth and The News Eagle. Steve Pastorino from Team USA Handball is also helping with the event.

“I believe if you give more children more opportunities to succeed they will end up being successful and I believe team handball can be another opportunity for kids, since it combines many elements of many popular sports,” said Grosz.

Sign-up sheets for the May 19 tournament are available in the school or you can contact Justin at justinmgrosz@yahoo.com or call 973-903-9353.