Euro 2022 Qualification Scenarios (Sunday, 2 May)

Posted on May 2, 2021 by John Ryan

**The projected top four 3rd place teams (If the odds predictions are 100% correct)**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

Today (Sunday, 2 May) at 1800 CET, qualification for the 2022 European Handball Championships will wrap up with a mad dash of 15 simultaneous matches. Here are those 15 matches, the current handicap odds and a top level summary of what each team needs to do to qualify. For a way more detailed summary including all possibilities check out this earlier posting: Link

All matches can be seen on ehfTV. You might want to get multiple devices and laptops today. I will also try and tweet with timely updates as to the current qualification situation and which matches have become pivotal: Team Handball News on Twitter

Group 1
- France (-12.5) vs Greece
  - This match is very unlikely to effect qualification
Group 2
- Austria (-0.5) vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
  - Austria: If Austria win they finish in 2nd place. If they lose they head to the 3rd place table with 0 points and they start the day with a -29 GD. Mathematically, in the running, but it would probably take some ridiculous blow outs to advance with that high of a -GD. Should they draw vs Bosnia they would take 1 point to the table, but they would need to have several of the swing matches go there way.
  - Bosnia & Herzegovina: If Bosnia beats Austria they will finish in 2nd place. If they lose, they will take 2 points to the 3rd place table and they start the day with a GD of 0. And, that probably is enough to finish 4th or better. To be on the safe side they will be hoping for results in the other groups that send teams to the table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
    - Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
    - N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
    - Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
- Germany (-11.5) vs Estonia
  - This match is very unlikely to effect qualification
Group 3
- Czech Republic (-1) vs Ukraine
  - Czech Republic: The Czech Republic is in pretty good shape. If they beat Ukraine they finish 2nd in their group. If they lose to the Ukraine they will finish 3rd, but will have 2 points and will start the day with a +1 GD.
  - Ukraine: Ukraine’s situation is a little more precarious. If they beat the Czech Republic they qualify, but if they lose they enter the table with just 1 point, meaning they will be looking for results in the other groups that result in teams heading to the 3rd place table with 0 points. Poland will likely need 2 of the 3 results below to happen:
    - Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
    - N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
    - Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
- Russia (-7.5) vs Faroe Islands
  - This match has no effect on qualification
Group 4
- Portugal (-5.5) vs LithuaniaLithuania might get in with their 2 points from upsetting Iceland. Key word: might. An upset draw or win, however, should put them through
  - Lithuania: If Lithuania loses to Portugal as expected they will have 2 points, but also a pretty high -GD: -22 plus whatever they lose to Portugal by. This means they will be hoping for results from the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Lithuania will likely need 2 of the 4 results below to happen:
    - Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
    - Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
    - N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
    - Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
- Iceland (-10) vs Israel
  - This match is unlikely to effect qualification
Group 5
- Netherlands vs Poland (-0.5)
  - Netherlands: They have qualified. There is no possible way for there to be 4 nations with 3 points in the 3rd place table.
  - Poland: Poland is in pretty good shape as they will head to the table with at least 2 points and will start the day with a -3 GD.
- Slovenia (-9.5) vs Turkey
  - This match has no effect on qualification
Group 6
- Belarus (-8.5) vs Latvia
  - This match is unlikely to effect qualification
- Norway (-12.5) vs Italy
  - This match is unlikely to effect qualification
Group 7
- N. Macedonia vs Switzerland (-2)
  - Switzerland: If Switzerland beat Macedonia they head to the 3rd place table with 2 points and start the day with a -8 GD. 2 points might be enough to qualify and their GD will improve depending on the margin of victory so they might catch up to other teams with 2 points. And, they will also be looking for results in the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
    - Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
    - Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
    - Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
- Denmark (-13) vs Finland
  - This match has no effect on qualification
Group 8
- Montenegro (-1.5) vs Romania
  - Montenegro and Romania: Well, this is the wild card situation…
    - If Montenegro wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they head to the table with 0 points and a -24 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
    - If Romania wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they finish in 4th place and Kosovo takes 3rd, but with 0 points and a -26 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
    - If however, Romania and Montenegro draw Montenegro finishes 2nd and Romania takes 3rd… And, they head to the table with 3 points which will qualify them as well.Will these teams play for a draw? No, that’s tough to manipulate from the first minute of a 60 minute match. And, if either team gets a lead that’s a comfortable way to qualify. That being said, if the match is tied in the waning minutes of the game will there be any incentive to take a risky shot that could turn into an easy fast break for the other team? No… None, whatsoever.
- Sweden (-11.5) vs Kosovo
  - This match is unlikely to effect qualification

The Possible Outcomes (Just the Likely Ones)

Here are the most likely 3rd place teams and the results that would head to the best 3rd place table. (For every single possible outcome: Link)

**Possible 3rd Place Results (The Likely Ones)**

Projected Results (Based Strictly on the Odds)

Taking the odds above as to which teams would win and by how many goals (the handicap was rounded up) these are the teams that would qualify

Teams that qualify by finishing 2nd in their group: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Montenegro

Teams that will finish in 3rd place and the resulting top 4 teams: Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Lithuania

Teams currently in contention that would finish in 4th place: Romania

Of course, this is just one possible outcome of many. And, with 5 matches projected to be close it’s pretty unlikely that this is what will occur. Switzerland could lose to Macedonia, Bosnia could be Austria, etc, etc.

