Scott Knox is a fitness specialist at Morrisville’s Parks and Recreation Department. But there is one sport that’s taken him well beyond Morrisville, and it’s one that few residents – as well as millions of other Americans – would be familiar with.

Knox plays team handball, and he’s pretty good at it.

He’s on the U.S. national handball team, and yes such a program exists. It’s an Olympic sport, after all.

In June, Knox had to take a few days off from his Morrisville Parks and Rec duties to play for Team USA in the Pan-American championships, hosted by Argentina.

A win would’ve put the U.S. handball team into the Olympics for the first time since 1996, but it was Argentina that came away with the victory and the Olympic spot.

Knox won’t have to take off any more days to travel to London this summer, but he says his six years of handball have been an exciting adventure nonetheless.

‘The best American sport’

“Team handball is the best American sport that Americans don’t know about,” said Knox, 24, a 2010 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and a Durham resident.

“It’s physical, fast-paced and action-packed with lots of scoring.”

Team handball originated in Germany in the early 1900s. The game draws elements primarily from soccer and basketball.

There are six field players – which use positions similar to those in basketball – and one goalkeeper. Players move the ball, which Knox described as the size of a cantaloupe, by passing and dribbling. Contact is encouraged, but fouls are called often, allowing for high-scoring contests.

Each team usually scores more than 20 goals in a game.

Similar to soccer, there are yellow and red cards for infractions, and the 7-meter throw is reminiscent of soccer’s penalty kick.

Unlike basketball, physical play is permissible as long as the defender is in front of his opponent. Once the offensive player gets past the defender, contact will result in a fault (foul).

Knox, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 215 pounds, played power forward for his high school basketball team at A.L. Brown High School in Kannapolis.

He roomed with an avid handball player his freshman year in college, which is how he was introduced to the game.

Handball shaped future

Knox’s freshman roommate was from Atlanta, the host of the Olympics the last year the U.S. qualified in handball.

He invited Knox to play for the UNC club team with him.

Handball soon altered Knox’s academic and career plans.

“I was going for political science or math originally, but once I got playing for Carolina Team Handball as a freshman, our coach, who was also a professor, kind of changed my mind to switch over to exercise and sports science,” said Knox, who became president of the Carolina Team Handball club his sophomore year.

Knox, who plays left backer – similar to a small forward in basketball – was used as a defensive specialist in the Pan-American Championships due to an arm injury.

Substitutions can happen quickly with handball, so Knox was on the floor when the U.S. team needed a stop and off it when the U.S. was on offense.

He still practices handball about two to three times a month for the Carolina Blue Alumni handball team, in addition to the four or five tournaments each year. Knox participated in the Three Nations Tournament in Germany last year.

UNC has hosted both fall and spring tournaments since the 1990s, and Knox has played in other handball tournaments in such places as West Point, Denver, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Las Vegas.

“It would have been great to come to Carolina and play basketball for Roy Williams, but that wasn’t going to happen,” said Knox.

“Carolina Team Handball really did a lot for me. I’ve traveled to places I might never have gotten to and I was able to continue playing sports competitively.

“It changed my life.”