Handball: Good to ‘B’ king

Tony Altobelli

Costa Mesa resident Juan Flores has three things going in his favor

when it comes to the sport of handball.

*Excellent eye-hand coordination.

*Stellar cardiovascular stamina.

*A very, very understanding wife of less than a year, Tracy.

“If she can tolerate me playing three times a week, I have no reason

not to be as good as I can be,” Flores said with a laugh. “Plus, my boss

lets me out early on certain days, which helps a lot, too.”

Such teamwork in an individual sport like handball can make all the

difference in the world. Such was the case during the Handball National

Tournament, completed July 23 at Los Caballeros Sports Village in

Fountain Valley, where the 29-year-old won the men’s B-level

championship.

For those not familiar with indoor handball, it is played in a

four-wall room and has the same objectives as tennis. The object is to

not let the ball hit the floor twice before hitting the front wall.

Points are scored on the serve and the first person to 21 wins each game.

First person to win two out of three games wins the match.

“It’s a game of court chess out there,” Flores said. “You try to stay

one step ahead of your opponent, hitting the ball where you want to and

setting up the finishing shot.”

Flores began his road to the title with a 21-19, 21-17 opening-round win over Ron Roberts of Neenah, Wis. In the Round of 16, he defeated Mike

Aguiar of Novato, Calif., 21-3, 21-11, then beat Huntington Park’s Jaime

Murillo, 21-15, 21-12, in the quarterfinals.

“I was lucky, because I didn’t have any sudden-death situations in the

early rounds,” Flores said. “Sudden death is a best-to-11 tie-breaker

which can take a lot out of you. I was pretty fresh heading into the

semifinals and final.

In the semis, Flores took care of Ireland’s Patrick Buckley, 21-6,

21-11, before taking on San Francisco’s Tom McGrath in the final.

Flores beat the former Ireland native, 21-10, 21-18, to claim his first national title.

“It was some of the best handball, I’ve ever played,” Flores said. “I

didn’t even lose a game in the entire tournament. I had a couple of close

ones, but I was able to pull them out.”

Flores grew up in Chicago and was a wrestler in high school, but

needed another sport to keep his competitive juices flowing.

“I started playing outdoor handball, called ‘big ball’ after I stopped

wrestling,” Flores said. “Big ball is played with racquets and without

gloves. When I was 24, I started to get into small ball, or handball. It

was a huge adjustment because the bounce was a lot different.

“Unlike racquet sports, handball takes your entire body,” Flores

continued. “Instead of hitting the ball with one hand on a racquet, you

have to be able to hit the ball well with both hands, or your opponent

will expose your weakness. It takes enormous eye-hand coordination and

demands a great deal of endurance.”

Flores moved to California in 1996 and quickly found some top-quality

competition. “Handball in Chicago is just as big as it is here, but it’s

more dispersed,” he said. “Some of the top professionals in the world

live in this state and about a third of them live in Southern California,

which makes it easier to find top-quality competition.”

Flores began playing in some C-level events and reached as high as

second place. By winning at the B-level, Flores can no longer compete

locally at that level.

“Eventually, I’d like to compete at the open level,” Flores said.

“That’s where the best competition is. I realize I started playing this

sport rather late and I don’t have delusions of grandeur when it comes to

being a world champion or something. But I’d love to break into the top

25 and I know that’s going to take a tremendous amount of work.”

Flores trains at a fitness club in La Mirada because of the

competition there. “Three professional players are members there, so I go

up there and play against them,” he said. “It helps me get accustomed to

the quicker pace, so when I’m playing in the B’s, I’m ahead of the game.”

When he’s not on the courts, Flores works at the Orange County

Register as a news assistant for the food and travel sections.

“The great thing about handball is that I can play it my entire life,”

Flores said. “I’ve been in tournaments where they have an 85-and-older

bracket. Of course, there aren’t as many in that bracket, but it’s still

a nice goal to shoot for.”

For information on the United States Handball Association, check out

the organization’s Web site at www.usha.org.