Author Archives: John Ryan

Greenland PATHF Membership Status Still Unresolved

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Eleven months after the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) downgraded their full PATHF membership to associate membership, Greenlands appeal to be reinstated is still unresolved. The impact of this downgrade has been substantial to this Handball loving, semi-autonomous nation of the far North. Associate membership means Greenland can no longer qualify and participate in IHF events. Already, this has denied Greenland the opportunity to qualify for 3 IHF events: the Junior Men, Junior Women, an Youth Women World Championships. Notably, the Junior Men, with many players, including leading scorer, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann, having gained experience in Germany at the 2007 Senior Mens Championships would have been a legitimate threat to win the PATHF title.

Now the clock is ticking for 2009 Senior Mens Qualification. The PATHF has adopted a new, 2 tier qualification scheme for 2009 Qualification. The 2 tiers are Elite and Division 1. The Elite teams consist of the top 6 nations from the previous Pan American Championships, while the Division 1 consists of the 7th and 8th place nations from the previous Pan American Championships and all other nations. The Division 1 Championship will be in Cuba from 5 to 9 November with the top 2 teams from that tournament joining the 6 teams already in the Elite Division for the Elite Championship in Atlanta, USA from 24-29 June 2008.

In August, when the PATHF announced the schedule for qualification, no mention was made of Greenland’s possible participation. Instead, the PATHF noted that 3 nations, instead of 2 nations would advance to join the 5 Elite nations. The reason? As Greenland is no longer a full member an additional nation was needed to bring the Championship to an even field of 8 teams.

Greenland has tried to work with the PATHF and IHF to resolve their membership status. At the IHF Congress last April in Madrid, they had two scheduled meetings with the PATHF that were cancelled for unspecified reasons, but they did discuss the situation with the IHF leadership and received verbal support for their reinstatement. Additionally, they proposed to the PATHF that a meeting being held with all member nations concerned with their membership status to address any concerns that those nations had. As informal pleas for resolution failed Greenland issued a formal complaint to the IHF for resolution. The complaint, however, is being addressed at what appears to be a glacial pace. According to the PATHF Exec Committees informal minutes, the PATHF intends to let the complaint work through the entire legal process.

Concerned with the slow progress to date, the Greenland Handball Federation wrote to the IHF in August to emphasize their concerns. Noting in the letter that the inability to participate in World Championships, not only harms the athletes, but this limbo status is also impacting their ability to keep their current sponsors and acquire new ones. The letter also asks the IHF to take a hands on role in resolving the situation. Since, the letter was sent the GHF has not received any feedback other than that the IHF Arbitration Committee was reviewing their request for reinstatement.

According to Kurt Lauritsen, GHF National Team Coordinator, Greenland may soon be forced to take the issue above the IHF, to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. This, unfortunately, however could mean that this issue might not get resolved in time for Greenland to participate at the PATHF Championships next June. Greenland’s frustration is self evident and Lauritsen notes, “If one of the larger Handball nations like Germany, Russia, France, or Croatia had a similar situation that action its doubtful that the IHF would be so slow to resolve it. The least that could be done would be for the IHF and PATHF to acknowledge now that if we win our case that we will be allowed to participate next June. That way we could avoid a situation where the 3rd place team at the Div I Championships isn’t surprised when Greenland gets it spot back in the tournament.”

Team Handball News and Handball-World requests to the IHF and PATHF for comment were unanswered.

Handball FAQ Added to the Website

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I’ve added a Handball Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to the menu at the top of the page. I’ve started it with a few common questions concerning Handball in the USA.

– Most of the world simply identifies Handball as Handball, so why does the United States call the sport Team Handball?
– What is the popularity of Handball in the United States?
– What percentage of Americans are familiar with the sport of Handball in the US?
– What impact has the name confusion for Handball/Team Handball had on the sports development in the US?

I will gradually populate it with more questions and answers in the coming weeks. If you’ve got a burning question drop me a line at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com. Better yet, answer a FAQ yourself, and I’ll add it to the website.