Halftime Projection (To be filled at halftime)

As fast as I can possibly do it, I will update the table at halftime. And, I will try to post updates on Twitter as the matches head to the finish. Key word… Try. It can be very hard to post and watch 5 matches at the same time. And, it goes without saying I’m not infallible. Hopefully, there won’t be any mistakes.

Team Handball News on Twitter: Link

Handball Web Streaming this Weekend (1-2 May 2021) (American Athletes)

Posted on May 1, 2021 by John Ryan

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

HBF 2 (Germany)
- TSV Nord Harrislee vs SG 09 Kirchoff (Saturday, 1730): Video Link
  - Sophie Fasold is a GK for Harrislee
  - 8th place Harrislee takes on 12th place Kirchof.
D2F (France)
- Octeville-sur-Mer vs As Cannes Mandelieu (Sunday, 1600 CET): Video Link
  - Nicole Andersen plays defense and left back for Cannes
  - Cannes starts “play down” matches to avoid relegation

Scenarios: 2022 European Men’s Handball Championship Qualification

Posted on April 29, 2021 by John Ryan

NOTE: This is a work in progress. Check back for updates.

Euro 2022 Qualification Format

The qualification picture for the Men’s 2022 European Championships is starting to become clearer, but there is still quite a bit yet to be resolved this Sunday when 15 qualification matches will be simultaneously played at 1800 CET. Yes, you read that right: 15 matches will be played simultaneously. Although, I haven’t seen it stated anywhere, I’m guessing this is being done to make it tougher (if not impossible) for any manipulation of the results to favor one over another possible. And, to avoid the possibility of a situation where a draw might be advantageous for both nations and this is clearly known before the start of a match.

All, well in good, but this results in quite a bit of a headache for teams trying to figure out what they need to do in order to qualify. And, this is especially true when trying to determine which teams will qualify as the 4 best 3rd place teams. The 3rd place teams from all 8 groups will be ranked based on the points and goal differential they’ve obtained in Group Play vs the 1st and 2nd place teams in their group. (Results against the 4th place team are thrown out.) As you might expect this means picking off 2 points for a win or 1 point for a draw against the top two teams in your group are likely to be critical for qualification.

Current 3rd Place Standings (A Little Bit Misleading)

Here are the current 3rd Place Standings (from the Wikipedia Euro 2022 Qualification Page):

**Euro 2022 Qualification (3rd Place Standings after matches played on April 30)**

These standings, however, can be a bit misleading because the teams that are currently in 3rd place might not end up in 3rd place. No group demonstrates this more clearly than Group 8. Right now Romania is in 3rd place and thanks to a 36-27 win over 2nd place Montenegro they have 2 points and a GD of -2. Unfortunately, for Romania, however, is the reality that they also have a loss and a draw vs 4th place Kosovo and should they end up tied with Kosovo they will slip into 4th place on head to head tiebreakers. And, then Kosovo would make this table, but they would have 0 points and a GD of -26 or even worse depending on their last match with Sweden.

Euro 2022 Group Scenarios

Below for each group are the current standings, potential final standings (if necessary) and the potential 3rd place points and goal differential that will go to the overal 3rd place standings. Also, highlighted in light blue is what I think the more likely outcomes are.

Group 1

**Standings after matches played on April 29**

Group 1 is pretty straightforward. Serbia and France have already qualified and Greece is guaranteed to finish in 3rd place. In order to qualify, Greece will likely need an upset win over France on Sunday. And, even that win might not be enough with the -21 GD they will start with. In blue, is what I project to be the most likely scenario.

Group 2

Group 2 is a bit complicated. Germany is guaranteed to finish in first place while Austria will host Bosnia & Herzegovina in a match that will likely determine 2nd and 3rd place. Likely, but not guaranteed as there is one scenario where Estonia can sneak into 3rd place.

Barring Estonia pulling an epic upset over Germany, the Austria – Bosnia match will determine who gets 2nd place. As can be seen in the table below Austria probably needs a win as their 3rd place table will be 0 points and a GD worse than -29. Whereas Bosnia would probably be in pretty good shape with 2 points from their victory against Austria earlier in qualification.

Group 3

**Standings after matches played on April 30**

Russia has won the group and qualified and the Faroe Islands has been eliminated. The Czech Republic – Ukraine match will decide 2nd and 3rd place. Ukraine needs to win the match to finish 2nd while the Czech Republic will finish 2nd with either a win or a draw. The Czech Republic is also in a good position to qualify as a 3rd place team since they will take 3 points with them into the 3rd place table. The Ukraine might also qualify, but 1 point (for their draw with Russia) might not be enough.

Group 4

Group 4 is relatively straight forward. Portugal and Island will finish in the top 2 places while Lithuania will finish in 3rd place in 8 of the 9 scenarios. If Israel were to upset Iceland and Portugal were to beat Lithuania Israel would finish ahead of Lithuania due to a better goal differential in their two meetings.

Lithuania thanks to the 2 points earned for their upset win over Iceland have good chances to secure one of the best 3rd places. Israel’s chances are a real long shot as it would require an upset victory over Iceland in Iceland. The most like scenario will be for both Portugal and Iceland to earn victories on Sunday.

Group 5

Group 5 appears to have 3 qualifiers. Slovenia due to tiebreaker advantages is guaranteed to finish either 1st or 2nd. The result of the Poland – Netherlands match will determine which of those teams will finish in 3rd place. If Poland beats the Netherlands, the Netherlands will finish in 3rd place. If the Netherlands wins or if the match is a draw Poland will finish in 3rd place. Winless Turkey is guaranteed to finish 4th.

