Fred Lewis (handball)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | U.S. |
| Born | 1947 The Bronx, New York |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Handball |
| Achievements and titles | |
| National finals |
|
Fred Lewis (born 1947) is an American former handball player.[1][2]
Lewis is Jewish, and was born in The Bronx, New York.[1][3] Both of his parents played handball, and he learned to play handball by playing it off building walls in the Bronx.[4][5] He grew up primarily playing 1-wall handball, and played his first tournament at the age of eight.[5] As a high school student, he competed on the school's swimming team.[5]
He won two U.S. National Collegiate Singles Championships as a University of Miami student.[1][5] He received a master’s degree in education at the University of Miami in 1972.[6]
Lewis is a 6-time U.S. Handball Association National Four-Wall Handball Singles Champion (1972, 1974–76, 1978, and 1981).[1][2] He is also a 3-time National Three-Wall Singles Champion (1974, 1977, and 1978).[1][7]
All of those championships were won between 1972 and 1981.[1] Lewis was named "Handball Player of the Decade" for the 1970s by the National Handball Association.[1][8]
He made the finals of the National Open championship 14 consecutive years.[1] He won 16 titles as a professional.[1]
In 1998, he created Yes2Kids, a handball club for children who otherwise would not have access to handball.[6]
In 2003, he was head coach of the handball team at the University of Arizona.[2] In 2008, he was remarrying his ex-wife, as they had reconciled after 16 years.[5]
Halls of Fame
Lewis was inducted into the Handball Hall of Fame in 1993, as its 25th member.[1][2] He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.[1][8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Fred Lewis". Jewishsports.net. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Christopher Wuensch (December 10, 2003). "Handball legend builds UA program". Arizona Daily Wildcat. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ "World Handball Champ Wants More Publicity for his Sport". Lakeland Ledger. July 23, 1978. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e [1]
- ^ a b "Four walls of fun". Tucsoncitizen.com. January 23, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ Ralph Hickok (May 17, 2010). "History – U.S. Handball Champions". HickokSports.com. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ a b "Jewish Sports Hall of Fame calls 7". JTA. December 8, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