Women’s National Teams Prepare for World Championships

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This past weekend saw several Women’s National Teams playing in friendly tournaments in Europe and Africa. Here’s a round-up of the results and links to write ups that appeared at the Handball-World Website

[b]GC World Cup in Aarhus, Denmark[/b]: http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Kampe.aspx
Statistics:http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Statistik.aspx

Final Rank
1) Russia
2) France
3) Norway
4) Denmark
5-8) Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, Brazil

Match Day 3 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4243
Match Day 2 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4230
Match Day 1 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4223

[b]Holland Tourney in Rotterdam[/b]: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4260

1) Germany
2) Japan
3) Poland
4) Netherlands
5) Spain
6) Iceland

[b]Pannon Cup in Hungary[/b]
1) Hungary
2) China
3) Austria
4) Lithuania

[b]Tunisia Tournament:[/b] http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4254

1) Angola
2) Tunisia
3) Portugal
4) Tunisia- Olympia Selection

US National Team Players Match Up Against Each Other in France

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In what might well be a USA Handball first, two American National Team players took to the court against each other in a sanctioned competition in another country. Backcourt player Kathy Darling, Bergerac HB and Megan Ballard, Toulouse met each other in a NF1 league contest in Toulouse, France. For the record Toulouse won the match 33-19. Ballard had 5 goals while Darling led Bergerac with 10 goals. Another National Team player, Jennifer Farell is playing in NF2 for Jacou (near Montpellier) and was on hand to witness the match.

NF1 is the third level league in France and you can follow the results and standings for both Toulouse and Bergerac all year long at this weblink:
http://www.ff-handball.org/ffhb/html/les-championnats/de-france/seniors/n1f/lesresultats.php

US Women’s National Team Story (with pictures): http://www.usateamhandballwomen.com/content/view/158/1/

Joining the Handball-World Team

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Earlier this month, I was pleased to note that Handball-World.com www.handball-world.com had restarted the English language content portion of their website. Well, now I am even more pleased to announce that I have accepted the position as Editor in Chief for English Language Content at Handball-World.com.

As visitors to this website know, I’ve been a fan of the Handball-World website for some time. Even though the site had reverted to an all German format it still was an excellent source of information, even if you did have to cut and paste text into an automatic translator. At the World Championships this past January I had the opportunity to meet some members of the Handball-World team. I learned that Handball-World, like Team Handball News is an independent news site devoted to Handball. And as we had a similar mission, albeit in different languages, we started to routinely share information on events happening in the Handball World. With Handball-World now bringing English back to their site it only seemed natural that we further team up in some way. And hence my decision to join their site.

[b]So what does this mean to you, the reader?[/b]

Well, first off, you are now going to have a lot more independent, English language news reporting on handball. And these articles will include more graphics and pictures. Not every German language article at Handball-World will be translated into English, but all of the major stories will be. And, time willing, these stories will also be edited by native language speakers. Additionally, in the coming months we hope to roll out some new features that will make Handball-World.com an even better internet destination for the Handball fan.

Secondly, for the near future anyway, Team Handball News won’t be going anywhere. The site will, however, become a little more North American focused. Many stories with “world” appeal will still be posted to both sites, but stories and commentary with a more narrow focus on Canada or the US will stay on the Team Handball News site. That’s not to say that some North American content won’t find its way to the Handball-World.com site. Events like the PATHF championships have broad appeal and deserve a wider audience. But other events, like details on the USA Handball Federation application process will stay with the Team Handball News site.

As always, I’d like to express my thanks to you, the readers, and your continued support of Team Handball News.com. And I, and the Handball-World team, look forward to your support there as well. If you have any comments/suggestions or would like to volunteer to help with either website, just drop me an email at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com

Group Club Handball (GCH) Joins Soccer G-14 in Weighing in on EU Reform Treaty

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Group Club Handball (GCH) has jointly signed a letter with Soccer's G-14 and Euroleague Basketball to European Union leaders expressing their concerns with the proposed modifications to EU Reform Treaty which could alter the current business practices for club teams in Europe.