Should the Netherlands finish in 3rd place they will take 3 points with them into the third place table, so it’s hard to see them not finishing in the top four. Poland should they finish in 3rd place will take 2 point with them so they should also have good chances. In blue are the two most like outcomes on Sunday.

Group 6

Norway and Belarus have qualified and either Italy or Latvia will finish in 3rd place. Italy has the tiebreaker advantage over Latvia,

Both Italy and Latvia need a big upset win in order to have a chance in the 3rd place table. And, even that might not be enough as they have a big GD deficit. Both teams are big underdogs in their last match and the most likely outcome is that they will both lose.

Group 7

Group 7 is all about Switzerland as they are guaranteed to finish in 3rd place. The only question is whether they can beat N. Macedonia in N. Macedonia to head to the 3rd place table with 2 points.

Group 8

Sweden is guaranteed to finish 1st, but Montenegro, Romania and Kosovo are duking it out for 2nd and 3rd. Montenegro has a tiebreaker advantage over Kosovo while Kosovo has a tiebreaker advantage over Romania

Here’s where it really gets interesting… If undefeated Sweden beats Kosovo as expected the Montenegro – Romania will decide who gets 2nd and it’s essentially a winner take all situation.

If Montenegro wins, Romania is eliminated as Kosovo is the 3rd place team due to to their victory and draw vs Romania
If Romania wins, Montenegro is the 3rd place team, but they take 0 points and a (-24 + the amount of their loss) as a GD. Barring a bizarre turn of events Montenegro is eliminated.
Winner take all, except there are also draws in handball. And should that happen, both teams will qualify. Montenegro as the 2nd place team and Romania as a 3rd place team taking 3 points into the table which is surely enough to qualify as a best place 3rd team.

Putting it All Together

Here are the “likely results” from each of the 8 groups roughly in order from strongest to weakest

**Definitely will result in 2 or 3 points**

**Definitely will result in at least 1 point**

**Swing groups that could result in 0 points or 2 points**

**The wild card group where a drawn match could really shake things up**

**Two groups that are unlikely to matter**

Here’s a rough summary of what each nation needs to happen in order to qualify

Netherlands: They have qualified. There is no possible way for there to be 4 nations with 3 points in the 3rd place table.
Poland: Poland is in pretty good shape as they will head to the table with at least 2 points and will start the day with a -3 GD.
Lithuania: If Lithuania loses to Portugal as expected they will have 2 points, but also a pretty high -GD: -22 plus whatever they lose to Portugal by. This means they will be hoping for results from the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Lithuania will likely need 2 of the 4 results below to happen:
- Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
- Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
- N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
- Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Czech Republic: The Czech Republic is in pretty good shape. If they beat Ukraine they finish 2nd in their group. If they lose to the Ukraine they will finish 3rd, but will have 2 points and will start the day with a +1 GD.
Ukraine: Ukraine’s situation is a little more precarious. If they beat the Czech Republic they qualify, but if they lose they enter the table with just 1 point, meaning they will be looking for results in the other groups that result in teams heading to the 3rd place table with 0 points. Poland will likely need 2 of the 3 results below to happen:
- Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
- N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
- Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Bosnia & Herzegovina: If Bosnia beats Austria they will finish in 2nd place. If they lose, they will take 2 points to the 3rd place table and they start the day with a GD of 0. And, that probably is enough to finish 4th or better. To be on the safe side they will be hoping for results in the other groups that send teams to the table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
- Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
- N. Macedonia beating Switzerland
- Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Austria: If Austria win they finish in 2nd place. If they lose they head to the 3rd place table with 0 points and they start the day with a -29 GD. Mathematically, in the running, but it would probably take some ridiculous blow outs to advance with that high of a -GD. Should they draw vs Bosnia they would take 1 point to the table, but they would need to have several of the swing matches go there way.
Switzerland: If Switzerland beat Macedonia they head to the 3rd place table with 2 points and start the day with a -8 GD. 2 points might be enough to qualify and their GD will improve depending on the margin of victory so they might catch up to other teams with 2 points. And, they will also be looking for results in the other groups that send teams to the 3rd place table with less than 2 points. Those results include:
- Ukraine beating the Czech Republic
- Bosnia & Herzegovina beating Austria
- Montenegro and Romania not ending in a draw
Montenegro and Romania: Well, this is the wild card situation…
- If Montenegro wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they head to the table with 0 points and a -24 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
- If Romania wins they take 2nd in the group. If they lose they finish in 4th place and Kosovo takes 3rd, but with 0 points and a -26 GD (little chance of finishing in the top 4)
- If however, Romania and Montenegro draw Montenegro finishes 2nd and Romania takes 3rd… And, they head to the table with 3 points which will qualify them as well.
  - Will these teams play for a draw? No, that’s tough to manipulate from the first minute of a 60 minute match. And, if either team gets a lead that’s a comfortable way to qualify. That being said, if the match is tied in the waning minutes of the game will there be any incentive to take a risky shot that could turn into an easy fast break for the other team? No… None, whatsoever.
Italy, Greece, Latvia and Israel: These sides could pull off big upsets and get 2 points, but it’s hard to see that happening. Should it occur, though, their situation would be essentially the same as Lithuania’s above.

Scottish Handball Association Hosts International Conference

Posted on April 27, 2021 by John Ryan

**Sign Up for this Handball Conference**

The Scottish Handball Association is hosting an International Conference on Wednesday and Thursday (28-29 April). The theme of the conference is “Beyond Winning and Losing: Collaborating for More Important Results” and all of the briefings and interviews can be viewed online.

