With two wins out of two so far, USA’s junior side look to be set for a medal in Kosovo at the 2019 IHF Men’s Trophy – Intercontinental Phase.
IHF.info spoke with America’s 2,00m goalkeeper Rene Ingram about the tournament so far, his handball career and the future of the sport in the USA.
IHF.info: How does it feel to have a 100% record so far?
Rene Ingram: It feels pretty good. That’s what we work for; we want to get every W (win) we can – that’s why we’re here. We want to win everything we can. For me, personally, it doesn’t matter who we play in the semi-final, and for my team I don’t think it matters either. Our coach says, no matter whomever our opponent is, we have to put everything on court and give 120%.
IHF.info: What do you feel like when you make saves?
Rene Ingram: I feel like I did everything I could for my team and that’s why I’m here. I want to keep our team in the game. We needed those saves and were down for four minutes straight and we didn’t let them score then so I was pretty happy.
IHF.info: Are you enjoying testing your skills against different types of shooting from around the world?
Rene Ingram: It’s pretty difficult for goalkeepers here because everyone has a different style – goalkeepers from Paraguay have a different style to me because I am pretty tall, I’m more of static goalkeeper, doing positioning and then coming out big to take up all the space and they have to do a lot more work and that’s why they are faster than me.
IHF.info: How did you get involved in handball?
Rene Ingram: I’m originally from Oklahoma, but my parents are German, so I play handball in Germany. Around there, there are a lot of good goalkeepers, so the competition is really high, so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
I started playing handball when I was eight I think, in Germany, in Lower Bavaria about 45 minutes away from Munich. My mum also used to be a handball goalkeeper and she introduced me. I started out as a goalkeeper, so I’ve been playing 12 years in that position.
IHF.info: You also play for Texas A&M University in America; how does that work?
Rene Ingram: Because I study mechanical engineering, they have a good programme for handball, so when I started playing for the US team three years ago they offered me the chance to play handball over there and I continue doing that, I also play for Erlangen in Germany.
IHF.info: How important is it for the USA to be present on the global handball scene with the LA Olympic Games coming up in 2028 and the sport continuing to develop there?
Rene Ingram: It’s very important for us because we have the Olympics in 2028 and that’s what we’re working for right now and if we can’t make handball big in the US, it could happen that it drops out a little bit after the Olympics, and I don’t want that to happen because it’s such a great sport. We put everything we can, no matter what. Everyone who is playing for the US puts everything they can into it, money-wise, time-wise, whatever he can to make it happen – we really want to make it happen and really want to make it big.
IHF.info: And could you be part of the squad in 2028?
Rene Ingram: For me, personally, it is too far ahead. When I started playing I read articles which already said ‘he could be the goalkeeper’ for LA 2028. But you never know what is going to happen, I could injure myself or I could keep myself healthy.
You have to go from every game to game to game. You can’t decide who is going to be the next goalkeeper, you have to think about what is happening right now.
Photo: Kosovo Handball Federation