Well, I’ve read where Hakeem Olajuwon has credited Handball and Soccer http://sports.jrank.org/pages/3499/Olajuwon-Hakeem-From-Handball-Basketball.html with improving his basketball skills, but never have I seen credit going the other way. An article on Coventry City soccer club player and Icelandic native Aron Gunnarsson, however, highlights the benefits for throw-ins.

Handball is the reason for the long throws, says Aron Gunnarsson: http://www.coventrycitybanter.co.uk/2008/09/handball-is-the-reason-for-the.html

No mention as to whether he is related to Robert Gunnarsson who plays on their National Handball team and for Gummersbach in Germany. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B3bert_Gunnarsson He’s also not the first Icelandic native to shun Handball for another sport. In case you didn’t know, Iceland’s only native son to ever sign an NBA contract, Jon Steffansson, is the little brother of Handball great Olafur Stefansson. Perhaps if Jon had followed older brother Olafur, Iceland would have a little more depth at backcourt.

Jon Steffansson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3n_Arn%C3%B3r_Stef%C3%A1nsson
Olafur Steffanson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olafur_Stefansson

A lot of opinions have been expressed recently on our website as to how well the new USA Handball Federation (aka USA Team Handball) is performing. As we’ve been without a Federation for a couple of years there clearly is a pent up demand for national support and expectations are high. I’ve been an advocate for more patience, but that doesn’t mean I’ll my expectations are being met. For example, I’d certainly like to see more features on their website and I thought the competition rulebook that was posted on the website wasn’t ready for “prime time.” (By the way, if you thought there were problems with the rulebook, I sure hope you took the time to send in your comments and suggestions.)

I’ve considered a missive about the current state of affairs, but instead I decided that it would be better to first lay out my expectations as to what tasks the Federation should be working on and what timelines are reasonable for completing those tasks. After all, it’s a little unfair to grade performance at the start of the semester, especially if you haven’t fully spelled out what’s expected.

So with that being said here’s what I’d like to see and when:

[b]1) A clear and organized plan for USA club competition. [/b] (Target date: December 1, 2008). Successfully completing this goal would be to have a revamped competition rulebook that has been vetted, by and large, by the USA Handball community. This won’t mean that everybody will like everything in the competition rulebook, but it should mean that all the major clubs in the USA find it acceptable. As a minimum, every club should have a clear understanding as to what they need to do in order to participate in the 2009 National Championship Tournament.

[b]2) Announcement of the 2009 National Championship Tournament (Dates and Location) [/b](Target Date: January 30, 2009). Sooner, of course, would be better, but this should allow enough time for teams to make airfare and lodging reservations.

[b]3) A well organized and successful National Championship Tournament. [/b] There are many elements that go into running a well organized and successful tournament, to include, facilities, the scheduling of games, fan attendance and convenience (lodging and gym location).

[b]4) An improved website with the following content:[/b]
[b]a) A club information page [/b](Target Date: September 19, 2008). This page would include links to websites and Point of Contact information for all clubs in the U.S. You might notice that this target date is only a week away. This, however, should only take a couple of hours and quite frankly it should have been done a month ago.
[b]b) Guidance documentation page[/b] (Target Date: September 19, 2008). Any overarching documentation (e.g. the by-laws submitted in the UTHF bid; competition rulebook) that highlights how the Federation conducts business should be posted on this page.
[b]c) Club Resources page [/b](Target Date: October 17, 2008). A “best practices” section of the website that provides information on how to best organize a new club is needed. This section would include Points of Contact for club development and information on how to request funding grants from either USA Team Handball or the USA Team Handball Foundation.
[b]d) An online store with discounts for members[/b] (Target Date: December 1, 2008). This service would be a welcome addition, especially for new clubs that need to purchase balls and goals.

[b]5) National Board of Directors Fully Identified[/b] (Target Date: November 1, 2008): Another hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is 7 independent Board of Directors with business skills who would contribute $50,000 each to USA Team Handball. The website currently lists only 2 members, Dieter Esch and his business partner, Brad Krassner. Additionally, the new Federation should make clear how it will identify/select other members of the Board, who are not part of the $50,000 club.

[b]6) First National Board of Directors Meeting[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2009).

[b]7) Senior Men’s National Team Program Plan [/b](Target Date: March 1, 2009). A well thought out plan on how the U.S. will organize and prepare the Men’s National Team needs to be clearly articulated. Such a plan should clearly identify strategies for player identification and development, training and competition schedules. A key element of this plan will also be a decision on whether to develop players in the U.S. or whether to foster opportunities for players to be placed on European club rosters.