Conference Website: Link
Speakers: Link
Schedule: Link
- Start and Stop times both days
  - 1600-2000 CET
  - 1500-1900 Scotland
  - 1000-1400 US ET
Registration: Link

There are several interesting items on the schedule (check it out), but here are a few that I’m looking forward to seeing

Wednesday, 28 April
- 1800 CET: How to build participation in Handball within Scottish Schools
- 1900 CET: Big Sport, Wee Countries, Big Ambition: What Scottish Handball and other ‘minority’ sports can learn from success of Faroes and Portugal in growing their game
Thursday, 29 April
- 1600 CET: Challenges of Growing Handball: A North American perspective (with yours truly, John Ryan)
- 1930 CET: British Handball – past, present and future (with handball TV Commentator and British Handball’s Paul Bray)

Challenges of Growing Handball: A North American Perspective

A few notes on this, as it was a fun, informal discussion with yours truly and Scottish Handball’s Stephen Neilson. We covered several topics including the following:

How the U.S. and other English speaking countries have tried to varying degrees of success to capitalize on Olympic Opportunities
Whether the need to field competitive national teams can be a “distraction” that negatively impacts grass roots development
Which English speaking nation might be best on track for a “breakthrough” in the handball world
How the current U.S. reliance on dual citizens might impact stateside development… (My perspective might surprise you)

The conference is free and available to all who register.

Handball Web Streaming this Week (26 to 29 Apr 2021): Euro 2022 Qualification

Posted on April 26, 2021 by John Ryan

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

Euro 2022 Qualification

Qualification for the Men’s 2022 European Championships will be the focus this week so all the major club leagues are taking the week off. All told, over the course of the next 7 days (26 April to 2 May) there will be 37 qualification matches on ehfTV. 37 matches!

There are 8 qualification groups with 4 teams each and the top 2 nations will qualify from each of these groups. Further, with the European Championships expansion to 24 nations, the 4 best 3rd place nations will also qualify. These 4 teams will be determined by ranking the 3rd place teams from all 8 groups based on the points and goal differential they’ve obtained in Group Play vs the 1st and 2nd place teams in their group. (Results against the 4th place team are thrown out.) As you might expect this means picking off 2 points for a win or 1 point for a draw against the top two teams in your group are likely to be critical for qualification.

2020 Qualification as a Reference Point

The 2020 Championships also had the same qualification format and for reference here’s the 3rd place table that decided the final 4 qualifying teams:

*For Reference: The Last 4 Nations that Qualified for the 2020 Euro*

For 2020 qualification just 1 win vs the top two teams in your group was necessary to be in contention and then Israel was pipped by Ukraine on goal differential. That doesn’t mean this will also be the case in 2022, but it’s a good reference point.

2022 Qualification: Current Standings for Best 3rd Place

**2022 Euro Qualification (Best 3rd Place Standings- Prior to Matches on 27 April)**

As it stands, however, this table is somewhat meaningless because there are several matches to be played and it’s not very clear which teams are even actually likely to finish in 3rd place. Currently, no team in these standings even has a victory against the top 2 teams in their group. This means that just 1 upset victory against a top team might be enough for qualification so almost every team still has a chance to qualify. It also means that it’s way too early to break down all the possible scenarios, but I will be updating this post throughout the week. And, then on Friday, I’ll go through all the scenarios… which could be a challenging mess heading into the final match day on Sunday

Euro 2022 Qualification Matches (All matches can be seen on ehfTV)

Monday
- 2000 CET: Israel (-3) vs Lithuania
  - Israel won 34-28
Tuesday
- 1800 CET: Turkey vs Slovenia (-7.5)
  - Slovenia won 30-22.
- 1900 CET: Greece vs France (-12.5)
  - France won 40-31.
- 1930 CET: Israel vs Iceland (-7.5)
  - Iceland won 30-20.
Wednesday
- 1700 CET: Ukraine (-0.5) vs Czech Republic
  - The Czech Republic won 28-26.
- 1700 CET: Romania vs Sweden (-6.5)
  - Sweden won 31-23.
- 1700 CET: Finland vs N. Macedonia (-5.5)
  - N. Macedonia won 27-23
- 1830 CET: Russia (-10.5) vs Faroe Islands
  - Russia won 31-24.
- 1830 CET: Switzerland vs Denmark (-5.5)
  - Denmark won 30-29..
- 1840 CET: Latvia vs Norway (-12.5)
  - Norway won 28-23.
- 1930 CET: Kosovo vs Montenegro (-3.5)
  - Montenegro won 27-22.
Thursday
- 1400 CET: Greece vs Serbia (-6.5)
  - Greece is all but guaranteed to finish in 3rd place and they likely need an upset vs Serbia or France on Sunday to advance. Serbia beat Greece 31-21 in January.
- 1610 CET: Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Germany (-5)
  - Germany has already qualified and Bosnia is in a 3 way fight for 2nd/3rd with Austria and Estonia in Group 2. Germany beat Bosnia 25-21 in November.
- 1800 CET: Turkey vs Netherlands (-3.5)
  - Turkey has been eliminated and will play for pride. With a win the Netherlands will be a step closer to qualification. The Netherlands beat Turkey 27-26 in November.
- 1800 CET: Lithuania vs Iceland (-7.5)
  - Iceland has all but qualified and Lithuania needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Iceland destroyed Lithuania 36-20 in November.
- 1815 CET: Norway (-11) vs Latvia
  - Norway has all but qualified and Latvia needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Yesterday, they put up a gallant effort before falling to Norway, 28-23.
- 1830 CET: Estonia vs Austria (-2.5)
  - Estonia and Austria are level on 3 points in Group 2. This match might well be an elimination match. Austria beat Estonia 31-28 in November.
- 1900 CET: Italy vs Belarus (-5.5)
  - Belarus has all but qualified and Italy needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Belarus beat Italy 32-27 in March.
- 1900 CET: Israel vs Portugal (-6.5)
  - Portugal has all but qualified and Israel needs an upset for a chance at 3rd place qualification. Portugal beat Israel 31-22 in November.
- 2000 CET: Poland vs Slovenia (Picke’em)
  - So far in Group 5 Poland just has 2 victories over already eliminated Turkey. They really need a win here to stay in contention for 2nd place and for 2 points should they finish in 3rd. With a win Slovenia will qualify an should they lose they will play Turkey on Sunday. Slovenia beat Poland 32-29 in March.
Friday
- 1800 CET: Montenegro vs Sweden (-3.5)
  - Sweden has already qualified while Montenegro is still fighting for qualification. An upset win by Montenegro over Sweden would qualify them and make Sunday’s big match vs Romania a friendly for them.
- 2045 CET: Faroe Islands vs Czech Republic (-4.5)
  - The Faroe Islands have been eliminated, but surely would like to get a win on home soil. The Czech Republic has a big match vs Ukraine on Sunday, but this match will have no impact to their qualification chances.

