The UK Olympic news website, Inside the Games, -link- recently had a column by David Owen on the development of British Handball in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The commentary touches on some of the reasons the sport has never been popular in the UK as well as some of the progress that has been made recently in the sports development there.

Inside the Games Article on Handball: -link-

The French monthly Handball magazine, HandAction, had a 4 page article in it's June 2008 edition on the Ligue Nationale de Handball's plans to play the Final Four of their League Cup next April in Miami. Here's a translation of the article in English. Thanks to "Positroll", Kathy Darling and others for their help in translation.

DES HOMMES ET UN COUP FOU*

*Note: Coup is a French word with many meanings depending on the context,
to include a "Cup" or tournament like the "Coupe de la Ligue"
This title can be therefore be translated in a number of different ways:
- Some guys and a Crazy C(o)up: Literal Translation implying this is a fool's dream
- Some guys and a strike of lightning [coup de foudre]: As in this cup is a bold unexpected strike
- Some guys and a Cup that will be love at first sight: As in the Americans will fall in love with this tournament
Bottom line: This is typical French cleverness and it propably means all of the above to some extent.
There's a reason why even the English speaking world defines the concept as double entendre.

The Coupe de la Ligue heads to the United States next spring in Miami. Here’s an in-depth look at an event that is unparalleled in the world of professional sports.

By Roldolphe Trehet

“French Handball is changing. More TV rights, more visibility, higher budgets and higher salaries. But we know that it still has a way to go in order to compete with Germany and Spain. It’s precisely at this moment in the further professionalizing of French Handball that the plan to organize the final four of the Coupe de la Ligue in the United States is being written. A professional sport can die if it doesn’t make news for itself. After Besancon, Selestat, Dunkerque, Nimes, Paris, Metz and Albertville, our Coupe de la Ligue will be played in Miami. We arre ready to transcend boundaries, and the prospect of going into exile doesn't stop us. Having the competition outside of our borders can boost the interest in our sport in France and promote it abroad."

This is how Alain Smadja started the press conference back on April 28th at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Paris. And here is how the league president realized his American Dream: He wants to see his clubs (which, while making progress, are still largely confined to competititons in their country with negligible success on the European levels) play a weekend in the country of all extremes, where everything is bigger, where everyone is a consumer, and most important of all in the land of opportunity, where anything is possible. Including, making with this unknown sport a major event, in front of 20,000 people at the American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat! No one could even imagine it before; the LNH (French National Handabll League) made it happen, without even thinking twice about it: "Handball has all the ingredients of a show to become attractive in the United States!" To have this event take place in the home of the Miami Heat, a US basketball franchise, is considered a "magic opportunity" by the president of the LNH. The idea came to him in 2004 while watching a NBA basketball game at the Madison Square Garden in New-York : "Why not us?". Behind this surprising announcement in the media, hides a huge business issue for the LNH : "We want people to know. We are coming here to make money as well as to foster public relationships between French and American companies". The LNH has a very, very ambitious goal... The experience could be renewed in 2010 and 2011 in different cities, "other mythic American arenas..."

Alain Smadja has a gleam in his eyes when he speaks of America, like a pioneer of the Wild West who moves to virgin and fertile earth. It is Cristian Zaharia who proposed to him to plant his flag there during their first meeting in September 2007. This meeting was made possible by Thierry Anti, the Romanian's friend, Zaharia was famous in the European handball world of the 90s. Married to Noemi Lung Zaharia – swimming coach at the University Florida and former Olympic silver and bronze medalist in 1988 – Zaharia is well known and had a brilliant career as a player, highlights of which included participating in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games (8th) and a bronze medal at the World Championships in 1990. He was one of the best left backs in the world before sustaining a serious knee injury and finishing his career in France (at Pontault-Combault for three years and at ACBB for one year) as well as in Germany (D2, Dusseldorf). This is not the first challenge for Zaharia. In 1990, he was the first Romanian player to leave his country without the authorization of his federation to play in Sweden, at Drott, a club with which he won the championship. Arriving in the United States nine years ago, he rapidly threw himself into the improbable mission of spreading the gospel of handball.