The proposed modifications to the treaty are being pushed by UEFA President, Michel Platini, with support from the EHF and FIBA Europe. Platini has called for the EU treaty to include specific safeguards to protect the unique nature of the game, including the pyramid structure which allows any team — in principle — to reach the top, and the financial support of lower leagues by professional clubs. In his letter Platini further states that the European game is being threatened by "the malign and ever-present influence of money."

The combined G-14, GCH, Euroleague Basketball letter states that there is no problems with the current treaty and highlights that UEFA, the EHF and FIBA Europe are not neutral players, but are sports entities as well and that all of these entities should be equal under the law.

The underlying current for these disagreements between the European level sports bodies and the professional clubs are conflicts over players playing to many games (club and national team) as well as fears that the top clubs have become too powerful within the current European structure.

Group Club Handball Press Release: www.groupclubhandball.com/0_menue/0_0_index.htm
UEFA Statement on Platini Letter: www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=594068.html

Handball on TV in the USA? Yes!

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Well, OK, it wasn’t on my TV, but the HBL.TV broadcast I watched last night between Flensburg and Hamburg on my computer monitor was indeed of TV quality. HBL.TV www.hbl.tv is the video streaming platform of the German Bundesliga and it’s definitely an improvement over previous video I’ve watched on my computer.

Using my own personal 1-10 scale, with a 1 being a 1970ish over air reception on a small Black and White TV and a 10 being an HDTV transmission on a big screen plasma set, I grade the experience as a 7. The picture was clear with no pixilation- By no means HD quality, but just as good as your standard TV set. The audio was clear, with an occasional dropout that didn’t effect the video. As I don’t know any German, this wasn’t a problem, however. Crowd atmosphere and whistles still could be heard. Bottom line: a “7” score is pretty good and is a significant upgrade from earlier experiences which were closer to a “3” for free EHF video in 2006 and a “5” for the World Championships video this past January.

As for why the quality has improved I would guess that it’s a combination of improved streaming technology as well as my willingness to pay for the maximum high speed line (10MB), which is a little more expensive, but worth it if you think that Internet TV is going to be your only handball viewing option for the near future. A few notes:

[b]How to setup your account[/b]: Well if you know a little German it’s going to be easier for you then it was for me. The site is entirely void of English and you’ll be sure to give the babelfish translator a workout: http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr. You first have to register on the site by entering the standard name, address and date of birth information. One tip on something that stumped me for several minutes: In the country drop down menu the United States is Vereinigte Staaten. Once you have your account registered you then have to purchase credits. You can buy the whole season for 54.99 Euros, but you might want to just purchase 1 game first to see if it works for you. The lowest credit that you can purchase is 5 Euros and a match costs 3 Euros. Another tip: you’ve got to buy the credit before you can actually buy a match.

[b]What to purchase:[/b] I recommend that you look for matches which feature 2 of the following 6 teams: Kiel, Flensburg, Hamburg, Gummersbach, Nordhorn, and Madgeburg. The rosters for these teams are loaded with top international players from around the world. That’s not to say that a team from the bottom half of the league won’t challenge these teams from time to time, but with limited time you might as well see the best teams play each other.

[b]The future: [/b] Well as I cracked open a beer and watched high level handball in the peace and quiet of the computer room I couldn’t help but think how this could be so much better. For starters, it would be nice to watch it on the big TV in the living room. English language commentary would be nice as well. How about a Champions League package for purchase? The good news is all of these things are coming and sooner that we all might think.

