Hey, media person, just discovering handball: Think you’ve got a “new” idea on how the U.S. can win Olympic Handball Gold? Think again… Check out these articles dating back from 1996.
Has the lack of information provided regarding a wild sequence of events been a brazen disregard of transparency or has it simply been the justifiable limits of information sharing?
The 85-10-5 Rule of Thumb
When you write about handball in the United States for nearly 20 years you learn a few things about where the sport is situated relative to all the other sports in this country. In terms of pecking order, team handball is very near the very bottom. Aside from our quadrennial increase in awareness due to the Olympics very few Americans care or even give a second thought about handball.
And, then, even within our very small community of handball devotees, the people who really care about the governance and handball politics of our sport is an even smaller number of people. Based on experience/observation, I would assess that of the 1,000 or so people who care about handball in this country around 85% could care less about who’s running the sport. They just want to play, coach, ref or watch. Their only question is typically, “Just tell me where to send my money.” Another 10%, if pushed, will engage some. Typically, this is a coach or team leader, that recognizes that the top level organization of the sport impacts what they are doing. They don’t like getting involved, but they understand that somebody on their team has to, to some extent. Essentially, they dip a toe in the water and then get out of that water as quickly as they can.
And, then there is the 5% that genuinely care about the politics and governance of the sport. They care about who is in charge of what and they care about what is planned in terms of grass roots development, national team performance, marketing efforts and other organizational matters. As to why they care, that answer varies. Sometimes it’s simply personal… they want to be in charge of something. Sometimes it’s out of frustration… they don’t like how things have been done and want to see changes. And, almost always… it’s because they are truly very passionate about the sport of handball.
So the 85-10-5 Rule of Thumb is:
85% don’t care about governance and politics at all and are very unlikely to to get involved.
10% care somewhat about governance and politics and they will get involved if they need to,
5% genuinely care about governance and politics and they get involved as much as they can.
So we could quibble about the percentages. Maybe it’s 80-10-10 or 90-8-2 or some other variation, but if you’ve been around awhile… you’re probably thinking that it’s a pretty accurate binning of our small community.
Can the 5% be Ignored?
If there are around 1,000 people who care about handball in the U.S. this means that only around 50 people are fully engaged in political/governance matters. Or to put it another way only around 50 people would really be interested in finding out more about something like the “sequence of events” sooner and in greater detail. Heck, I’ve even been told before that this number is even smaller and that I (John Ryan) am literally the only person that cares. I don’t think that’s quite true, but the number is small enough that a brazen total disregard for basic transparency has at times been a very effective strategy for USA Team Handball. Yes, if USA Team Handball wants to do something shady/unorthodox/questionable and not tell anyone about it… there’s a solid chance that no one will be the wiser. But… just because that’s an effective strategy… doesn’t make it right!
Outside Entities: Also Left in the Dark?
Beyond the small USA Handball Community there are also other players that probably have been left in the dark. The USOPC has been informed via grievances, but one wonders if the IHF and USA Team Handball’s largest sponsor, Verizon would also liked to have been fully informed as to what had been taking place. Certainly, one can speculate as to whether any lower level concern that those entities might have had regarding disputes between the Handball Union and USA Team Handball would have been easily trumped by higher concerns regarding an unorthodox “sequence of events” that was unfolding.
The Lack of Transparency
Here’s a chronicling… of some significant events that either have never been mentioned or were reported only long after they happened as a news items on the USA Team Handball website:
No mention whatsover regarding the multiple actions related to Board Member, Ebiye Udo-Udoma
His removal by the Athlete’s Advisory Council (AAC) and, in turn, his removal from the Board of Directors
The determination by the Judicial Committee that his removal was improper and his reinstatement to the Board
The determination by the Judicial Committe that decisions made in his absence were still valid
No mention whatsoever regarding the “sort of” merger between USA Team Handball and the US Handball Union? Or dissolution of the Union? (I’m still not sure what that was all about)
No mention whatsoever of Martin Branick’s removal from the CEO position and subsequent departure from the organization.
No mention whatsoever of Camille Nichol’s and Lawrence Taylor’s resignations from the Board of Directors
No mention whatsover of David Buckman’s resignation from the chair of the Nominating & Governance Committee
A Personal Breaking Point
As a pseudo-journalist and the de facto, unofficial lead for the “5 Percent” I’ll have to admit to some complacency in regards to all this. I had heard some rumors and had been told that it was a little messy, but I was somewhat resigned to the Board’s decisions.
And, then someone sent me Camille Nichol’s and David Buckman’s resignation letters. I don’t know either very well, but we’re all retired military and service academy graduates. Do not try and tell me that a retired 2 Star General and Colonel don’t know how to play in the sand box. That’s just silly and isn’t going to fly with me.
So, I reluctantly put on my investigative journalist hat and the more I found out, the more I was troubled by all that had happened and pretty upset with the secretive nature of it’s implementation.