He organized, among other things, the Pan-American Championships in 2002, several training camps, coached the US National Team and created the Miami Sharks club… But without any institutional support, Zaharia mostly preaches in the desert. American handball today has 5000 practitioners, zero professional clubs. The Romanian businessman, who has this year created his corporation ‘New World Sports’, specializing in organizing events, hopes to be able to use the French League Cup as an instrument for creating a professional league. Those who didn't make it into pro soccer and college basketball make for an incredible pool of human talent. The revolution could only come from the outside with an imported product sufficiently tempting to finally pique the curiosity of the "hamburger people." And this could only come from old Europe, old-fashioned in many domains, but more than ever dominant in the discipline of handball. “I’ve thought of an event of this scope for eight years. I proposed to leagues from Spain, Germany, Sweden and Norway about organizing competitions, tournaments between champions of multiple countries in the United States, but they didn’t want to leave their comfort zone and enter the New World.” Here is the relocation dreamed by all the owners of big European soccer clubs, starting with those of English Premier League, who wish more than ever to export some of their league matches to far-away regions.

Miami, then… Sometimes referred to as “God’s Waiting Room” because of the number of retirees who move there. Today, the region of Greater Miami (around 5 million inhabitants) is a veritable melting-pot that would make the American founding fathers proud. Half the population is Hispanic, a million residents are Cuban, 400,000 Brazilians, but also many Europeans including 30,000 French. Unlike the citizens of Nebraska and Texas, Floridians will maybe have at least heard a distant cousin speak of handball in their lives… Anyway, its not the lack of handcall culture in the United States that frightens Cristian Zaharia, whose marketing slogans are ready, “It’s the most American sport that the Americans are not yet playing! Americans are going to love handball. Why isn’t soccer taking the desired momentum? Because, above all, Americans detest all those 0-0 or 1-1 matches. Handball offers plenty of goals and spectacle. It will not be a problem to fill the gym. Americans are consumers of sport. It's normal for them to be fans of something and to be fans for life. And in their eyes, thanks to this event, French handball will be the best handball in the world. And many will feel the calling, because Americans love winners.” Americans also love to think - and organize - big. New World Sports announced a budget of 2 million dollars. Welcome to the new world, in effect… AC Tellison, former football player in the NFL, but also of the NFL Europe (Frankfurt, Amsterdam) and an associate of Cristian Zaharia, sees handball as a huge untapped market and isn't holding back either: “When I discovered that one billion TV fans (editorial note: cumulative audience) had watched the Euro, I fell out of my chair! That’s the equivalent of 10 Superbowls. In arriving, as the first in the American market, my company will be in a great position as soon as France is identified as the fatherland of handball. Who remembers the second person who landed on the moon?” While the big sponsors of the event have not yet been unveiled, the contract already guarantees a million dollars to the league to handle the travel, lodging and different costs of the delegations! The American organizer is associated with the marketing department of AAA (American Airlines Arena) whose owner is Micky Arison, an Israeli billionaire ranked in the top 100 of the world's richest people, whose father, Ted, made his fortune with an ocean cruise company (Carnival Cruise) in the 1970s. Arison also inherited the NBA franchise, the Miami Heat, in 1995. Yes, French handball is now playing in the major leagues ... Its “
American dream” is on the way. According to Béatrice Barbusse, president of Ivry “We will not need to motivate the players to go as far as possible in this competition…” No need to send the message to Fabrice Guilbert, “This is our main goal come next season!” And the most “exciting” for the young French Handball League.