[b]8) Senior Women’s National Team Program Plan[/b] (Target Date: March 1, 2009). As with the Men, a well defined plan is needed. Additionally, if the Women, participate in the PATHF Div 1 Championships later this year a near term interim plan should also be developed.

[b]9) Youth and Junior Team Program Plans [/b](Target Date: March 1, 2009). These plans will need to mesh with the Senior Team Plans. They will also require a substantial amount of thought as the U.S. has very few players in these age categories and limited resources to support their rapid development.

[b]10) Fully Staffed Regions[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2009). A hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is their plan to have a dedicated Regional Director and Coach for each of the 5 regions. I would expect that personnel will actually start to be hired and identified in the near future. And I would expect the regional staffs to have a very active and hands on role in helping new clubs to get on their feet and in organizing regional competition.

[b]11) Regional Board or Directors Fully Identified [/b](Target Date: September 1, 2009). As with the National Boards, I would expect Directors to be identified in the coming months. As the Regional staffs have not been identified yet, however, this will take some time. Additionally, it may be challenging to come up with Regional Board Members due to the financial requirements.

[b]12) Interim Over Arching Guidance Documentation [/b](Target Date: September 19, 2008). To the casual observer, the new Federation appears to be currently operating with no formal written by-laws. By-laws were submitted during the certification process, but I suspect that these by-laws are not being followed to the letter. It should be clear to the USA Handball Community what “rules of the road” are being used to guide the new Federation. Simply posting the UTHF Bid by-laws would be a start, along with a general statement of accountability. Right now my assumption (in the absence of a Board of Directors) is that Dieter Esch is calling the shots, but that GM Steve Pastorino has been given a significant amount of latitude to do what he thinks best. This is to be expected in a start-up situation, but that construct should transition as soon as possible to a more formalized structure.

[b]13) Finalized Over Arching Guidance [/b](Target Date: February 2, 2009). Step 1 for the new board should be to approve new bylaws for the Federation. It should be clear to everyone what the roles and responsibilities are for Board Directors, Committee Members and Staff. Additionally, members at all levels should understand how they can influence and participate in the process.

[b]14) Strategic Plan [/b](Target Date: March 20, 2009). The strategic plan would be a top to bottom plan that identifies the goals for USA Team Handball and how it plans to achieves those goals. This is something that should be developed with at large membership input, but may very well also require outside the box thinking.

[b]15) Marketing Plan[/b] (Target Date: January 5, 2008). The new Federation has indicated that they will expend significant resources in this area. I don’t expect for them to provide the members at large a detailed copy of their marketing strategy, but I would like to see regular reports highlighting current ongoing efforts in this area. My metric for success in this area will be successfully getting Handball on TV in the U.S.

[b]16) Fundraising.[/b] This is without a doubt the big kahuna, in that sustained success hinges on creating sufficient income to meet expenses. With the dramatic increase in paid staff (when compared to the previous Federation), as well as plans to field youth and junior teams there’s simply no way for the numbers to add up without significant new funding streams being developed. The metric for success in this area will be an Income side of the balance sheet showing significantly more $ than that of the $300,000 – 500,000 budgets common in the waning years of the previous Federation. I won’t expect the Federation to provide detailed information, but as a non-profit, top level budget numbers should be available for public review. Additionally, it will become readily apparent that there is a cash flow problem if there are staff cutbacks and/or the USA fails to send teams to International competitions.

So, that’s it in a nutshell. Of course, the folks in Salt Lake City don’t take orders from me, so I’m not expecting them to jump all over my metrics. But hey, as soon as I send my $60 in for membership, there’s got to be some degree of accountability. And if my patience wears thin 6 months from now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Add NBA basketball star Carmelo Anthony to the growing list of Handball aficionados. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Anthony, a member of the USA Gold medal basketball team, was asked if there was another sport that he thought he could play? Anthony responded:

"I wanna play handball, man. The U.S. needs to get a handball team. I'm pretty sure we can get some guys to go out there and play handball.”

We’ll see if he follows through for 2012. I have my doubts as to whether top of the line basketball players will ever get near a basketball court. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.557 But, I think Anthony’s new found love for a sport he had never seen before is further proof to my argument that if Handball is shown on TV to new audiences people will watch. https://teamhandballnews.com/news372.html
Rocky Mountain News: 7 Questions for Carmelo Anthony: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/02/melo-now-focused-making-nuggets-golden-too/

Someone recently posted a link to some old “old school” Handball video of Denmark vs. Germany and Denmark vs. Sweden, circa 1954 in the Kometal forum. I couldn’t help but wonder from watching the video as to whether some of today’s women’s teams could give those sides a run for their money.