Handball Web Streaming this Weekend (23-25 Apr 2021)

Posted on April 22, 2021 by John Ryan

**USA GK, Pal Merkovszki and his club team, Gyongyos take on Szeged on Sunday**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
- Leon (-4) vs Huesca (Friday, 1830 CET): Video Link
  - Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
  - 7th place Leon hosts 4th place Huesca.
Junior Women’s Bundesliga (Germany)
- TV Hannover-Bandstedt vs Buxtehuder SV (Saturday, 1630): Video Link
  - Eden Nesper (#44) is a Right Wing for Hannover
Eredivisie (Netherlands)
- KRAS/Volendam vs Quintus (Saturday, 1900 CET): Video Link
  - Mark Ortega is Volendam’s coach and Alex Binderis (#4) plays circle runner for Volendam
  - Volendam is in 4th place while Quintus is not officially part of the Netherlands League table so the match will not effect the standings: Link
K&H League (Hungary)
- Gyöngyös vs Szeged (-8.5) (Sunday, 1700 CET): Video Link
  - Pal Merkovszki is the #2 GK for Gyongyos
  - 7th place Gyongyos hosts 2nd place and perennial Champions League Club, Szeged.

Other Matches this Weekend

LIDL Star Ligue (France): LNH TV
- Montpellier (-7) vs Tremblay (Saturday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Nimes (-4.5) vs Cesson (Saturday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Ivry vs Aix (-2.5) (Sunday, 1630 CET) Video Link
- Dunkerque (-2.5) vs Chartres (Sunday, 1700 CET) Video Link
Liga ASOBAL (Spain): LaLigaSportsTV
- Aranda vs Barcelona (-14.5) (Saturday, 1600 CET) Video Link
- Cuenca (-3.5) vs Nava (Saturday, 1900 CET) Video Link

Lizzo sends Captain America a Handball Related DM?

Posted on April 21, 2021 by John Ryan

The internet has been buzzing the past few days with what is surely the strangest pop culture handball reference since Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live back in 2012. And, that would be rapper Lizzo‘s Instagram DM to actor Chris Evans which mysteriously included a handball girl emoji. This DM is briefly shown in the star’s TikTok video with the following caption:

“Don’t drink and DM, kids…. for legal porpoises this is a joke”

A few days later Evans kindly responded back with

“No shame in a drunk DM. God knows I’ve done worse on this app lol,”

An apparent reference to a nude picture that he accidentally shared on Instagram.

Sent to the Wrong Captain America?

None of this explains, however, why out of the thousands of emojis available she picked the handball girl emoji. Is there some hidden meaning? Does she even know that handball exists as a sport? Does Chris Evans know about handball? My gut feeling is that it was just a random selection.

But, there is another possibility. Maybe she is a huge handball fan and perhaps it was sent to the wrong Captain America? After all, there is another Captain America, Drew Donlin, who actually plays handball. Further, Donlin who plays handball for Team USA and Spanish Club Team, Leon is from Minnesota. Could fellow Minnesotan Lizzo be done with here “New man on the Minnesota Vikings” and seeking a star in another sport?

Handball Web Streaming this Week (20 to 22 Apr 2021)

Posted on April 20, 2021 by John Ryan

**Can Valentin Porte and Montpellier hold off Berlin? 1 of 3 great QF matches today on ehfTV**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

HBL 2 (Germany)
- Dormagen (-3.5) vs Ferndorf (Wednesay, 1930) CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
  - Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen.
  - 5th place Dormagen takes on 18th place Ferndorf.

