Team handball is at the center of Constance Duverts life. She plays it indoors and on beaches, coaches the game and acts as an ambassador for the sports growth in Californias Bay Area, where she lives and works.As a girl in France, she was a dedicated gymnast for many years until she grew tired of being in a substantially individual sport. There was a team aspect to it, of course, but not as much as she wanted.Youre still the only one on the beam at the end of the day, right? she says.So she switched to team handball, a popular sport in France and Europe that was introduced to the summer Olympics in 1936 and became a permanent part of the Games in 1972.She fell for its speed, high-scoring flow and teamwork. I like working for others and having others work for me, says Duvert, 27.But when she moved to the U.S. 10 years ago -- originally to perfect her English skills -- anybody shed talk to about team handball gave her a blank stare. No one had heard of it. For the next several years, while she pursued her degree in finance at San Jose State and then worked at a big accounting firm, Duvert missed the game.Then in 2013, she was listening to a French radio show about team handball and heard about the U.S. national club championships in Reno. When she investigated, she discovered the San Francisco CalHeat Team Handball Club had sent both a mens and womens team.I was a little bit mad at myself for not finding it before, she says.Ever since, shes been an active part of the club, composed almost entirely of global transplants. Its mens and womens teams compete in tournaments around the U.S. In the three years since finding her way back to the game, her passion for the sport has only grown. She plays the indoor (Olympic) version most of the year but switches to beach handball in the summer. Shes coached at the French high school in San Francisco, helped put on clinics in the area, is working to establish a youth league and was a volunteer at the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games as a delegation liaison for the sport, using her ability to speak fluent French, English and Spanish.Plus, the club for her is more than a place to play. Its a home away from home. Far away from France, Duvert is surrounded by like-minded players from Scandinavia, Spain, Iceland, Germany, Brazil and France. About 50 club members have bonded around the game -- the only problem sometimes is on-court communication.You have to speak to each other a lot, right? she says, laughing. To say, Ive got this one, take her. But everybodys used to playing in their own language, so its quite entertaining.Duvert may be French, but her lifestyle is pure Californian, a blend of freeways, work, handball and surfing. On most days, she commutes 55 miles each way to Santa Cruz for her job as a financial analyst at Plantronics, a communications tech company. She supports the sales team for the Asia/Pacific region in its marketing and sales ventures, a job she calls challenging and exciting.People think Im crazy, she says of the daily drives. Yet she loves having the combination of city living with the atmosphere in Santa Cruz, where her office is steps from the beach. The hours behind the wheel are the dues she pays to keep both.She keeps a surfboard stuffed in the back of her car, and every day her goal is to break away to catch some waves. Shes not always successful, but she averages about three surf sessions a week.Aside from her commute, she drives about 45 minutes from her home to her clubs team handball court in Fremont, where she takes part in 2- to 2 1/2-hour practices two nights a week. The CalHeat club has one of the few handball-specific indoor courts in the U.S. She says shes lucky because shes allowed to have a lot of flexibility in her work schedule, and one day per week she can work from home. On those days, she takes a break to coach team handball at a middle school.Duvert calls team handball a mix of soccer, basketball and dryland water polo. Its a seven-on-seven game (six players plus a goalkeeper for each team) played on an indoor court 66 feet wide and 131 feet long. Players move up the court by passing the ball, dribbling it or taking up to three steps before passing or shooting.There is a line on the court -- an arc almost like a three-point line in basketball -- about 19 1/2 feet from the goal. Offensive players cant step inside the arc, but they can leap over it and fire shots before touching down, resulting in flying, athletic and contested goals. The game moves quickly and goals come often.Its such a cool sport, says Duvert. I dont understand why its not more popular in the U.S., because its high-scoring, fast-paced and a very physical sport. I think Americans would love it.Yet, Americans have mostly ignored it. U.S. teams have not medaled at the Olympics in the sport and have rarely qualified for the Games. In fact, she says some whove seen her club play it -- either the indoor or beach version -- have no idea what it is. Shes heard some compare it to a type of dodgeball or quidditch, the game from Harry Potter. She just laughs.Its an Olympic sport, for Gods sake, she says.When Duvert plays the game, shes not laughing. She prefers defense but also is a good scorer. At this years California Cup tournament in Fremont, her CalHeat team finished second among four teams with a 3-2 record, and Duvert was the second-leading scorer in the event with 15 goals (second to teammate Katherine Aggers 17).What my teammates would say is, Im a good defender, she says. Im not scared of getting hit. Im pretty well known by other teams to have black eyes after tournaments. Everybody remembers me as the black-eye girl if they dont know my name.At this years U.S. club championships, she came away with a black eye and several bruises after helping her team to a fourth-place finish, the highest shes experienced since joining the club.Her playing highlight came in 2013, just after returning to the sport. She was invited to play with the Los Angeles Team Handball Club as the