It also made be think back to the Scottie Pippen, “Time Warp” Nike commercial of the early 90’s. Through the wonders of you tube, it can be viewed if even that too was before your time. Makes me think it’s time for a Handball version of the same commercial. Might I suggest Luc Abalo running circles around the 1950’s Danish side?

Link to 1950’s Danish Handball Video: http://www.dr.dk/Undervisning/OL-leksikon/Boldspil/H%C3%A5ndbold.htm
Lind to Scottie Pippen Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qXkn3iqym4

As promised, I’ve been working on starting a new fan based movement to help get more Handball on TV in the United States and other countries. It’s a work in progress and I’d like your help in fleshing out the details for this movement. As such, I’ve created a Wiki devoted to this topic for you to contribute and provide input.

Handball Fans Association Wiki: http://teamhandball.wikispaces.com/Handball+Fans+Association

In general, I envision an association roughly modeled on the Australian Football Association of North America (AFANA) www.afana.com. Here are the proposed goals of the organization:

1) Help coordinate and facilitate the broadcasting of more Handball matches on TV
2) Provide information on Handball viewing options (TV and Internet)
3) Advocate for Handball fans world-wide

More information on the proposed organization and goals is in the Wiki so head there to contribute your thoughts and ideas.

Additionally, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an expert in the ins and outs of televised sport production and broadcasting. If you, on the other hand, have personal knowledge, experience and/or professional contacts in the sports production and/or broadcasting arena please send me an email john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com indicating how you would like to help contribute to promoting this agenda.

Sports commentator, Frank Deford, recently pontificated on the four guiding principles of sports organizations. According to him, they are:

1: It's much easier to run a team sport than an individual sport.
2: It's much easier to run a domestic sport than an international sport.
3: Any sports organization that has the word "federation" in its title is probably a mess.
4: Any sports organization in which volunteers have a lot of power over the professionals is really, really going to be screwed up. A subset to this is, “Beware of any sports organization in which too many people in authority wear blue blazers.”

I would bet Mr Deford has had very limited exposure to Team Handball, but these guiding principles certainly fit the bill for USA Team Handball for many years. One also, can’t help but think of the International Handball Federation. To read or listen to his essay go the link below.

Frank Deford: Take The Olympics. Give Me My NFL, Please: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93995199

Readers to this website well know that I’ve often compared USA Rugby’s ongoing struggles to develop Rugby in the United States, to Team Handball’s efforts to do the same. Now a new publication, “Putting Rugby First“, www.puttingrugbyfirst.com is worth reading for anyone concerned with the state of Handball’s development at the International level. Putting Rugby First is an independent report that was commissioned by an undisclosed group of "concerned rugby supporters who wish to ensure that the great game of rugby reaches its full, global potential."

Here are some of the findings of the report and some commentary as they apply to handball:

– Rugby’s International Rugby Board (IRB) (Rugby’s IHF equivalent) needs to be more representative. Currently, the Foundation Union’s (the top rugby nations) have increased voting power and can effectively veto other nations.
Comment: The IHF does have a one nation, one vote policy. Although, maybe there’s something to be said for the Rugby model. Should Germany and the Cook Islands really have the same voting power at the IHF?

– Rugby should have staged the 2011 World Cup in Japan (vice New Zealand) to enhance an emerging market.
Comment: Well the IHF has placed the World Championships in Egypt, Tunisia, Japan, and now China (women 2009), so there has been some effort put forth in the past. The problem with staging a World Championship in say, the USA or Australia, is that the sport is currently, too little known.

– Rugby botched their opportunity to get on the Olympic Program.
Comment: Handball is on the Olympic Program and hopefully there to stay. This report should make it very clear, though, how fortunate Handball is to be already on the program instead of trying to fight its way on. I know you Euros out there are saying, of course, it’s on the program, but outside of Europe, Handball has very little pull. And it’s probably safe to say that the only reason the sport has now gained a little traction in a few places outside of Europe (South Korea, Brazil, Egypt, Tunisia) is that it is an Olympic sport.

– The IRB has contributed substantial funding to emerging rugby nations, including several million dollars to the United States
Comment: The IHF, on the other hand, has distributed a few balls here and there. Of course, the Rugby World Cup is played in outdoor stadiums and has turned huge profits. The IHF World Championships, on the other hand are played in indoors arena. Still the 2007 World Championships in Germany were hugely successful and had to have turned a significant profit—Where has that money gone? If the IHF and other Handball entities invested in the United States and helped Handball become more than the near “nothing” it is there, the whole Handball community would benefit in the long run.

