Darrick Heath (born October 12, 1964) is an American former

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player. He competed in the men's tournament at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. After his playing career, Heath became a coach, and coached the national team.

Biography

Heath was born in 1964 and attended

Finger Lakes Community College Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) is a public community college in Canandaigua, New York. It is affiliated with the State University of New York and sponsored by Ontario County. The main campus is just east of the City of Canandaigua, with ...

. He then went to

C. W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is named ...

where he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. After playing handball for a local club in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, he eventually made his way onto the US National Team. In 1988, 1989 and 1993 he was part of the team that won national titles in handball. For the next two years, Heath moved to Europe, playing professionally in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary and

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

, Austria. In 1993, Heath was also named the U.S. Team Handball Male Athlete of the Year. At the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Heath was part of the American team that finished in ninth place in the men's tournament. However, Heath would later suffer a spinal injury in a car crash, which ended his playing career. After playing for the US National Team until 2003, Heath became a handball coach, and coached the national team during the 2011/12 season. He helped the US team reach the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, the first time that the US team had qualified for the games since 2003. He was also a lecturer at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

in Atlanta for ten years from 2002 to 2012, and featured in a university paper.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Darrick 1964 births Living people American male handball players Olympic handball players for the United States Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Place of birth missing (living people) Handball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in handball