Other Matches this Week

EHF European League ehfTV
- The quarterfinals finish up on Tuesday with 2nd leg matches. Below are the times for those matches along with the 1st leg scores. Remember, the aggregate score for both matches determine who advances. If the aggregate is zero, the next tiebreaker is away goals. And, the next tiebreaker is a penalty shootout to take place immediately after the match. (And, yes that has happened before: Link)
- One thing I find interesting about this competition is that is often a good test as to whether the Germany HBL is indeed the best league in the world. Three German sides entered the competition, three German teams remain and are favored to advance to the Final Four. If indeed that happens it’s pretty much impossible to argue against the HBL not being the best league.
- EHF Preview: Link
- Magdeburg (-6.5) vs Kristianstad (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
  - Magdeburg won the first leg 34-28
- Rhein-Neckar (-4.5) vs Chekovskie (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
  - Chekovskie won the first leg 33-32
  - EHF Preview: Link
- Wisla Plock (-1.5) vs GOG (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
  - GOG won the first leg 30-27
- Berlin (-1.5) vs Montpellier (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
  - Montpellier won the first leg 32-29
  - EHF Preview: Link
LIDL Star Ligue (France): LNH TV
- Cesson vs Chambery (-0.5) (Tuesday, 1900 CET) Video Link
- Toulouse vs Paris S-G (-6.5) (Tuesday, 2000 CET) Video Link
- Nimes (-3.5) vs Dunkerque (Wednesday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Ivry vs Limoges (Thursday, 2000 CET) Video Link

Handball Web Streaming this Weekend (16-18 Apr 2021)

Posted on April 15, 2021 by John Ryan

**Alex Chan and his club team Cisne face the ultimate challenge: Taking on undefeated Barcelona in Barcelona**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
- Barcelona (-17.5) vs Cisne (Friday, 1930 CET): Video Link
  - Alex Chan Blanco plays center back for Cisne
  - Cisne’s win over Guadalajara has moved them out of last place, but Friday night they face the ultimate test, taking on the best team in the world, Barcelona in the Palau Blaugrana.
HBL 2 (Germany)
- Dormagen (-3.5) vs EHV Aue (Friday, 1930) CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
  - Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen.
  - 5th place Dormagen got a 25-20 road win last week vs 17th place HSG Konstanz. This week they host 9th place Aue in Dormagen
Pro Ligue (France)
- Angers vs Dijon (-5) (Friday, 2030 CET): Video Link
  - Abou Fofana plays left back and defense for Angers
  - 14th place Angers takes on 6th place Dijon. The season is getting short so Angers needs to pick up points anywhere they can find them to avoid relegation.
World Championship Qualification (Europe)
- Slovenia (-6.5) vs Iceland (Saturday, 1730 CET) ehfTV
  - Lovisa Thompson plays left back for Iceland. Although she has no plans to play for the U.S. this is an excellent opportunity to check out the skills of this dual citizen in a big match.
K&H League (Hungary)
- Gyöngyös (-4.5) vs Dabasi (Saturday, 1800 CET): Video Link
  - Pal Merkovszki is the #2 GK for Gyongyos
  - 8th place Gyongyos takes on 12th place Dabasi.
HBF 2 (Germany)
- VfL Waiblingen vs TSV Nord Harrislee (Saturday, 1830): Video Link
  - Sophie Fasold is a GK for Harrislee
  - 7th place Harrislee has lost 4 in a row and takes on 8th place Waiblingen which is just 3 points ahead of them in the standings.
Liga ASOBAL (Spain)
- Anaitasuna vs Leon (-0.5) (Saturday, 2030 CET): Video Link
  - Drew Donlin plays defense and circle runner for Leon.
  - Leon was eliminated by Kristianstad in the EHF European League, but thanks to their Copa Del Rey 2nd place showing they know they’ll have a return ticket to Europe next year. The focus now is building for next year as they continue play in the Liga ASOBAL. Currently in 7th place they take on 9th place Anaitasuna.
Eredivisie (Netherlands)
- HV Hurry-Up vs KRAS/Volendam (Sunday, 1430 CET): Video Link
  - Mark Ortega is Volendam’s coach and Alex Binderis (#4) plays circle runner for Volendam
  - Volendam is in 4th place and Hurry-Up is in 5th place in the 5 team league. I’m thinking Hurry-Up is one of the strangest if not the strangest club name I’ve ever seen.

Other Matches this Weekend

LIDL Star Ligue (France): LNH TV
- Limoges (-3.5) vs Cesson (Friday, 200 CET) Video Link
- Tremblay vs Toulouse (-1.5) (Saturday, 1600 CET) Video Link
- Chartres vs Chambery (Pickem) (Sunday, 1600 CET) Video Link
- Aix (-4) vs Creteil (Sunday, 1700 CET) Video Link
- Istres (-1.5) vs Ivry (Sunday, 1700 CET) Video Link
Liga ASOBAL (Spain): LaLigaSportsTV
- Huesca (-1) vs Granollers (Saturday, 1200 CET) Video Link
- Nava vs Ángel Ximénez (-1.5) (Saturday, 1700 CET) Video Link
- Valladolid (-1) vs Benidorm (Sunday, 1900 CET) Video Link

Handball Web Streaming this Week (12 to 15 Apr 2021)

Posted on April 12, 2021 by John Ryan

**Hungarian Cup Final: Live Monday at 1945 CET / 1345 US ET**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

Pro Ligue (France)
- Saran (-6.5) vs Angers (Tuesday, 1900 CET): Video Link
- Abou Fofana plays left back and defense for Angers
- Due to positive COVID test results Angers had to pause competition and training. Their welcome back: A road trip to take on 1st place Saran.