representative of the United States at the womens Central American championships in El Salvador. The U.S. went 4-0, beating teams from Guatemala (twice), Costa Rica and Nicaragua.Even though she isnt a U.S. citizen, she said it was very moving to hear The Star-Spangled Banner in their honor. Because team handball clubs are few in number in the U.S., CalHeat games and tournaments are few and far between. Players have to pay for trips to play opponents in New York, Chicago and western cities such as Portland, Los Angeles and Phoenix, plus the national championships.Now, shes hoping the exposure team handball received at the Olympics will translate to added interest. Shes doing her part to plant the seeds for young people to take it up, so in future years when people hear team handball, they know what it is. Shes signed up to conduct clinics. Shes also working to organize a beach team handball tournament in Santa Cruz next year.Were starting a youth league in the Bay Area because we know this is the only way we can promote the sport, she says.Its a far cry from her experience at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics this summer. She signed up two years ago to be a volunteer at Rio and was stationed at the judo and wrestling venue where she was part of the results team. But almost every free moment was spent at the team handball venue, among rowdy, passionate crowds. There, she was able to cheer on the French men and women to silver medals. Its something Ill never forget, she says. Kobe Bryant Shoes From China . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Kobe Bryant Shoes Free Shipping . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. https://www.cheapkobebryantshoes.com/ .Y. - New Orleans forward Anthony Davis was chosen Friday to replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the NBA All-Star game that will be played in his home city. Kobe Bryant Shoes For Sale . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Wholesale Kobe Bryant Shoes .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. NEW YORK -- It was the match of the tournament, hands down. Lucas Pouille, the fearless Frenchman, beat No. 4 Rafael Nadal in a hair-raising 4-hour, 7-minute battle.It has twists and turns aplenty, but in the end, Pouille showed why he is touted as one of the top up-and-coming talents. In case you missed it, heres how that match, along with other top storylines from Day 7, unfolded:Seemingly down and out, Nadal made one final push.?Ready, Set, Rafa2-time champ isnt going down without a fight. He wins 4th set 6-3, pushing Pouille to a decider. pic.twitter.com/cGVFh0XBHI- ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 4, 2016The fifth set was an ultra-intense, back-and-forth battle.Things are HEATING up on Ashe.Pouille consolidates the break and is just one game away from a R16 win over Nadal. pic.twitter.com/URE5Hu5t5i- ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 4, 2016The final set reached 6-6 -- a situation Nadal had not seen in more than a decade.Rafa has played 3 5th set tiebreakers. None in a Slam. Last one was 2006 Rome. (D. Federer)- Chris McKendry (@ChrisMcKendry) September 4, 2016In the end, an untimely mistake by Nadal deep in the tiebreaker cost him the match.WHAT. A. MATCH.22yo @la_pouille wins 4hr 7min thriller over two-time champ Nadal 6-1 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6(6). #USOpen pic.twitter.com/nMCYuuBeeY- ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 4, 2016Amazingly, the loss ended one of Rafas great streaks.This is the 1st year since 2004 Rafael Nadal has not reached the quarterfinal at a Grand Slam in a calendar year. pic.twitter.com/j48TSJQxt4- SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 4, 2016But worry not, the 14-time Grand Slam champion isnt going anywhere, so he says.I need to keep improving the level of tennis, to be back where I was before the injury. - Rafael Nadal pic.twitter.com/GucXfLzGnE- ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 5, 2016The truth is, though, that Nadals loss opened up a lot of questions about his future. He has openly admitted to a crisis of confidence, and hes not getting any younger.dddddddddddd At this point, we have to wonder whether Nadal is becoming a sentimental favorite rather than a player with realistic title hopes. ?Nadal: Another opportunity lostPouille wasnt the only Frenchman who walked away from the US Open pumped up Sunday.En quart !!! ??????? #USOPEN #TsongaTeam pic.twitter.com/ZP7bqnbash- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (@tsonga7) September 4, 2016Tsonga put an end to any hope an American man would win a Grand Slam by beating Jack Sock,?the last remaining Yank. That makes it 12 years and 362 days since an American man captured a Slam. But in this case, it wasnt about what Sock didnt do; rather what Jo-Willy did do. Serving notice like never before?And not to be outdone, ANOTHER Frenchman moved on. Gael Monfils beat down Marcos Baghdatis. Monfils has yet to drop a set in the tournament. And, naturally, he put on a show for the fans as well.ICYMI: This happened today.#USOpen https://t.co/cHKBQ1SBLl- ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) September 4, 2016Finally, in one of the feel-good stories of the tournament, Caroline Wozniacki beat Madison Keys with little resistance. How was she feeling afterward?Mood!!!! @usopen ???? pic.twitter.com/28mJ7XCtZ3- Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) September 4, 2016Woz, who was twice the year-end No. 1, said she had become more or less irrelevant when it came to vetting the top stars chances of winning Grand Slams. But while we might have lost self-belief in the Dane, she sure did not. As she said afterward, To be honest, at this point, Im very much like I dont care what my ranking is. Because if Im not in the top five, I feel like its not where I want to be. So at that point, whether Im 20 in the world or 100 in the world, it doesnt matter. Im going to play the same people anyway. Read more ' ' '