Four years on from their senior men’s team creating history as the first Puerto Rican side to appear at a beach handball world championship (Greece 2022), the men’s youth side now make history with an appearance at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

That came from an 11th-place finish at the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship, held in Tunisia last year – the beach handball debut for the younger age teams from the Caribbean island nation.

The ranking was their highest-ever in any IHF World Championship, indoor or beach, men’s or women’s, at any age and it started with one of the hardest opening games they could have, against eventual world champions Spain, which they lost 0-2 (6:26, 12:24). A narrow, shoot-out defeat against Oman 1-2 (8:10, 18:16, SO 8:9) followed but with the pre-event withdrawal of Iran, all three teams qualified through to the main round.

It did not get easier for the Puerto Ricans in the main round though as they faced three European sides in a row. An improved second set performance could not reverse the result against Germany, as Puerto Rico lost 0-2 (14:26, 12:16) against the team which would finish in second place.

However, against eventual fourth-placed – and Dakar 2026 preliminary group opponents – Hungary, they were denied a first set win in the dying moments after leading for most of the 10 minutes, eventually losing 0-2 (24:25, 14:26). 

In their final main round game, against defending champions Croatia, a disappointing first set gave way to an inspired second, with the Croatians needing a golden goal to seal their 2-0 (22:10, 19:18) win. Puerto Rico went on to finish 11th after defeating Kenya 2-0 (22:14, 22:10), losing a close encounter with Uruguay 0-2 (18:20, 20:22) and then seeing off another Dakar 2026 rival, Senegal, 2-0 (18:12, 14:8).

Due to the age restrictions in place for Dakar 2026, just three players from Tunisia 2025 have made it through to the Youth Olympic Games: left wing Jaziel CARRION, who played four times in Tunisia, plus pivot Jean Paul GONZALEZ and specialist Janvier RIVERA who both played twice each.

Amongst the new additions are the left-handed pair of Liam GARCIA (right wing) and Gibrant ROSA (pivot) who are sure to cause problems in attack.

President of the Puerto Rico Handball Federation, Dayna Venesa MILETE ROBLES is a physiotherapist by profession and was in Tunisia in that role as well as that of assistant coach. She took over the presidency from her father, Nestor MILETE ECHEVARRIA a few months earlier and Nestor will be in Dakar as head coach this time around.

Nestor is well-experienced in coaching having coached youth development teams for many years and been assistant at senior, national level.

He will be assisted by Raphiel IDELFONSO RAMOS, who is current coach of the Puerto Rican side Cocoteros de Loiza. Despite being involved with the national beach handball team for many years as a player, including an appearance at the 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in China, Dakar 2026 will be RAMOS’s first experience as a national team coach.

Beach handball is set to increase in popularity in Puerto Rico no matter what the results for the national team at Dakar 2026.

The sport is due to be included on the school handball programme, starting at high school level as part of the efforts of the Puerto Rico Handball Federation to promote the development of handball through training sessions, camps, children’s leagues and school activities all of which provide more opportunities for young people to participate.

“Everyone connected with handball in Puerto Rico is very excited about the opportunity to represent the country at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games,” said MILETE ROBLES to IHF.info ahead of the event.

“We will send a very young and renewed team. We have been working toward this qualification for the past four years; however, due to the international age-category changes, the team that originally qualified will not be the team participating in Dakar.

“Our expectations are to compete hard, win at least one game in the group stage, and position ourselves as high as possible in the standings,” she added.

“More importantly, we see Dakar 2026 as a tremendous opportunity to give this new generation valuable international experience and prepare them for the future of Puerto Rican handball.

“As an island, Puerto Rico is also strongly committed to developing Beach Handball from the grassroots level. We are working to introduce and strengthen the sport among younger age groups, expand it through schools, and eventually establish a strong pathway toward the national level.

“We believe beach handball gives Puerto Rico a great opportunity to position itself internationally, particularly because the development pathway and access to the sport can be more accessible for an island nation than traditional indoor handball.

“We are grateful and proud to have this opportunity and will continue working hard to build a strong foundation for the next generations of Puerto Rican handball. We want our athletes to enjoy this experience, compete with pride and continue to grow. Their participation can also inspire more children and young people to discover and play our sport.”

Coach: Nestor MILETE ECHEVARRIA
Key players: Dylan FIGUEROA ORTIZ (Goalkeeper), Jaziel CARRION (Left Wing), Jean Paul GONZALEZ (Pivot), Janvier RIVERA (Specialist)
Qualification information: Tunisia 2025 – 11th, North America and the Caribbean representative place
History in tournament: 2018: DNQ
Group at Dakar 2026: Group B – Brazil (BRA), Hungary (HUN), Puerto Rico (PUR), Senegal (SEN)