Hands Across America Local Handball Stars Setting Their Sights On The National Circuit

Jay Balkenbush held up his right hand. The palm was red from two consecutive matches during Sunday’s finals of the 29th Lilac Handball Tournament at the Spokane Club.

“If you ever walked into a court and tried to play a game of handball, you’d find out how much energy hitting a 2-inch ball with a 6-inch surface (your hand) - on both sides of your body - takes,” the 26-year-old Spokane real estate appraiser said.

There is no equipment advantage. First person to 21 wins.

“It’s probably the most challenging sport I’ve ventured to play,” acknowledged John Robles of Kent, who won the Lilac pro singles.

Robles, a former Spokane resident, ranked No. 6 in the final 1995 men’s pro handball standings. Before a hamstring injury, the salesman ranked as high as No. 3.

“(Handball) encompasses everything you ever learned in athletics, and encompasses both sides of your body,” Robles said. “It’s one of the hardest sports to learn.

“Physically, it hurts when you first get use (to the ball). It’s more of a throw, but you have to hit it. You emulate a throwing motion, more underhand or sidearm.”

The Lilac tournament is Robles’ traditional last tuneup before the start of a new pro season.

Robles, a fifth-year pro, appears more than ready for the 1996 season. The former collegiate baseball player used a variety of pinch shots to defeat John Egerman of Boise 21-2, 21-9 on Sunday afternoon.

Egerman spent nine years on the pro racquetball circuit before moving to Spokane in 1988 when the Spokane Club and Robles converted his game to handball.

The 32-year-old athletic club manager is entering his second year of pro handball. Egerman, meanwhile, ranked No. 11 last season.

“I knew I could play in the top 12, and still think I could be a little higher in the rankings, but I don’t have age in my favor,” Egerman said. “This year will be different from the aspect (that) I’m not trying to break in, but I’m sustaining to hold and prevent people from taking my spot and knocking me out.”

And Balkenbush is one of those upstarts Egerman must guard against.

The pro handball ladder has 12 rungs. Each of the six pro stops features a qualifying event for the final four spots in the 16-player pro bracket. A top-12 ranking bypasses the qualifying matches.

Balkenbush played in five pro qualifiers last season. They run two days prior to the pro event and draw 24 to 32 entries.

“I feel for (Balkenbush),” Robles said. “He’s knocking at the door. I remember when I kicked it open. I was 25.”

Handball, specifically, attracted Balkenbush to Spokane after graduation from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, where he caught for the Warriors’ 1990 NAIA national championship baseball team.

He learned handball from his father as a youth in Conrad, Mont. After college in 1991, Balkenbush returned to handball.

“I moved here to play handball,” Balkenbush said. “Spokane’s got 130 handball players. They may not be all active (current players), but they’re one of the most supportive groups of people I’ve ever been around.”

Egerman wholeheartedly agrees. “After experiencing both sports, I never would have realized, or thought, now I enjoy handball more than I did racquetball.”

The camaraderie and maturity of the players are what Egerman likes about handball.

“It’s not a spectator sport, so a lot of people don’t know who you are out in the public eye,” Robles said. “In your own element, you get to feel like a superstar. These 12 guys are like no other athletes in the world.”

A typical pro handball purse is $25,000. The winner’s take is $3,000.

Chicago is the first stop on the 1996 pro tour, Dec. 1-3. Balkenbush would like nothing better than to be playing then, but he first must make the elusive pro cut.

“He’s maturing,” Egerman said. “I feel (Balkenbush) needs to continue to play another (pro) season, to continue to get the experience and get some victories that will build confidence.

“He has exceptional skills. He’s very talented, but in certain situations, he tries to manufacture a good shot rather than being safe and playing the ball back.”

Balkenbush, who lost 21-11, 21-19 to Egerman in the Lilac semifinals, plays an aggressive game.

“I like to keep the ball low, hard down the side,” Balkenbush said. “Probably the biggest change is I had to develop better defensive shots. I got by with a lot with speed and quickness and strength until I got to the pro level. The reason I was losing games is I didn’t have the defensive repertoire I needed.”

Mental toughness and more matches are what Balkenbush needs at this stage, Robles said.

“Consistency, repetition, doing the same thing over and over again,” Robles said. “Everybody has equal talents physically. What is going to set people apart is mental attitude.”