Rylee White had never even heard of the fast-paced sport of handball until her roommate mentioned a TikTok video about tryouts in Los Angeles for the US Olympic women’s team – no experience necessary.

White, a 27-year-old screenwriter, knew she had to go. She wasn’t the only one. More than 150 women – buoyed by the viral video – attended the tryouts in January, a fivefold increase from previous turnouts.

Five months later, White is one of a handful of women who have packed their bags and moved to Florida to join USA Handball’s national residency programme, hoping to eventually be selected to represent the United States at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

As the host nation, the US automatically qualifies for every sport.

The last time the United States had a women’s handball team at the Games was in 1996. Finding the money and resources needed to field a competitive US team is a constant challenge. Athletes are often dual citizens from Europe who play professionally overseas.

While handball is little known in the US, it is popular in Germany, France, Norway and Denmark as well as Balkan nations in southeastern Europe. These countries usually dominate at the Olympics.