[b]Earlier Reviews of Handball Video Streaming:[/b]

EHF Champions League Video Review (March 2006): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?extend.37
World Championship’s VideoSport Broadcast Review (Is it Worth the 19.99 Euros?)(January 2007): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.242
World Championship’s VideoSport Broadcast Review (Part 2): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.251

British Handball Program in Full Gear

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The British Handball Program has been busy identifying new talent and sharpening their skills. Here’s a couple of articles about their ongoing program:

BBC Sport: “Handball addict gives up day job” http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/olympics_2012/6987576.stm Profile on 23 year old Rugby convert Tim Maynard

British Handball Federation: “Handball Hopefuls in Denmark” http://britishhandball.worldhandball.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?menuid=1093&itemid=1662 Story on British Handball Talent Identification program

IHF Managing Director: Korean Women Were Cheated in 2004 Olympic Final

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Frank Birkefeld, the IHF Managing Director, in an interview with Germany’s Handball Magazine expressed the following, "In 2004 the Koreans were fouled out of the victory obviously, so that I have this match already in bad memory." And he further states, “Denmark was not able to lose this match, because Korea was not allowed to win. I don´t want to say anything else to this."

Frank Birkefeld is scheduled to retire from his post at the end of September. He has worked 17 years for the IHF, including the last 12 as the Managing Director.

Article from Handball-World: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4008
IHF Article on Birkefeld Retirement: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=845

Note: The Handball-World site is now in English for some articles. Simply click on the UK flag at the top of the page for the English version.

Liga Asobal vs. Bundesliga (Olafur Stefansson Weighs In)

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In an interview on the EHF Champions League website Icelander, Olafur Stefansson , who plays for Spanish side, Ciudad Real was asked the following:

Eurohandball.com: You played in both leagues, for Wuppertal and Magdeburg in Germany and now for Ciudad Real in Spain. Which league is better: Asobal or Bundesliga?

Stefansson: If you look at the best three German and Spanish teams, they are all a class of their own, full of world class players. If they play against each other, there’s no favourite, they are similar. When you look further and see the first five teams of both leagues, the comparison is still the same. But if you take all teams of both leagues, Germany is better. The teams from 5 to 18 have more class than the similar teams in Spain. But as these teams are getting better in Spain, while the gap between place 5 and 12 is widening in Germany. It’s like in Spain: the good ones are getting better and the bad ones getting worse.

The whole interview is here: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/index.asp?page=20081071X,10577#scroll

And if you don’t already do so, be sure to check the EHF Champions League website regularly as the quality and frequency of articles placed on their site has improved dramatically. (The link is on the right hand side of the THN Homepage.) Now if they can just add a satellite TV or web streaming package at a reasonable price….

Two ATHA Board Members Resign (NGB Bid Likely Over)

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Cristian Zaharia and Bogdan Pasat, two key Board Members of the American Team Handball Association (ATHA), have resigned from their ATHA Board positions. The move was made shortly after the 2nd USOC open hearing to discuss the ATHA’s and Utah Team Handball Foundation (UTHF) proposals to become the National Governing Body (NGB) for Team Handball in the United States.

According to Bogdan Pasat, the move was made as a result of ATHA Board Chairman,Mariusz Wartalowicz’s failure to properly emphasize ATHA’s willingness to work openly with all elements of the American Handball community. This directly conflicted with an earlier ATHA Board decision that was essentially deigned to give notice to the USOC and the UTHF, that the ATHA would not only work with the UTHF but it would also consider absorbing it for the sake of team handball development.

Bogdan Pasat Note on Houston Website: http://houstonhandball.org/comment.php?comment.news.613

Analysis: With two of the three board members who were physically present at the USOC open hearings resigning the ATHA bid is in an untenable position. The USOC can only conclude that the ATHA is not ready to manage the sport effectively if it can be openly split by internal politics in the middle of a competitive bidding process. The USOC’s decision is now to simply determine whether the UTHF bid is acceptable or not.

USOC NGB Open Hearing #2 Audio Podcast

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The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) conducted their 2nd Open Hearing to discuss the two applications to become the new National Governing Body (NGB) for Team Handball in the United States. The meeting followed the same format as the first meeting. The American Team Handball Association (ATHA) and the Utah Team Handball Foundation (UTHF) first gave presentations (roughly 20 minutes each) and then the remainder of the time was devoted to questions. The quality of this audio appears to better than last time. The length of the podcast is 1 hour and 58 minutes and the file is 40 MB.

https://teamhandballnews.com/request39.html

Left click to play; right click to download.