Board Meeting Minutes (A Window of Transparency)
Board Meeting Minutes are often frustrating in that they usually tell only part of the story, but nevertheless they are typically the only source of official information as to what is taking place in terms of USA Team Handball matters. They’ve always been tucked away in a corner on the website and are typically quietly posted with no mention on the website or social media. Because of this I’ve gotten in the habit of periodically checking the USA website to see if any new minutes have been posted.
You might be “shocked” to learn that after former Board President Michael Wall’s resignation that Board Minutes were not posted for several months. And, that the availaiblity of video for the open portion of board meetings also quietly disappeared. As rumors that things were starting to get a “little messy” began popping up, I started to check the USA website more regularly and on 23 October I discovered that some Board Meeting Minutes had finally been posted. And, when they were later taken down I decided that it was time for a little sunshine so I posted them on the Team Handball News website. This then resulted in a request from the new CEO, Michael King to take some of them down due to their publishing via illegal behavior.
The Missing Minutes (What Changed?)
Here’s a table summarizing the Meeting Minutes in question:
There was no issue with 4 of the meeting minutes and these were left up on the Team Handball News website and posted on the USA Team Handball website (I’m not sure of the date, but I think it was in early November).
The minutes from the 10 July 2024 meeting have not been posted again by USA Team Handball. The stated purpose of the meeting was to afford US Handball Union leadership an opportunity to present its current situation and vision to members of the USATH board. They look like Meeting Minutes, but include this disclaimer on the bottom of each page: “Meeting minutes taken for the purpose of follow-up conversation – not intended for publication” I’m not sure why this is the case, but here’s one little interesting tidbit. The new, recently appointed USA Team Handball Independent Director, Andre Carter is listed in these minutes as part of the US Handball Union Leadership. That would seem to really stretch the definition of “independent” but, at this point why would anyone be surprised anymore.
The remaining 3 Meeting Minutes were eventually posted on the USA Team Handball website on 15 November, but not after undergoing some editing. This is concerning as it relates to the 8 August meeting minutes since they were formally approved by a Board motion at the 27 August meeting.
The nature of the changes fit broadly in to two categories:
Contractual dispute: Both the old and the new minutes discuss an ongoing contractual dispute. The old minutes mention the name of the company and provide more details. The new minutes omit the name of the company and are less specific in nature.
Naming of Board Members: The old minutes often used the first names of board members and indicated how board members voted on certain motions. The new minutes use last names and the record of how each board member voted has been replaced with a simple tally of the vote result.
In general, I’m fine with the changes that were made. In regards to the contractual dispute, the old minutes provided more detail than was necessary. Meeting minutes should also refer to people by their last names. For key votes of consequence it would certainly be preferable to know how Board Members voted, but I guess if there are privacy requirements that need to be followed it should be anonymous. I’m not sure what the requirments are exactly, but maybe a change to the bylaws is warranted to consider the possibility of making key votes public. I could be wrong, but it wouldn’t surprise me if most Board Members are totally comfortable with that. Finally, it goes without saying… don’t formally approve minutes and then change your mind. It’s bad form even if the reasons for changing said minutes are valid.
Red Herrings to Keep Info on the Down Low
I think most people are familiar with the concept of red herrings, which are intended to distract from what’s actually relevant. Contractual disputes and how people vote are of some interest, but they are pale in comparison to the wild “sequence of events” that had been taking place. A sequence of events that in it’s entirety could at best be described as unorthodox. And, at it’s worst described as Mickey Mouse dysfunctionality.
Maybe it’s possible to rationalize this “means” as absolutely necessary to getting to the desired “ends.” It seems like a real stretch, though, and it’s certainly a tough proposition to sell. So, if one can hide behind red herrings to keep the real story on the down low… well, that is very, very convenient. And, of course, that’s just for the Meeting Minutes. There was nothing preventing USA Team Handball from reporting more (actually anything) as to what had been going on. To deal with the uncomfortable explaining that comes with transparency.
But, doing so could very well have resulted in an early crash out of the sequence of events. Certainly, it would have made things very uncomfortable. Yes, for all intents and purposes secrecy seems to have become the chosen course of action. Because if all you care about is the end state, here’s the standard Machiavellian playbook to follow:
Keep all the bad information secret as long as possible. The fewer people that find out anything the better… because those people start asking questions and taking action
Minimize the amount of bad information that seeps out. If you can’t keep everything secret dribs and drabs of information are better than a total release. (Such a strategy didn’t work for Nixon, but it can work if the 80-15-5 rule applies.) If some people just know some of the story the notion of things being just a “little messy” is still sellable
Delay information release as long as possible. The more time that passes the better. This is especially true if everything can be normalized as quickly as possibly. Ideally it becomes a fait acompli where people might say, “WTF! That was really crazy, but everything seems OK now. I guess there’s no sense in rocking the boat.”
Is this what happened? Is what is still happening? Well, outward signs in terms of how information was mostly not shared the past few months mimics this playbook very closely. And, as the old saying goes if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… It’s probably a duck.