INSERT: On the “Final Four”
*The Quarter finals with the theme of “On the road to America” will likely be the 20th and 21st of December, potentially in the most American of French arenas: Bercy and its 15,000 seats.
*The semi-finals will be played April 10, 2009 starting in the afternoon. “The American organizers assured us that it is possible to get a sold-out arena on a Friday afternoon,” says Alain Smadja. The match times (in the middle of the day) coincide with prime broadcasting time in France. An NBA match of the Miam Heat might take place on Saturday, the finale and an “All-Star Game” (pitting a selection of the best players who lost in the Semi-finals against a Pan-american selection) will be played Sunday April 12, 2009.
*The games will not be played in an hour but accoriding to the big format that the Americans like. Multiple demonstrations and side shows are therefore anticipated, notably the “bands”, musical groups that are typical for a college sports atmosphere.
*Guéric Kervadec and Jackson Richardon are already expected at the event and are the invitees of honor, “The Americans are used to doing more than us in Europe. It’s a good springboard for French handball,” declared the latter.
*A special program will be put in place so that the French fans can take part “thanks to ultra-competitive package deals, potentially including an NBA game,” said the president of the LNH. Advance booking will be possible in France starting September. “We accounted for the criticisms of certain French fans. The League Cup will not be disconnected from its fans.”
*The event will be broadcast not only in France (channel yet to be chosen), but also in the US, where Fox Sports, ESPN, NBC, CBS have been contacted.
*The French Handball League and New World Sports work in collaboration with Gibson Dunn, an American office specializing in basketball, American football and tennis where Grine Lahreche, former goalie of Pontault-Combault and Tremblay notably works.

Original Text (French): -link-

Germany’s weekly Handball Magazine, Handball Woche recently did a story on the American Team Handball League (ATHL) proposed by Dennis Berkholtz. Here’s a translation of the article courtesy of Positroll.

AN AMERICAN SPORT

Will Handball return to the Atlanta Superdome? During the 1996 Olympics Handball was played in this arena seating almost 100,000.

COLOGNE: "Team Handball, the most American sport Americans don't know" - that's the name of a short video on youtube concerning "Team Handball", as Americans happen to call Olympic Handball. This phrase explains a lot about the standing and opportunities of Handball in "The Land of Unlimited Possibilities." Team handball is basically unknown in the U.S., and often gets confused with a Squash like game, where 2 or 4 players smash a small ball against a wall.

This might be about to change. At least, if people like Dennis Berkholtz get their way: He wants to establish Handball in North America. For years he laid the groundwork and has now partially succeeded. Berkholtz is the founding director of the first official professional handball league in the U.S., the American Team Handball League (ATHL).

The idea behind the ATHL is simple. The league shall start playing in summer 2009; 2010 at the latest. It is structured similarly to other professional American leagues, e.g. Major League Soccer. ATHL shall comprise 8 teams and will be divided in a north and south division. Division North shall consist of New York, Chicago, Montreal and Salt Lake City. Division South will include Miami, Houston, Atlanta and San Juan. The league will own all rights, including the teams themselves. At the moment, Berkholtz is looking for sponsors paying 8-10 mio $$ (~5-6,5 mio EUR) for the first three years. Big advantage: the games will be shown on television and can be watched online too.

SUPPORT BY THE HBL
"I think it's a great idea", says Frank Bohmann, director of the German Handball Bundesliga (HBL) when asked by HANDBALLWOCHE. "I'd say the concept of a 'summer league' is quite sufficient for the moment. We will support this project as much as we can". This support will definitely be necessary. Berkholtz is looking forward to it: "I imagine each of the US teams to include about seven European players. E.g. Swedes could play in Chicago, Germans in New York" said Berkholtz who took part in Olympic games as a player in 1972 (Munich) and 1976 as a coach (Montreal).

The schedule of the ATHL is supposed to look like this: During the first two years, there will be a six weeks schedule, including one week of training (matches), four weeks of group matches and one week for the finals. Each team will play eight times in it's division, with two matches taking place in a city each week end. The winners of the two divisions will then meet to play for the championship.
The project is about to get one important piece of support by France. As the French league association declared, the French League Cup will take place in Miami for the next three years [!?!]. On April 10. and 12. 2009, European top players will therefore, for the first time, fight for a national cup in Florida. "I am all for it, as it will boost the development of Handball a lot", said the French superstar Jack Richardson.

