Operation Gold: The Creation of a Paralympic Program From Scratch

When Ford Dyke’s phone rang in November 2023, on the other end was the voice of a former teammate from the USA Handball national team.

That phone conversation would lead to a whirlwind year-and-a-half that saw Dyke — with plenty of help from the Alabama communities of Auburn and Opelika — create a team that would compete in a world championship event four months after inception.

Dyke played for the USA Handball national team from 2013–2020. During that time he also attended Auburn University as a graduate student, working as a strength coach and helping with the wheelchair basketball program. After finishing his PhD and becoming a professor at Auburn, Dyke continued his work with adaptive sports.

That’s where the phone call comes into play.

“My former teammate asked if I was familiar with wheelchair handball, and I told him I had no idea what he was talking about,” Dyke said. “He said, ‘you’re the only person we can think of in the country that has wheelchair specific experience as well as handball specific experience, and we want to merge those two worlds together and appoint you as the head coach.’”

Anybody who speaks for more than a few minutes with Dyke will realize that his competitiveness runs high. So yes, he accepted the challenge.

Assembling on the Fly

Wheelchair handball is co-ed sport that features an active roster of 10 players, with at least two of the players required to be women, and with one woman on the court at all times.

On May 16, 2024, Team USA received a wild card to compete in the third International Handball Federation Wheelchair Handball World Championship in Cairo.

“From May until September it was 14 hours a day, every day, building the program from A to Z,” Dyke said. “From not just athletes and staff, but partners, sponsors, support, getting the community involved, getting the right equipment and training facilities, all of the right resources necessary. But we weren’t just trying to get a team off the ground, we wanted to ensure we become the gold standard in the sport, pun intended.”

The task of identifying some of the top wheelchair athletes in the country, flying them to Auburn for tryouts, selecting a team and preparing for a world championship event in four months sounds impossible. But the community jumped into action, led by Anthony Terling, sports development director at Auburn–Opelika Tourism.

“We’ve got a laundry list of community members and officials that are behind us,” Dyke said. “We’re supported by Auburn–Opelika Tourism, and Anthony Terling has been incredible. His CEO Robyn Bridges is amazing. Karen Gilmore helps set us up with accommodations in town and makes sure our athletes are fed properly. Travis Harrison is doing PR stuff and shouting us out on the radio. Awbrey Mitchell is working behind the scenes on logistics for training sites. The City of Auburn Parks and Recs — Alison Hall and Sarah Cook — have been huge as well.”

Terling is passionate about helping those in need. He and his wife Lindsey are the creators of the Austin 1st Foundation, a nonprofit that raises awareness and research dollars for rare diseases. When Dyke called him to ask for help getting the team off the ground, Terling got to work.

“We made sure they were connected to the elected officials, the leaders in our community, the stakeholders — whether it’s Auburn Parks and Recreation making sure that we found the best venue that fit their needs from a training standpoint, down to what hotel or lodging accommodation would best fit the needs of athletes that have disabilities to make their experience great,” Terling said.

“We know these things are not easy to fund, but we told Ford we want to be your resource for that. And then let’s open up some doors and some conversations for him and really showcase this monumental opportunity to support amazing athletes, coaches, trainers — all the people involved with USA Wheelchair Handball.”

The saying “it takes a village” applies to the USA Wheelchair Handball movement in this Alabama community. Dyke is fortunate to have two Olympians as assistant coaches — Reita Clanton, a 1984 Olympian and 1996 Olympic coach in team handball and Lisa Eagen, a 1996 Olympian who was coached by Clanton.

The team also has goalkeeper coaches, physiotherapists, a technical director, athletic trainer and strength coaches.

“I’ve even got friends and family throwing in some help,” Dyke said. “We’re fully self-funded. I work as a volunteer and my entire staff works as volunteers. Is that sustainable? Definitely not. But that’s what it takes to start something meaningful.”

Silver Linings in Cairo

Once Dyke and his coaches narrowed the roster down to 14 and trained for months in Auburn, it was off to Cairo last September.

Team USA wasn’t expected to do much ahead of the tournament. That they were able to field a team in time for the event was a massive success in itself. However, Dyke’s competitiveness was on full display when the team arrived in Egypt.

“We show up in Egypt and as a wild card you’re perceived as the participant … just sit over there in the corner. Thanks for coming, let the rest of these teams do their job,” Dyke said. “So in the first interview in Egypt, I was asked by an IHF media official, ‘What are your plans for this tournament? What do you hope to get out of this tournament?’ And I said something like, ‘A lot of you think we came here to participate. You’re wrong. We’re going to play in the final match.’ And I saw the eyebrows of that individual raise up in pure shock.”

The makeshift squad — donning the Auburn–Opelika Tourism logo on its jerseys — stunned defending world champion Brazil in a sudden-death shootout in the semifinals to clinch a spot in the gold medal game against host Egypt.

Operation Gold — the name Dyke has given the team — was put on hold when the U.S. side fell to Egypt. But they had made a big statement to the rest of the world.

“In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t win the gold,” Dyke said. “I think if we won gold, all the athletes would’ve said, ‘What else is there to do right now?’ There’s a carrot hanging in front of them and that’s what keeps a lot of athletes motivated.”

Raising Awareness (And Dollars)

Dyke has made his intentions clear with everybody in the wheelchair handball program — Operation Gold is the standard. That journey starts with an upcoming tournament in Europe, then attention turns back to world championships.

Team USA will head to the “Euro Hand 4 All” tournament June 19–22 in Lyon, France, against France, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. Terling has organized a proper sendoff as Auburn–Opelika Tourism will host a Red, White and Blue exhibition match on June 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Lake Wilmore Recreation Center for the community to attend.

“Our state overall is a rich sports state from a history standpoint. There are a lot of Olympians that come out of Alabama,” Terling said. “We have people from the community coming out to watch any sport we host, whether it’s swim and dive, mountain biking, kickball. No matter what sport, our community will rally around it and support it. So what we can do very well as a destination marketing organization is get the word out.”

While Terling and his staff work to get the word out locally, Dyke encourages anybody who wants to support the program to go to the USA Wheelchair Handball website and reach out to him.

“Don’t be shy. I’ll take any call. I’m willing to talk to any business, any professional, anybody interested,” Dyke said. “We’re always open to opportunities to connect with anybody who can help provide resources, flights, room and board for our athletes. Anything is helpful at this stage of the game.”

After France, the team will continue preparations for the 2026 World Championships, but they also have an eye on future Paralympic competition. At the moment, wheelchair handball is not on the Paralympic program for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. But LA28 will feature a demonstration, or “showcase/test” event, that a sport must go through to be considered for inclusion into the full docket.

If that demonstration goes well, wheelchair handball could be on the Brisbane 2032 program.

“We are in conversation and in working groups with the International Handball Federation for the demonstration at LA28,” Dyke said. “So we’re continuing to make sure that what we’re doing is top-notch because everyone’s looking at us.”

As Dyke continues to juggle his full-time job as a professor with coach of the team, he knows what this opportunity means.

“I think they’ve already answered it just based on their actions, and seeing the level of growth from last year’s first tryout to this year,” Dyke said of his players. “We’re not in this for any sort of money or glory. We’re in this because I want to lower barriers. I want to open doors, and I want to set the tone to create a pathway for athletes to compete in a new Paralympic sport.”