– Rugby is only on TV in core rugby markets
Comment: This is also a shortcoming for Handball is most pronounced in the United States where despite more and more channel options, Handball still has not managed to find its way on TV. Consistent exposure of Handball on US TV would have a tremendous impact on the sport's development. The Olympics were a start, but this momentum needs to be carried forward.

– Rugby is losing ground to other sports in emerging markets
Comment: This problem is even more pronounced for Handball. One has to only look at the fact that basketball is more popular than handball in Iceland now. 30 years ago in China Basketball and Handball were little known sports. Now 300,000,000 play basketball in China and their National Handball teams are made up largely from cast offs from basketball and other sports.

The Handball powers that be (the IHF, EHF, G-20, and the major professional leagues) could certainly gain some insight from the “Putting Rugby First” publication. But more importantly, they should be asking themselves if maybe Handball should do the same thing. Here’s hoping those organizations consider commissioning some independent think tank to conduct a “Putting Handball First” study.

Here are just a few things such a report could address:
– Loss of market share in European countries and how to increase it
– Total lack of presence in major markets (USA, India, China, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada)
– Funding for marketing efforts (e.g. getting the sport on TV in more countries)
– Resolving competing interests between the clubs, EHF, IHF and National Leagues
– IHF organization: Is it too unwieldy? Does it represent the best interests of all nations? Are its actions transparent?
– Best practices to develop more competitive national teams outside of Europe

Of course, commissioning a report would only be the first step. The Handball World would then have to act upon the findings. But recognizing that there are shortcomings that need to be addressed would be a good start.

Whether you’ve been a Team Handball fan your entire life, or just discovered the sport flipping through channels yesterday, you’re soon going to have to come to grips with the stark reality that the Olympics are over and along with that fact, so is your opportunity to watch the sport on TV in the U.S– at least in the immediate future. But, fortunately there are some remedies that can help alleviate the pain of withdrawal.

[b]1) Follow the sport on the web: [/b] The Olympics is just but one tournament, albeit an important one. The club season will be starting very soon in Europe and the Women’s European Championship will be in December and the Men’s World Championship will be in January. (Can the French beat the Croatians in Zagreb?) There are video web streaming options available. Notably, the European Handball Federation (EHF) has streamed Champions League matches for free and the German Bundesliga has a pay per view package available at HBL.TV www.hbl.tv. The quality of the video stream for HBL.TV is great, much better than the NBC stream, but it also isn‘t free. Both the European Championships and World Championships will also likely be streamed, but it’s TBD as to what the quality and price will be.

[b]2) Join a movement to bring Team Handball on TV in the U.S.[/b] Earlier this year, I wrote an April Fool’s Day article that believe it or not, fooled a lot of people.

IHF, EHF and Major National Leagues Form TV Partnership: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.480

Shortly, thereafter, I wrote a mea culpa https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.481 where I discussed forming a fan based movement to get Team Handball on TV. I’ve been remiss in following through on this plan, but I promise to get it started soon. I’ll also emphasize this isn’t just a pipedream. I’ve spoken with the folks at the Australian Football Association of North America (AFANA) www.afana.com
about the impact their organization has had in getting Australian Football on TV in the USA. Their movement started out as a group of fans writing a few letters, but morphed into an entity that was instrumental in a multi-million dollar TV contract being signed with Setanta Sports to broadcast Footy in the U.S. If a non-Olympic sport, predominant in only one country, requiring a humongous field and 36 players can gain traction in the U.S. it’s only a matter of time before Handball can do the same.

[b]3) Get involved with a local club or start one of your own.[/b] Contact USA Team Handball www.usateamhandball.org for information on clubs in your local area. If there isn’t a club nearby, look into starting your own. In the past two weeks, I’ve gotten about 10 emails from folks in Las Vegas wanting to play Team Handball. And each of those individuals contacted me after checking out this Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=103598029638506187982.000440c7641749acb6497 (Look out LA, the Vegas Rattlers will be gunning for you in a few months.) Also, note that anyone can edit this map and put a marker down for a club. Who knows, there could be another handball fan who lives half a mile from you.

[b]4) Make plans to see professional Team Handball in the United States.[/b] Yes, that’s right in the United States. Miami is scheduled to host the French League Cup Final Four, April 10-12, 2009. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.529 It’s TBD as to which French Clubs will qualify for the trip to Miami, but it’s hard to imagine that Chambery and Montpellier won’t make it. That means French Olympic Champions, David Narcisse, Joel Abati, Cedric Burdet, Michael Guigou will be playing at the Miami Arena next April.

So, hopefully these four remedies will help you recover from Olympic Team Handball withdrawal. Bogdan, Bjoern and I will do our best to keep you informed of what’s happening in the Team Handball world. Stay tuned for more stories about the U.S. development efforts and Handball on TV.