IS THIS THE BREAK-THROUGH?
Experts consider the chances of successfully establishing professional handball in the U.S. to be quite good, as Handball contains "all the elements that we love" says the former American Football player A.C. Tellison (who also played for Frankfurt Galaxy [European Football League]). "Handball is a very physical sport, there are lots of goals and you get a good show."

Actual Handball Woche Article (German): -link-

Here’s an update on recent significant happenings in Australian Handball

Goalie Cathy Kent records most saves in French Div 2: Cathy Kent recorded 307 saves for her club, Aunis/La Rochelle to lead all goalies in France’s Division 2. Additionally, in a post season poll of coaches, she received the 3rd most votes. She has announced that she’s leaving Aunis and is considering offers from other clubs including Div 1, Mios.
Article Sud-Ouest (French): -link-
Article Sud-Ouest (English Translation):
-link-

Bevan and Violi Calvert interview on Australian SBS Radio: Australian Right Wing, Bevan Calvert, and his mother, Violi, Australia’s Media and Public Relations Officer, discuss Australian Handball and Bevan’s experiences playing in Denmark. Note: the 20 minute interview is about 50% English and 50% Tagalog- Filipino.

SBS Radio: -link-
MP3 File: -link-

Australian Junior Women prepare for World Championships in Macedonia: Australia is sending a team to this competition for the first time: -link-

Australia to participate in Men’s World University Handball Championships in Venice, Italy:
-link-

More news on Australia Handball is always available at their official website:
-link-

Brazil defeated Argentina, 27-24, to claim their 2nd straight PATHF Championship. Brazil struggled early in the match and trailed 6-7 at the 20 minute mark. A four goal run made the score 10-7, 5 minutes later and Brazil never relinquished the lead. Argentina stayed close throughout, but were never able to come closer than 1 goal down earlier in the 2nd half.

Cuba overcame a 17-18 halftime deficit to defeat Chile 37-30 in the 3rd place game. In addition to securing the Bronze medal, Cuba also secured the 3rd and final PATHF spot for the World Championships in Croatia next January. This marks Cuba’s return to the World Championships after an absence of 10 years, mostly due to financial reasons.

In the 5th place match Greenland earned their first victory of the tournament, defeating Uruguay 28-21.

Final Standings
1) Brazil
2) Argentina
3) Cuba
4) Chile
5) Greenland
6) Uruguay
7) Canada

Link to standings: -link-
Link to Greenland Newspaper articles and pictures (Danish):
-link-
Link to Brazil Federation article (Portuguese): -link-

Brazil and Argentina will again meet in the PATHF final for the 4th consecutive time, but this time around Cuba and Chile made sure it wasn’t a foregone conclusion. In the first semifinal Argentina held off Cuba 33-32. In the second semifinal, Brazil held off Chile for a 26-22 victory. Brazil dominated the first half leading 19-10 at the break. In the second half, however, they only managed 7 goals as Chile made the score respectable in the end. In all likelihood, though, Coach Ribera rested key players in the 2nd half in anticipation of their showdown with rival Argentina. There is no love lost between these two sides as evidenced by the brawl that erupted at the PANAM Games this past summer:
-link-

In the consolation semifinal Canada bowed out of the tournament with a 23-21 loss to Uruguay. The loss places Canada in 7th place and relegates them to Division 1. Alexis Bertrand scored 10 goals in the match to lead Canada. In the December 2009 timeframe Canada will participate in the Men’s Division 1 Championship with the Dominican Republic, USA and other nations that did not participate in this year’s PATHF Championship.

Link to standings: -link-
Canada Sportcom article (French): -link-

Team Canada’s hopes of qualifying for the 2009 World Championships were dashed today as Chile beat Canada 28-23. Chile took a commanding 17-9 lead into halftime and Canada chipped away at the lead, but could no closer than 4 goals down with 5 minutes remaining in the game. Argentina easily defeated Greenland in the other Group A match, 31-22. Argentina secures 1st place with an unblemished 3-0-0 record, Chile takes 2nd with a 2-0-1 record, while Greenland and Canada tied for 3rd with a 0-1-2 record. Due to a better goal differential Greenland takes 3rd. In Group B play, Brazil, as expected, beat Cuba 33-21 to secure 1st place.