Other Matches this Week

Hungarian Cup Final
- Veszprem (-3.5) vs Pick Szeged (Monday, 1945 CET): Video Link
EHF European League ehfTV
- The quarterfinals start on Tuesday and these teams will be playing 2 matches with the aggregate score for both matches deciding who will advance. These 1st leg matches today are being played at the lower ranked seeds home court so those teams will be looking to try and get a win by as many goals as possible to improve their chances in the 2nd leg next Tuesday.
- One thing I find interesting about this competition is that is often a good test as to whether the Germany HBL is indeed the best league in the world. Three German sides entered the competition, three German teams remain and are favored to advance to the Final Four. If indeed that happens it’s pretty much impossible to argue against the HBL not being the best league.
- EHF Preview: Link
- GOG (-1.5) vs Wisla Plock (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
- Chekovskie vs Rhein-Neckar (-2.5) (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
- Kristianstad vs Magdeburg (-5.5) (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
- Montpellier (-1.5) vs Berlin (Tuesday, 2045 CET)
LIDL Star Ligue (France): LNH TV
- Paris (-10.5) vs Istres (Tuesday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Toulouse (-2.5) vs Cesson (Tuesday, 2000 CET) Video Link
- Tremblay (-0.5) vs Creteil (Wednesday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Chartres vs Aix (-1.5) (Wednesday, 2000 CET) Video Link
Liga ASOBAL (Spain): LaLigaSportsTV
- Barcelona (-11.5) vs Irun (Tuesday, 1800 CET) Video Link

An Early, Early Preview of the 2021 Women’s NORCA Championship

Posted on April 11, 2021 by John Ryan

**The Centre of Elgin, the venue for the 2021 Women’s North American & Caribbean Championships**

Last Thursday (April 8th) the U.S. and IHF announced that the U.S. will host the 2021 North American & Caribbean Women’s Handball Championships

Dates: The IHF announcement indicates that teams will arrive on Sunday, August 22 and will depart on Saturday, August 28, leaving 5 days (23-27 August) for match competition.

Venue: The competition will be at the Centre of Eglin. This is a multi-use facility and the handball matches will be played in the 3 court field house with a handball sport court laid down across where the 3 basketball courts are normally set up. Here are some photos of the field house:

Weather: As I’m a native of Iowa (next door to Illinois) I can attest that August can be hot and muggy. We can assume that the Centre of Eglin is climate controlled, but according to the Weatherbase website the average high and low temperatures outside for August are 82 and 60 degrees, respectively. That may not sound too bad, but the saying, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” can be a common refrain that time of year.

World Championship Qualification: The winner of the tournament will qualify for the 2021 Women’s World Championships to be played in Spain this December.

Number of Teams: This is TBD, but here are the teams (and, their order of finish) that participated at the previous championships. (Source: Wikipedia)

2015 (6): Cuba, Mexico, USA, Greenland, Puerto Rico, Martinique
2017 (4): Puerto Rico, USA, Dominican Republic, Greenland
2019 (7): Cuba, Puerto Rico, Greenland, Dominican Republic, USA, Mexico, Canada

Format: Again, this is TBD, but if the same teams from 2019 were to participate there would likely be 3 days of pool play followed by 1 day of crossover (semifinals) and 1 day of finals. The schedule would be:

Monday, 23 August Pool Play
Tuesday, 24 August Pool Play
Wednesday, 25 August Pool Play
Thursday, 26 August Crossover Semifinals
Friday, 27 August Finals/Placement Matches

If fewer teams, however, participate the format could switch to a simple round robin as was used in 2015.

Seeding and Performance Rows: Again, TBD, but here are what the seeding/performance rows would be based on 2019 Results:

Row 1 (Cuba, Puerto Rico)
Row 2 (Greenland, Dominican Republic)
Row 3 (USA, Mexico)
Row 4 (Canada)

USA Group Selection: Again, a lot of speculation here, but assuming the draw process that is used for most handball tournaments applies, the U.S. as host will get to choose which group it wants for pool play. This means that rows 1, 2 and 4 will first be drawn and assigned to Groups A and B. The U.S. will then select which group it wants and then Mexico would be assigned to the other Group.

Here are the 4 possible group decisions that the U.S. would have (if the 7 teams that participated in 2019 play in 2021):

Group A (CUB, GRL, CAN); Group B (PUR, DOM, Vacant)
Group A (CUB, GRL, Vacant); Group B (PUR), DOM, CAN)
Group A (CUB, DOM, CAN); Group B (PUR, GRL, Vacant)
Group A (CUB, DOM, Vacant); Group B (PUR, GRL, CAN)

This, of course, will change if some teams don’t participate or new teams show up. But, assuming these are the teams that show up the U.S. might have to decide between avoiding Cuba or having a bye day during pool play. Cuba is the odds on favorite for this tournament, but a rest day in such a short 5 day tournament might be highly desired as well. Another strategy to consider: If the U.S. were to select Cuba’s group, the U.S. would be guaranteed to not face Cuba in a semifinal match. Which would be a good thing, but then that also makes getting to the semifinals a little tougher.

Terminology: I’m not sure how the acronym NORCA or Nor.CA was originally adopted for this event. Basically, it’s a shortening of “North American and Caribbean” and this was a competition that actually started under the old Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF). Now that PATHF has split up into the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) and the South and Central American Handball Confederation (SCAHC) I’ve seen it referred to as the NACHC Championship. If one compares this to other continental handball championships it’s a bit non standard in that the EHF calls their championships the European Championships not the EHF Championships. Anyway… I don’t care much what we call it, but I say the NACHC nations get together and definitively pick a name.

And, here’s a can of worms for you: Google “North America” and see how many different definitions there are. Depending on who you talk to North America can end at the USA-Mexico border, the Mexico-Guatemala border or the Panama-Colombia border.

Handball Web Streaming this Weekend (9-11 Apr 2021)

Posted on April 8, 2021 by John Ryan

**Patrick Hueter and his brother Ian play Friday at 2000 CET / 1400 US ET**

For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.