(The USA Team Handball By-Laws introductory paragraph on Independent Directors and the four Independent Directors that resigned from the Board)
A Little History Lesson
When I wrapped up the “Sequence of Events Video” I remarked how for oldtimers the current situation might feel a lot like the events of 2005-2006 that led to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s decision to decertify the U.S. Team Handball Federation (USTHF). So, I decided to do a little review of what happened way back when by digging into the Team Handball News archives. In doing so I re-remembered that the very first post on this website on January 2, 2006 and many of the posts in that timeframe covered the Board of Director divisions, the USOC investigation and ultimate decertification.
First of all, can I just highlight that that was almost 19 years ago. 19 years! There have been over 2,300 posts on this website since then. I’ve been writing and commenting about handball in this country a long time. And, it’s funny, but while some of the names have changed or moved on we’re still talking about many of the same issues and challenges. As, I said to Bjoern Brembs as we discussed the decertification in a very early podcast, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.” And, again, that was 19 years ago…
However, there are a few things that have indeed changed for the better and one of those changes was an Olympic Committee requirement for National Governing Bodies (NGB) to have “Independent Directors” on their Boards of Directors. Because back in 2006 there was no such requirement. In fact, everyone on our Board was a handball person duly elected by the membership. Not just two members like today’s 9 member board… but all 24 members. (And, of course, that total number of board members was also silly and cumbersome, even if there also was a smaller Executive Committee that functioned more like the Board does today.)
As part of that first ever post I also had the two very first handball podcasts as I had interviewed representatives of the two board factions, Board President Mike Hurdle and Athlete’s Advisory Council Representative, Matt Van Houten. In both of the interviews the topic of independent directors was brought up, but we mostly focused on how these new independent directors would help in the all important (and still important) topic of fundraising.
But, another important role of these independent directors as the name, of course, implies is simply their independence. In theory, they can participate in board matters without the bias that comes simply from having been directly involved with the often fractured politics that is handball in the U.S.
Looking back at the situation in the 2005-2006 I’m pretty sure that if the Board had been composed of 44% Independent Directors (44% is 4/9 of our current board structure) that things would have not turned out the way they did with eventual decertification. That an impasse would have been resolved. I’m not sure exactly how it would have played out, but it would have been different.
Independent Directors (Sometimes in Name Only)
With the selection of the Dieter Esch group to become the new NGB for handball in 2008 the U.S. a new board structure with nine board members was adopted. From my notes at the 2008 summit there were to be nine board members with seven board members with business backgrounds contributing $50,000 each. Thanks, surely in part to the Great Recession, I don’t think this ever materialized and eventually the board structure adopted our current stucture with just four independent members.
I’d like to say that over time the Independent Directors have raised tons of money, but this clearly hasn’t been the case. Additionally, in some cases our Independent Directors weren’t very independent. They might have fit the definition outlined in Section 6.6 (B) of our By-Laws, but in practice some Independent Directors were actually very partisan in their views. In the 2018-19 timeframe board infighting eventually led to some direct engagement from the USOPC with the end result being the hiring of CEO Barry Siff and the selection of a new, very clearly Independent Director, Michael Wall to become the Board President.
2019 – 2024 The Most Independent Board Ever?
Arguably, the Michael Wall era Board of Directors may well have been the most independent Board USA Team Handball has ever seen. Independent in that “handball people,” for better or worse faded largely into the background. The Board had some handball people, but was signficantly less partisan than it had been. By and large it seems that decisions were being made with less bias from deeply held handball convictions. Notably, the Board also hired two CEOs (Barry Siff and Ryan Johnson) with no handball background whatsoever to make the day to day decisions.
From my persepective (and many others) this composition of Board and Administrative staff had some pros and cons. On the one hand it was a pleasant change from the historically, fractious nature of board politics. We were actually functioning like a normal organization! I realize that’s a ridiculously low bar… but historically it’s one that we’ve often struggled to clear.
But, on to other hand, I think there was a lack of direction and a tendency to avoid major decisions. For organizations with abundant resources and a clear mission it’s possible to float along comfortably at a slow pace. For organizations with very limited resources and many challenges/choices to make floating along can be very frustrating to the people that really care and are heavily invested in the sport. And, eventually it becomes more than a source of frustration as problems mount and opportunities are lost.
The Revenge of the Handball People (Actually Just Some of the Handball People)
I think the concept of Independent Directors was envisioned, in part, for those Independent Directors to serve as arbitrators between competing factions. To provide a big picture, good governance perspective on a topic rather than a partisan, passionately held viewpoint. When a board has two opinions being hotly debated by the handball people the independent members can help steer the discussion towards conclusion with their independence and often their experience with other boards of directors being taken into consideration.
But, what happens if there aren’t competing handball factions on a Board of Directors? Either because, all the handball people are in agreement… or one faction has a new, temporary majority? (i.e., A 4-3 majority due to a vacant independent board seat and the temporary removal (improperly as it turns out) of one pesky board member.)
Well… you have what just unfolded the past few months with USA Team Handball. Yes, a small group decided to seize the moment and take action with a very unorthodox sequence of events. To essentially tell the Independent Directors, we know best and we don’t really have to listen to you anymore. Or, to put it in a more positive light. It was time to quit just being frustrated and to take action to remove the uninvested roadblocks standing in the way of progress.
If you are part of this handball faction you probably see this whole sequence as a little messy, but something that just had to be done. Regrettable, but justifiable.
Or… Canaries in the Coal Mine?
However, if you are not part of this handball faction, you likely have a different perspective. And, for sure, if you not a part of any handball faction. If you are “independent” with no handball bias, you will undoubtedly see this whole sequence as very dysfunctional. Or as one Olympic Movement person said recently, “Handball just doing what they always do.”
The four Independent Directors who have resigned all saw this sequence of events as very messy and dysfunctional. Something that most definitely didn’t have to be done… but something that a small group wanted to be done. Their resignation letters all address the lack of process and poor governance.
I guess it’s possible that over time these uninvested, non-handball people gradually turned into highly invested partisan roadblocks. But, it seems rather unlikely that 4 independent directors would consciously form a new faction focused on getting their way for their new handball passion. Indeed, when push came to shove they all effectively said we just don’t want to be a party to this anymore. In that vein, the Independent Directors are canaries in the coal mine warning us that there are major problems with this current Board.
Which is it?
Well, to some extent, I’m still formulating my opinion. Gathering information, which continues to seep out. I’m actually to a certain extent sympathetic to both viewpoints. I follow handball pretty closely in this country and I’ve been been frustrated with the lack of action and leadership. That said, I’m also very much a process oriented person. That boards should strive for compromise and and consensus. Even if it takes longer and is frustrating.
It’s the age old question, “Does the end, justify the means?” I’ll have more to say on this later, but right now the more I’ve learned about the means… the more inclined I’m to say: No, not in this case.
There has been a considerable amount of drama with USA Team Handball for the past several months. In this video presentation, I provide an overview of the sequence of events from January 2023 to November 2024. Over that period of time there have been:
Four Independent Board of Director resignations citing organizational dysfunction
One board member who was removed and later reinstated due to being removed improperly
A grievance seeking to review board decisions while that board member was improperly removed
A very unorthodox CEO removal and replacement
And, as you might expect the USOPC is now investigating USA Team Handball for National Governing Body (NGB) noncompliance
Note there is no audio only mp3 for this podcast episode as it contextually would be hard to follow with following along with the video presentation.
If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.
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Aaron Wolf-Bloom is arguably the USA’s top state-side youth talent. We discuss his development as a handball athlete and his plans to graduate from High School early and play in Sweden this January.
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.
Don’t miss an episode:
Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
Thomas Schumake is the head coach of the Bret Harte Middle Schools boy’s and girl’s handball teams. This past weekend both teams took home the California Youth Cup Middle School titles. I sat down with Coach Schumake to discuss his approach and journey to become a handball coach. And, we also discuss what it might take to get handball to become an officially sanctioned school sport in California.
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page
If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.
Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
Good Governance and the Importance of Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes are one of the few windows to the inner workings and decisions made by the USA Team Handball Board of Directors. A “window” because they sometimes don’t provide enough context to fully understand what’s being discussed or decided. They’re not perfect, but they’re better than nothing and reviewing them can give one a better sense of what’s going on.
Making them readily available for everyone to read is certainly “good governance” and USA Team Handball’s By-Laws, Section 16.1 lists multiple requirements for meeting minutes including this sentence: “Every reasonable effort will be made to publish the minutes within fifteen (15) days of approval by the Board.“
Needless to say USA Team Handball has historically very rarely met this guideline. If you been around awhile, you’re probably not shocked by this. And, there can be multiple reasons for this to include short staffing and problems with the website. But, if you think those are the only reasons and that USA Team Handball would never delay the posting of meeting minutes to delay the exposure of what might be considered a convoluted sequence of events… you just might be a little naive.
For the past several months USA Team Handball’s Meeting Minutes webpage section hasn’t been updated. The last listed minutes go all the way back to March 7th. That’s over seven months and the board has met multiple times and made multiple decisions. And, since the 15 May meeting the practice of announcing upcoming meetings and making the open session available for anyone to view online as part of a Zoom webinar has been discontinued. Perhaps that had something to do with former Board President Mike Wall’s resignation on 5 June. Perhaps that’s just a coincidence.
A Window of Transparency Opens…
Anyway… On Wednesday, 23 October, as I periodically do, I checked the USA Team Handball website to see if any new Board of Directors Meeting Minutes webpage had been added. Usually, this is a fruitless check, but, lo and behold it had been updated. “Finally,” I said to myself, “A little smidgen of transparency for this organization.” I immediately downloaded all the newly posted meeting minutes and started to try and piece together what in the hell exactly had happened the past few months. Not an easy task and after a couple of hours sorting through the documents and with a two day trip to California to attend the San Francisco Cal Heat Youth Cup to get ready for I had to pause my efforts.
…And Closes
But, I thought it would be nice to let everyone else know that these meeting minutes were now available so I prepared some social media posts to get the word out. A seemingly simple task, but it takes a bit of time to pull up Facebook, Twiter and Instagram, find a suitable picture, and craft a few bullet points. I did that and then went back to the USA Team Handball website for the meeting minutes link… only to find the meeting minutes had disappeared for some reason.
I suppose there could be a number of reason as to why such a window opens and then closes. I’ll leave it to everyone to speculate further. But, any excuses as to logistical reasons for not posting minutes due to time constraints… well, those excuses are pretty silly.
USA Team Handball Board of Directors Meeting Minutes (May – September 2024)
So, if USA Team Handball isn’t going to post Board of Director Meeting Minutes, I guess I will. (Good thing, I downloaded)
The past few weeks have seen some major changes with USA Team Handball’s Board of Directors, Committees and Administrative Staff. Here’s a summary of those changes:
August 27, 2024: The USA Team Handball Board of Directors met and decided to hire Michael King, the former Executive Director of the US Handball Union as the new CEO for USA Team Handball
September 7, 2024: The Judicial Committee reinstated Ebiye Udo-Udoma on the Board of Directors. Udo-Udoma had been removed from the Board of Directors by the Athletes Advisory Committee (AAC) in the June timeframe, but the Judicial Committee determined that the proper procedures had not been followed.
September 9, 2024: Michael King assumed the CEO Role; Former CEO Martin Branick is retained on staff in a new role that was to be defined
September 20, 2024: Camille Nichols resigned from the Board of Directors
October 8, 2024: Lawrence X. Taylor resigned from the Board of Directors
October 15, 2024: David Buckman, resigned from his position as the Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee.
When contacted, USA Team Handball confirmed these changes and Patrick Jalabert, the Interim Board of Directors provided the following comment:
The board decision to hire a new CEO followed lengthy discussions between USA Team Handball and the US Handball Union aimed at resolving a divide in the US handball community, and was not a decision taken lightly. While the recent resignations are regrettable for the organization, USA Team Handball is thankful to the individual contributors for their passion and engagement during their time with the organization. We remain committed to the growth of the sport in the United States, and look forward to welcoming new contributors to support that mission.
Not the Usual “Look at Us. We’re Growing Handball” Exaggeration
I have a daily Google search feed for “handball” that shows up in my inbox every day and it’s often an eclectic mix of stories. One type of article that regularly shows up is the “Look at us. We’re growing handball in a far flung region of the world.” I generally, read these stories with a few shakers of salt as typically they are about some IHF project that shows up for a couple of days, hands out some balls, runs a clinic and takes a few photos for social media. These are not bad initiatives… It’s just that they are typically trumped up for accomplishing a lot more than they really are.
The past few days there have been several articles from the Cook Islands about a beach handball competition there including an article about two IHF referees and an officiating clinic, the Prime Minister playing and record participation. The usual, “Look at us. We’re growing handball,” articles… except my curiousity was piqued, so I dug a little bit more… and went way down a rabbit hole.
The Cook Islands: Per Capita, Beach Handball’s #1 Nation
What initially triggered my interest was the article on record participation which stated that participation for this year’s event had more than doubled to 444 participants. In case you were wondering… that’s quite a few participants. I’ve been to the largest U.S. Beach Handball competition, the Southern California Beach Handball Championships twice and that seemed like a bigger number. Turns out the Cook Islands competition is, indeed, a little over twice the size of this year’s U.S. competition. The U.S. competition had 18 total teams (12 Men and 6 Women). While the Cook Islands competition had 37 total teams (10 Men, 9 Women, 6 Youth Men, 6 Youth Women, and 6 Masters) Source: Cook Islands Handball FB Page
Well, it would appear that some real growth is indeed actually taking place. If you scroll the Cook Islands Handball Facebook page you can get a sense of the competition by checking out the photos and videos. The Cook Islands Games is a multi sport competition which appears to be simlar to state based games in the U.S., but on a much smaller scale because the Cook Islands is a pretty small country. If one looks at the team names they mostly match the different small islands that make up the Cook Islands. Some of these islands have just a few hundred inhabitants so it’s a lot more feasible to field a beach handball team than a regular indoor handball team. And, in Polynesia I’m sure finding a beach to play on is way simpler than a 40×20 Meter indoor court.
Future World Championship Qualification?
Based on a few video clips the competition was spirited, but not at an elite level. That said… if you have that many people playing, some cream is going to rise to the top. And, they had 12 youth teams (6 men and 6 women) participating. Take the best players from each of those teams, give them a little training and there’s surely some potential there for a solid national team. One that could challenge for an Oceania Championship title and qualficiation for the World Championships. In fact, according to this report on 2023 Oceania qualification they did play Australia and New Zealand close last time around.
While a total population of around 14,000 people is not a lot to work with against those two much larger nations the Cook Islands could well be on a path to a Beach Handball World Championship.
I’ve been running a little campaign against the (don’t call it the Super Globe) IHF Club World Championships Roster Rules (of lack, thereof). I know it’s a bit of hopeless cause, but I like to think if you point out the very obvious problems with something change is bound to happen. Shine the light of day and some decision makers will look at the totality of it and ask themselves, “Is this really what we want to do?”
I won’t fully reiterate some previous commentaries (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3) but, I will again highlight the composition of the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) representative at the ongoing IHF Club World Championships. Here is a compilation of the California Eagles roster based on data from the Official Final Roster, Provisional Roster, their first match report and some quick internet searches. (Again, you can’t believe everything you find on the internet; there might be a few errors, but this provides a pretty accurate snapshot)
Here’s what’s problematic with this roster:
Nationality: With the exception of Ty Reed all of the key players on the roster aren’t American. This is not to say that expats aren’t important to the development of the sport in the U.S. or that clubs shouldn’t have any expats playing for them. But, it does point out some underlying problems with the organizational structure of the sport in the U.S. That organizational structure inhibits the development of American athletes and the Super Globe “carrot” has further exacerbated the problem.
Residency… where the club is actually located: There are only 2 athletes on the roster that actually live anywhere near where the club is located. This is very problematic if you think a “club” is a collection of athletes that regularly practice and play games together.
Residency… in the country where the club is actually located. Over half the roster doesn’t even live in the United States. I do not have to explain how silly and absurd that is.
New Citizenship Requirement
It was brought to my attention that the IHF quietly installed a new citizenship requirement for the this year’s competition. Each club participating in the tournament is required to have six athletes with the same citizenship as the club’s location. (I don’t know if I should get any credit for this rule being added, but I’ll take a little.)
Best that I can tell this rule impacted three clubs: The California Eagles, Sydney Uni and Veszprem. With the California Eagles it appears they went on a little bit of an expedition to find American citizens that could be called up to meet the 6 athlete requirement. If you look at their preliminary roster its a mix of dual citizens and former national team athletes not playing club ball in Europe. Not surprisingly… the minimum 6 Americans were added to the roster. And, it appears that the the same thing happened with Sydney Uni and Veszprem. Yes, Veszprem, which has a roster jampacked with non Hungarians had to dip into it’s Academy roster to meet the requirement. And, amusingly this has resulted in a 7th American, Benjamin Edwards, getting to play at the Super Globe.
This is not a bad rule to have and, I think the U.S. should consider a similar requirement for it’s club teams. We probably should even consider a higher number or percentage to incentivize American athlete development.
Residency Requirements Next?
Similarily, the IHF, NACHC and USA Team Handball should take a long, hard look at adding some residency requirements. Obviously, it makes sense for clubs to consist of athletes who live in the same town. In fact, some Europeans reading this are probably shaking their heads and having a hard time contemplating how it would be otherwise. But, the reality is the U.S. is a very big country with a very small number of players. Not everyone has a nearby club to join and sometimes that nearby club is at a lower level then that athlete might want to play at.
But, again our existing structures and the Super Globe “carrot” are impeding the establishment of more clubs nationwide. Clubs have zero incentive to split off and create more clubs… because that would make the resultant clubs weaker. Athletes might prefer to play locally, but know they can only compete for a title if they join a bigger club in a bigger city that’s further away. This inevitably results in a few “super teams” loosely connected to a geographic area supplemented by Europeans flying in to further improve the team. A comical arms race to attend the Super Globe. This is not development.
To change the status quo… will require some new “carrots” and probably a few “sticks” to incentivize growth. That is… if we think we should take steps to incentivize growth and the development of American athletes.
Super Globe Future
While nationality and residency rules would crack down on some of the silliness with the current rosters it would create another problem. It would result in even weaker teams that simply can’t compete against professional teams. Or, to put it another way: The IHF can continue the charade of allowing fake teams so the matches are somewhat closer… or the IHF could recognize that the IHF Club World Championships should only be contested with professional sides.
I’m in favor of the latter. Let’s have four European clubs take on four non European pro teams. That’s a worthwhile measuring stick to see if the rest of the world is catching up. But, amateur sides? I just don’t see the point.
With little fanfare the European Handball Federation (EHF) has quietly instituted a subscription fee for it’s web streaming service, ehfTV. Depending on where you live this is either really big news or a footnote of passing interest. If you live in a country that already shows competitions like the EHF Champions League on TV you probably didn’t use ehfTV much. But, if you live in a country like the U.S. this is really big news. The free gravy train of watching every match of every European competition free, live and on-demand is sadly over. You can still watch… but now it’s going to cost you. For club competitions it will be 7.99 Euros for a monthly subscription and 45.99 Euros for a yearly subscription. And, if you want to watch the 2024 Women’s Euros it will be 8.99 Euros for the whole competition.
Short Sighted or a Reasonable Business Decision?
So, is this a short sighted or reasonable business decision? Short sighted, in that it limits handball exposure in new and emerging markets. Or, reasonable, in that ehfTV is a pretty good product and it’s certainly not free to produce and deliver that content world-wide. A solid case can be made for either argument.
Short Sighted Case: Handball is a virtually unknown in many parts of the world. Charging people to watch is essentially deciding to give up on newcomers because virtually no one is going to pay to watch something they aren’t familiar with. Building new markets and acquiring new fans is way more important than the 46 Euros you are now going to get from the handful of committed fans in countries like the U.S. One wonders how many of those fans even exist. Well, we’ll soon find out…
Reasonable Business Decision: Producing and delivering quality handball content is not a free proposition. Even if it results in marginal revenue streams it’s still better than nothing. Further, consumers are getting more and more accustomed to paying for streaming content. What once was a novelty is now commonplace. Finally, we can’t discount the impact of VPN and piracy. There are very likely some free loaders watching ehfTV from non geo-blocked locations. Eliminating all pirated streams is an impossibility, but simply removing the free streams will likely encourage some free loaders to pay a reasonable subscription fee.
My Take: Reasonable, but New Market Development Efforts Should Shift to Finding Great Streaming Partners
I generally come down on the side of free… Who doesn’t? But, I’ve been following this for quite awhile and the streaming world has evolved quite a bit. Here’s my first mention of ehfTV way back in 2008 and a commentary that I wrote four years ago. I was afraid we were going to lose ehfTV in 2020 and we actually got another four years. The EHF gave away a great product for 16 years. That seems like a pretty reasonable effort to grow new markets to me. I’m actually surprised it lasted this long.
That said, the battle to develop new handball markets shouldn’t be forgotten. Instead, it should move on to new battlefields. In particular, the EHF, IHF, HBL and other content owners should redouble their efforts to find streaming platform partners in countries like the U.S. Because while ehfTV was free there was very limited discovery opportunity. i.e., If you weren’t already familiar with ehfTV you were very unlikely to find it. Whereas with a good partner with decent customer reach, the platform can promote handball to potential new fans.
Case in point, EHF content can be watched on DAZN in Canada and is even available for free on Pluto TV in Germany. Pluto TV could be an option for the U.S. So could ESPN+, Roku TV and Peacock. I’m currently on the Peacock bandwagon, but due diligence would be to engage each potential partner with an eye on market growth. Because it doesn’t matter where committed fans like me watch handball. It matters where handball is best exposed to potential new fans.
(Benjamin Edwards #40, playing with the Veszprem 1st Team)
John and JD discuss 18 year old Benjamin Edwards playing with the Veszprem 1st Team, John’s dream of an HBL-LNH pre-season showdown and some overarching takeaways from the Olympian Handball Haus interviews.
Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:
Germany Cup Results; Both ASV Hamm (Ian Hueter) and Vfl Lubeck-Schwartau (Paul Skorupa) advanced to the next round where they likely will face HBL sides: Link
John’s proposed HBL-LNH Pre-Season Challenge modelled after the NCAA college basketball ACC – Big Ten Challenge
John and JD discuss the infamous Dika Mem pass, NBC Peacock’s handball broadcasts and promotion of the sport, and John’s efforts to start club handball programs at Colorado and Colorado St.
Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:
The infamous Dika Mem pass that saw France lose to Germany in a dramatic Olympic quarterfinal: Link
NBC’s Peacock coverage and John’s commentary that Peacock should become the USA TV home for handball: Link
Sports writer/influence Rodger Sherman’s All Caps Tweet that he will storm ESPN HQ if they don’t broadcast more handball: Link
*TV and “streaming” are now pretty much the same thing. And, that reality could and should be a game changer for the development of handball in the U.S.
TV and Streaming: The Silver Bullet Game Changer
Long time readers to this website will know that I’ve long espoused the importance of getting more handball on TV in the U.S. Anecdotally, the number of people choosing to get involved with handball after seeing the sport on TV during the Olympics is off the charts. And, I’m pretty sure if an analytical study was ever conducted to quantify the impact of TV it would simply confirm all those anecdotes.
Nothing exposes more Americans to the sport. Nothing generates more interest nationwide. While short video clips on social play an ever increasing role in the zeitgist… those video clips are typically content pulled from TV/streaming broadcasts. Or, they are video clips that complement that TV/streaming broadcasts.
The Rugby 7s example
This isn’t just true for handball. Look at the U.S. Women’s Rugby 7s team where Olympic TV broadcasts and social media posts from one athlete, Ilona Maher, generated interest. They both fed off each other, and when a full length of the field try resulted in an upset win over New Zealand and a bronze medal it garnered unprecedented exposure culminating in a $4M donation to the team.
I’m not saying Handball will generate the same level of good fortune. But, good things will eventually happen when you put more handball in front of more eyeballs in the U.S. Our sport kicks ass. People see it… they like it. And, that leads to more players, fans and yes, eventually sponsors and donors.
