First-ever US handball center coming to St. Louis area

The facility is being built inside an old Spaulding racquetball building on Dunn Road in Hazelwood. It will feature nine courts, full locker rooms, a steam room, sauna and cold plunge. Two of the courts will be show courts, with glass walls for fans to view the games.

The facility will serve as the home of the St. Louis Hinder Club, a handball club that has more than 100 members and dates back more than 50 years, said Jeff Streibig, the club’s president.

“We’ll be hosting the biggest tournaments out there. We’ll have the U.S. national tournaments,” Streibig said. 

“We’ll be doing a lot of junior clinics. We’ll be doing a lot of player development.”

World championships will probably be held there as well, he said.

The courts will only be open to members of the association and their guests.

About 10,000 to 15,000 people play the sport in the United States, including teams at 30 to 40 colleges, said Matthew Kreuger, executive director of the United States National Handball Association, which is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.

The national headquarters and the Handball Hall of Fame will remain in Tucson “for the time being,” Kreuger said.

But it made logistical sense to bring the new national center to the St. Louis area, he said.

“St. Louis represented a nice central point, within a three-hour flight from anywhere within the continental U.S.,” he said.

Four of the nine courts at the center are already completed. The 2024 Juniors Four-Wall Tournament was held there at the end of December.

“Me and my wife were putting the lines on the courts on Christmas Day, they put the polyurethane on it the next day and the tournament was the next day,” Streibig said.

The national association has launched a $1.5 million fundraising campaign to cover the cost of the entire facility.

“This gives our community a central identity, a legitimacy, just like Cooperstown for baseball or the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. It will be a place for players, coaches and fans to connect and inspire future generations,” Kreuger said.