Handball at the 2011 Pan American Games – Women's tournament
The women's tournament of handball at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico will take place from 15 October to 23 October, All games were held at the San Rafael Gymnasium. The defending champions are Brazil, who won the title on home court. The winner of the competition will qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain. Teams. Qualification. A National Olympic Committee may enter one women's team for the handball competition. Mexico, the host nation along with seven other countries qualified through regional competitions . Squads. At the start of tournament, all eight participating countries had 15 players on their rosters. Final squads for the tournament were due on September 14, 2011, a month before the start of 2011 Pan American Games. Format. Ties are broken via the following the criteria, with the first option used first, all the way down to the last option: Draw. The draw for the tournament was held at the offices of the Organising Committee (COPAG) for the Games in Guadalajara on July 21 at 16:00 local time. The competing are drawn to each group by couples. The first team  selected randomly in the draw goes to group A and the second to Group B. The pots are based on the performance of national teams in both previous games and their standings in their respective regional competitions. Ranking and statistics. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude>