USA National Team athletes pose with Aubie, the Auburn University mascot.

1) Austria’s Hypo eliminated from Champions League. This past weekend the Austrian women’s club, Hypo Niederösterreich lost to Germany’s Thüringer HC 34-25 and for the 2nd straight year failed to advance out of Group Play. The Hypo Club has 7 Brazilian National Team players on it’s roster and is coached by the Brazilian National Team Coach, Morten Soubak. This poor result calls into question the success and future of the unique relationship the club has with the Brazilian Federation.

Review of the Hypo-Brazil Relationship at Mundo Handball: Link
Christer Ahl assessment from 2011 on the Hypo-Brazil agreement: Link

2) Can the Cuban Men and Women qualify for 2016 Olympics? Ruben Gomez at Mundo Handball reviews their recent performance at the Caribbean Cup and assesses their chances for 2016.
Mundo Handball(Spanish) Link http://blog.mundohandball.com/2013/11/que-tiene-cuba-le-alcanza-para-llegar.html

3) USATH holds first Board Meeting since Dec 2012. The USA Team Handball Board of Directors met on October 14th and the minutes from the meeting have been posted on the Federation website. The minutes note that the Nominating and Governance Committee has selected 3 new independent Board Members. Further dialogue with CEO Matt Van Houten has indicated that they should be formally announced in the near future.
USATH October 14, 2013 Board Meeting Minutes: Link

4) Auburn holds welcome ceremony for USA Team Handball Residency Programs. Last Friday, the Auburn University Kinesiology Department and the Auburn Team Handball Club formally welcomed USA Team Handball and its Residency Programs to Auburn.
Auburn Team Handball Club Facebook photos of welcome event: Link