Streaming: The Future has Finally Arrived… Maybe?
I’ve been such a big proponent of getting more handball on TV because I think regular broadcasts would be the inflection points of all inflection points. The point where every discussion about handball would begin with “After handball was regularly broadcast on TV….” And, when ESPN agree to broadcast the Handball World Championships in 2021 on its streaming service, ESPN+ I thought it would be that inflection point. But, that never materialized. In fact, the ESPN+ broadcasts barely moved the needle.
There were two main reasons for this. Streaming was making a lot of progress, but while it had become commonplace for TV shows and movies it still hadn’t “arrived” yet for sports. And, inexplicably, ESPN provided almost no promotion whatsoever for the sport. Seriously, it was as if they were trying to hide handball.
But, that was then. This is now. With Peacock averaging 4-6M viewers for any given minute, some are calling the 2024 Olympics, streaming’s Magnum Opus. In other words, the point in time where streaming was no longer the reluctant 2nd option for sports fans, but instead the go to 1st option. And, we’re not talking about niche loving handball fans, accustomed to streaming because it was their only option. We’re talking about the generalist sports fan, who more often than not was happy with tradtional TV view options.
Handball on TV (or Streaming): Still the Silver Bullet
I’ve been writing about the importance of Handball TV broadcasts for a long time. This commentary has a good summary and makes the argument that regular handball broadcasts are the closest thing we have to a silver bullet solution to all our problems. This is because our sport has “a lack of awareness” problem that hamstrings anything and everything we need to do. And, nothing. I REPEAT NOTHING addresses that problem more than getting Rodger and others hyped up on handball and screaming (IN ALL CAPs) for more.
NBC Peacock: The Future Home of Handball?
I’ve been following the different potential options for broadcasting handball for over a decade. And, while I was really strong advocate for getting handball on ESPN and played a behind the scenes role in it actually coming to fruition I now think it’s time to turn our eyes towards Peacock. Here’s why:
NBC Peacock is now a great streaming platform. What was once a somewhat clunky user interface is now simple to use. Every match in one place and easy to navigate and find.
NBC Peacock has been a great steward and promoter for handball at the 2024 Olympics. Handball is the only sport with no U.S. participation at the Olympics, but NBC hasn’t been keeping it a secret. Whether it’s Mike Tirico gushing about handball at the opening ceremonies, or Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson adopting the Egyptian National Team or the the Gold Zone hyping handball the affection and support are genuine.
NBC Peacock needs content to help minimize subscription churn. The Olympics have been a real boon to NBC Peacock. They currently have 33M subscribers, some portion of which just signed up for the Olympics. And, some portion of which will think about leaving after the Olympics are over. Do I really think that there are a lot of Americans out there who will only stay with Peacock if handball is added to the library. No, I don’t. But, you know what… I think there are some now who will be more inclined to stay if handball is one of several things they can watch on Peacock.
NBC Peacock provides a logical lead in to the 2028 Olympics. The U.S. will be participating in handball at the 2028 Olympics for the first time since 1996. And, both the U.S. Men and Women will get wild cards for the 2025 and 2027 World Championships. It makes a lot of sense for those four events to also be broadcast on Peacock. And, while we’re add it, how about the North American & Caribbean Championships and the 2027 PANAM Games?
Why it Could Actually Happen: It’s a Very Rare Win-Win-Win-Win-Win
Yes, if you’re counting that’s 5 wins. I think that’s about the right number. Here are the 5 entities that would win:
International Handball Federation (IHF): The IHF owns the rights for the World Championships and sold them to ESPN for a very discounted price (perhaps free?) for the past 3 years. As discussed, Peacock is better option now
European Handball Federation (EHF): The EHF hasn’t had either their Club Champions League or the European Championships on USA TV for several years. The Champions League has a fully produced, English language Match of the Week. Most of the European Championships also have fully produced matches ready to broadcast. All of this content is available on ehfTV, but it deserve promotion and a boader audience.
Handball Bundesliga (HBL): The best professional club league in the world, now has a fully produced, English language match ever week. These featured matches along with every other match are available via subscription, but the feature match deserves broader exposure.
NBC Peacock. As discussed, NBC Peacock could use more content. And, here’s some good news NBC… I think you could get the above handball content (IHF, EHF, HBL) at a very attractive price. Maybe even free if the Handball entities can be convinced that the accompanying reach and promotion will lead to U.S. market growth. All you have to do is show what NBC has done with the English Premier League (EPL) and that should get everyone’s attention.
USA Team Handball. As discussed, more Americans watching handball is a very good thing. Something that could turn a once every four years phenomenon to a continuous stream of discovery would be an epic game changer. And, Peacock would also be a great location for U.S. handball content like our collegiate championships and a reality show.
Will it Happen?
Will it happen, though? I’d like to think that something with so much upside and so little downside is a no brainer just waiting to happen. However, I’m just some guy with a website and a good idea. That said, the campaign starts now. We’ll see if the dream can indeed, become reality.
