$2 Million Endowment for USU Handball

Utah State University has officially announced the receipt of a $2 million dollar endowment for the USU Handball Club. Proceeds from the donation will be used to fund recruitment to the Club, travel expenses for national tournaments, and funding for the Handball coach and instructor for USU Handball classes.   

 Handball was recently recognized as a Club Sport on the USU campus, and will coordinate with the Campus Recreation Department to fulfill the requirements of the Endowment Agreement.     

Handball coaches Herm Olsen and Stacey Marble worked closely with USU Advancement, with College of Education, Campus Recreation and the Kinesiology Department to bring the Endowment to fruition. “I can’t say enough about the excitement on campus created by this Endowment” said Olsen.  “The Administration has been superb to work with, including Matt White (Advancement), Lance Beckert, Julie Gast (Kinesiology), Lance Bitner (Campus Recreation) and Ned Weinshenker.”   

“But no one figured more prominently in the creation of this Endowment than Martin Mulkerrins (Texas A&M Coach) and our incredible, marvelous donor Doug Randolph,” remarked Olsen. His relationship with Coach Mulkerrins goes back many years when Martin was an active player at the USHA National Collegiate Championships in various venues across the country. “I found Martin to be not only a superb handball player, and fierce competitor, but an absolute wonderful human being,” observed Olsen. “And he remains both to this day.” Olsen has taught Handball at Utah State for decades, and is thrilled to be able to pass the torch to a new generation of lifelong handball players.      

It was Mulkerrins who introduced Mr. Randolph to the USU handball program. Mr. Randolph has been an active promoter of ‘the Greatest Sport on earth’, the Sport for Life. Randolph first played handball as a 21-year old, and was converted from that moment to the remarkable advantages of the sport. It takes focus, it takes dedication and perseverance. But the payoff blesses the lives of participants forever.

“I'm still in awe of this generous support from Doug,” stated Stacey Marble, coach at USU. “This sport has meant so much to me, and I'm thrilled to have new resources to help introduce it to the next generation, thanks to Mr. Randolph.”      A new dawn has emerged in Logan, Utah because of this Endowment. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.