Of all the things one might leave behind when moving to another country, a sport is not the first thing to come to mind.

That’s the case for sophomore Spanish major Fabian Ruiz, however. When he moved to the United States four years ago from Mexico City, Ruiz gave up his ability to play team handball, a sport that is much more popular in Mexico and Europe than America.

Now, in an attempt to regain what was lost, Ruiz is eagerly searching for ways to start his own team at Iowa State.

“Even though not many people know about handball, I think a lot of them would enjoy it,” he said. Ruiz said handball is a combination of U.S. sports – including basketball and soccer – that people already know and play.

Many people who hear the term handball confuse the team version that Ruiz plays with the regular handball that closely resembles racquetball. Team handball, which utilizes seven players per team, can be played indoors or outdoors with varying equipment based on age and gender.

Although Iowa State has not previously had a handball team, alumna Lisa Eagen went on to compete in team handball on the U.S. team in the 1996 Olympics, finishing in eighth place overall.

“Anybody can play; you don’t have to be a superstar athlete,” Eagen said in an interview with the Women’s Sports Foundation. She also said that her goal is to eventually have handball recognized as a collegiate varsity sport, but will start with establishing club teams.

In order to begin a club team at Iowa State, the interested group must elect officers, make a constitution, keep records, charge dues and have regular meetings and practices, according to the ISU intramural Web site.

Intramurals are another option; however, Garry Greenlee, associate director of intramural sports and facility operations, said that in order for a new intramural sport to be formed, it has to appeal to a majority of the student body.

“We need to believe that it will really take off,” he said, “not just one or two people that like to play it.”

The two most recent intramural additions were paintball and dodgeball.

Club sports, as opposed to intramurals, last much longer throughout the year and include more practices and meetings.

Ruiz, a four-time junior Olympic participant in handball, said he is still in contact with coaches and friends from Mexico City and the U.S. handball team. If the sport takes off at Iowa State, he hopes to use these contacts to set up competitions.

“My dream is to someday put Iowa State’s name out there as one of the first and best schools with team handball,” he said, adding that other universities might also follow in the footsteps of the Cyclones.

The next major national team handball event will be the USA Team Handball Collegiate National Championships March 11 to 13 in Columbia, SC.