On July 12 and 13, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba and New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe will welcome the Mayor's Cup Handball Tournament to New York City. The tournament will feature 150 of the best male and female handball players from around the country in both professional and amateur divisions. First round matches will take place on July 12 in Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan, with the championships to be conducted the following day on the North Meadow handball courts in Central Park. The championship matches are scheduled to begin at approximately 1:00pm.

"As the largest small-ball, one-wall handball tournament in the world, the Mayor's Cup Handball Tournament brings much deserved recognition to an incredibly entertaining and physically-demanding sport," said Commissioner Podziba. "Handball has been intertwined with the city's sporting scene for over a century and continues to grow in popularity with each passing year."

Former National Champion Satish Jagnandan will look to defend his 2007 Mayor's Cup trophy. Other top competitors in the men's pro division will include past national champions Joe Kaplan, Tony Roberts and John "Rookie" Wright, as well as last year's runner-up Cesar Sala. On the women's side, former world champion Tracy Davis aims to defend her crown but will first have to go through 2007 runner-up, Sarah Au, who is eager to avenge her loss in last year's championship match.

"This is the 14th consecutive year of the Mayor's Cup Handball Tournament, which is a testament to the staying power of this classic New York City sport," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "This event is also another great opportunity for New Yorkers to utilize city parks to get active, stay healthy, and 'be fit' for the summer. Let's give a big 'hand' to the Inner City Handball Association for organizing this annual favorite."

The Mayor's Cup Handball Tournament has been held in New York City since 1994 and is organized by the Inner City Handball Association (ICHA) in cooperation with the United States Handball Association. The ICHA will award $8,000 in total prize money to both Pro and Pro-Am Champions, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the Jim Jacobs Fund for Leukemia/Lymphoma Cancer Research in an effort to aid cancer research and promote cancer awareness.

"This year's Mayor's Cup celebrates 14 years of showcasing NYC's best handball athletes, but even more important is that this is the our 5th year of donating to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of NY," said ICHA President Paul Williams. "Year round we play handball for the sport of it. This weekend we 'Play Handball for the Cure.' Proceeds of this event will be donated to Leukemia & Lymphoma Cancer research. This year we have 150 athletes playing for the cure. Come out the finals at North Meadow Central Park July 13th to cheer them on. It will be an awesome spectacle."

First round matches will be contested at the West 5th Street Courts in Coney Island for Brooklyn residents, the West 96th Street Courts for Manhattan and Staten Island residents, Van Cortlandt Park for Bronx and out of state residents and Beach 105th St. Far Rockaway for Queens and Long Island residents.

The ICHA will donate a portion of the tournament proceeds to the Jim Jacobs Research Fund for Leukemia/Lymphoma in order to save lives by promoting cancer awareness. To learn more about the Mayor's Cup Handball Tournament, or to download an application, please visit the ICHA Web site at www.icha.org.

Parks & Recreation is the steward of almost 29,000 acres of land - 14 percent of New York City - including more than 4,000 individual properties ranging from Yankee Stadium and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds; we manage four major stadiums, 550 tennis courts, 51 public pools, 34 recreation centers, 12 nature centers, 13 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches; we care for 1,200 monuments and 22 historic house museums; we look after 500,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City's principal provider of athletic facilities. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals. For more information about Parks, visit our Web site: www.nyc.gov/parks.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. In recent years, the Sports Commission has played a role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.