Darrick Heath

Darrick Heath
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1964-10-12) October 12, 1964 (age 60)
Sport
SportHandball

Darrick Heath (born October 12, 1964) is an American former handball player.[1] He competed in the men's tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[2] After his playing career, Heath became a coach, and coached the national team.[3]

Biography

Heath was born in 1964 and attended Finger Lakes Community College.[1] He then went to C. W. Post College where he played basketball.[1][4]

After playing handball for a local club in Long Island, he eventually made his way onto the US National Team.[1] In 1988, 1989 and 1993 he was part of the team that won national titles in handball.[1] For the next two years, Heath moved to Europe, playing professionally in Budapest, Hungary and Graz, Austria.[1][5] In 1993, Heath was also named the U.S. Team Handball Male Athlete of the Year.[6]

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Heath was part of the American team that finished in ninth place in the men's tournament.[7][8] However, Heath would later suffer a spinal injury in a car crash, which ended his playing career.[9]

After playing for the US National Team until 2003, Heath became a handball coach,[1][10] and coached the national team during the 2011/12 season.[1] He helped the US team reach the 2011 Pan American Games, the first time that the US team had qualified for the games since 2003.[11] He was also a lecturer at Emory University in Atlanta for ten years from 2002 to 2012,[1] and featured in a university paper.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Darrick Heath". Olympedia. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Darrick Heath". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "Passing The Torch: A Conversation With 1996 Olympian Darrick Heath And Gary Hines". Team USA. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "At the U.S. Olympic Festival". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  5. ^ "Darrick Heath". Finger Lakes Community College Athletics. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  6. ^ "Team Handball". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Handball, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  8. ^ "U.S. Loses As Team Handball Begins". AP News. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  9. ^ "Olympic Athlete Praises Resurgens for High Level, Elite Care". Resurgens. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "Lake Placid Hosts USA Team Handball Qualifying Matches for Pan Am Games". Lake Placid. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  11. ^ "TEAM HANDBALL: USA Men qualify for Pan American Games for first time since 2003". Team USA. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "US handball star Darrick Heath featured in university paper". Team Handball News. Retrieved February 24, 2022.