The semifinals will pit Brazil vs. Chile and Argentina vs. Cuba. Due to the Dominican Republic’s non-participation it’s not entirely clear how classification 5-7 will be accomplished. Most likely Canada will play Uruguay on Friday, with the winner than facing Greenland. If so, the Canada - Uruguay match will be a relegation match, with the loser having to play in the Division 1 Championship Tournament in the Dec 2009 timeframe. The top 2 teams from Division 1 Championship qualify for the 2010 PATHF Championships.

Link to standings: -link-

Greenland Newspaper articles and pictures (Danish): -link-

Sportcom Canada Article: -link-

In Group A play, Chile defeated Greenland 31-28, all but ending Greenland’s hopes for qualifying for the 2009 World Championships. Greenland again started out slow trailing Chile 19-12 at half time. Greenland can only hope to qualify for the semifinals by defeating unbeaten Argentina. Even if that happens they will still require Canada to beat Chile and then hope for a better overall goal differential. In the other Group A match Argentina beat Canada 26-15. Canada can feel good about playing Argentina close in the first half (13-10), but they are surely concerned with their second straight low scoring 2nd half, as they only managed 5 goals in the last 30 minutes. Tomorrow’s group A match between Chile and Canada should decide 2nd place. Notably, it is a rematch of the 2004 PATHF Bronze Medal game where Canada upset host Chile to qualify for the 2005 World Championships. More recently, however, Chile beat Canada 29-20 at the PANAM Games last summer.

In Group B play, Cuba beat Uruguay 28-24 in a closer than expected contest. Cuba will play Brazil tomorrow to decide 1st place in the Group.

Side Note: Greenland's Minik Dahl Hoegh, who had 12 goals against Chile, has signed with one of Denmark's premier clubs, GOG Svendborg, and therefore will be playing in the Champion's League next year.

Link to standings: -link-

Canada Sportcom article (French): -link-

Greenland Newspaper articles and pictures (Danish) -link-

In a key Group A match, Greenland and Canada played to a 20 - 20 draw. Greenland had a disastrous first half as they only managed 6 goals to Canada’s 11. Argentina, the prohibitive favorite in Group A beat Chile 36 - 25, but Chile played them close in the first half trailing only 13 - 11 at the break. Chile, Greenland, and Canada all have realistic expectations of finishing 2nd and advancing to the semifinals. The Canada - Greenland draw will add some additional suspense should both those sides beat Chile as overall goal differential will decide 2nd place, meaning every goal will count in their matches vs. Argentina and Chile.

In Group B, Brazil easily defeated Uruguay 38-13, while Cuba was idle due to the unexpected decision of the Dominican Republic to not participate at the last minute.

Link to standings: -link-

Sportcom Quebec Article (French): -link-

For those of you who missed the big team handall "summit", here are the minutes from the historic meeting.
Upon reading these minutes you may find yourself frowning, smiling, rolling your eyes over, pondering, chuckling, cursing! Whatever you do, know that you had the choice to be there.

There was no drama at the Omni Hotel in downtown St. Louis. JR has summed up the meeting excellently in his article. It was indeed a meeting of the minds as promised and advertised. Everyone had the opportunity to express his or her feelings.
Texas was well represented by Dede Piankova, Nathalie Dorner, Bogdan Pasat, Riyo Shigihara and Oscar Grisales. Chicago sent Florin and Felix, Santa Clarita had Karl (who also had the back of all the Cali clubs), West Point had two reps. Even the DITC had one representative to Berkholz's delight!:)

WNT had Dawn, T and Sarah. THN had JR and me. Nobody from UNC, ATL, NY.

Other than Steve Pastorino's General Manager and Amir Haskic Techincal Director's positions, the rest of them (paid or otherwise) are on standby - until further notice.

How is that for a teaser? Wink.