American Athletes in Action

HBL 2 (Germany)
- HSG Konstanz vs Dormagen (-1.5) (Friday, 2000) CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
- Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen.
- 6th place Dormagen had a disappointing 24-28 home loss last weekend to 13th place Huttenberg. Next up is a road test vs 17th place HSG Konstanz
K&H League Cup (Hungary)
- Gyöngyös vs KK of Csurgó (Saturday, 1700 CET): Video Link
- Pal Merkovszki is the #2 GK for Gyongyos
- This is a quarterfinal cup match and the 2nd of 2 legs. Gyongyos lost the first match 29-25.
HBF 2 (Germany)
- TSV Nord Harrislee vs Zwickau (Saturday, 1730): Video Link
  - Sophie Fasold is a GK for Harrislee
  - 8th place Harrislee has lost 3 in a row. Zwickau are the league leaders with an 18-1-2 record.
Eredivisie (Netherlands)
- Herpertz Bevo HC vs KRAS/Volendam (Saturday, 1900 CET): Video Link
  - Mark Ortega is Volendam’s coach and Alex Binderis (#4) plays circle runner for Volendam
  - Volendam and Herpertz Bevo are level on points in 3rd place in the 5 team league: Link
D2F (France)
- Celles-sur-Belle vs As Cannes Mandelieu (Saturday, 2000 CET): Video Link **Postponed due to positive COVID tests**
  - Nicole Andersen plays defense and left back for Cannes
  - Cannes got a big win last weekend, but faces a tough test vs undefeated pool leaders Celles-Sur-Belle.

Other Matches this Weekend

LIDL Star Ligue (France): LNH TV
- Cesson (-0.5) vs Chartres (Saturday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Montpellier (-6.5) vs Istres (Saturday, 1800 CET) Video Link
- Chambery (-3.5) vs Creteil (Saturday, 2000 CET) Video Link
Liga ASOBAL (Spain): LaLigaSportsTV
- Benidorm vs Barcelona (-13.5) (Friday, 1830 CET) Video Link
- Cuenca (-0.5) vs Huesca (Saturday, 1700 CET) Video Link
- Aranda vs Nava (-0.5) (Sunday, 1700 CET) Video Link

USA Team Handball Opens Job Search for a Women’s National Team Head Coach… And a Whole Lot More

Posted on April 7, 2021 by John Ryan

**USA Team Handball seeks a U.S. Women’s Coach that can both build a Women’s National Team program and coach them too. Is there a Handball Bill Belichick out there willing to work for $4,800/year?**

On Monday, USA Team Handball posted a job announcement for a Women’s National Team Head Coach. While the job of a national team coach might be a be a relatively straight forward position in most countries with the U.S., the title of head coach has often come with extra responsibilities.

The main job responsibilities of a coach are pretty well known: They are responsible for selecting the best handball athletes available, preparing them during training windows and then coaching the team in international competition.

And, while U.S. National Team coaches have had those responsibilities, historically, this model was insufficient due to the reality that very few people in the U.S. know what handball is, let alone play the game. In other words, there have been few athletes, if any, to select. And, historically, that has meant the added responsibility of creating a team from scratch.

A Nice Addition to the Coaching Search: An Actual Job Description

I’m not exactly sure how the U.S. hired its coaches in the past. I suspect it was mostly done behind the scenes with word of mouth recommendations, followed by lengthy discussions about how the U.S. job would be “different” and how the coach would be responsible for teaching gifted athletes from other sports how to play handball. A not to unreasonable approach given the circumstances and the course of action that had been chosen.

But times change. Circumstances change. And, I think it’s great that USA Team Handball is having an open search and has more clearly defined the job with an actual job description that lays out these extra roles.

First there is a Scope section that summarizes how the job is different:

“Under the general supervision and with the support of Chief Executive Officer of USA Team Handball
(“USATH”), the Head Coach of the Women’s National Team will lead the planning and implementation of the Women’s National Team Program, including, but not limited to, design and implementation of an athlete identification and transition pipeline.

In contrast with athletes that participate in many U.S. sports and the handballers that grow up in Europe, most U.S. athletes will join handball later in life (between 16 and 22 years old). Athletes will oftentimes have elite sport experience in other disciplines (such as basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball, or water polo), prior to starting a career in handball. It is, therefore, the chief responsibility of the Head Coach to facilitate the recruitment of athletes into the USA Team Handball pipeline and to provide the path for their transition into an elite handballer.”

And, then some of these extra responsibilities are further defined:

Work in collaboration with USATH CEO and the designated High Performance staff of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (“USOPC”) on the development of annual and quadrennial high performance plans.
Recruit and retain elite athletes for the Women’s National Team pool, both domestically and internationally.
Leverage existing global handball infrastructure for placing athletes with professional clubs, handball academies, or other similar situations to enhance athlete development opportunities outside of Team USA training camps and competitions, and to establish team opportunities for tournaments and training camps.
Evaluate the athlete talent pool and continuously upgrade the pool to improve the national team’s competitiveness in international competitions.

The State of U.S. Women’s Handball

Laying out the added responsibilities is all well in good, but probably what’s missing is some context as to just how hard it will be design and implement an athlete identification and transition pipeline.

A while back I started a series of commentaries to address some much needed planning that USA Team Handball needed to undertake. This series, Charting a Way Forwards for USA Team Handball (Reboot), first identifies “What we have”, then takes a look at “What we want” and then tries to figure out “How we get there”. I’ve got the first two steps covered, but had paused on the very difficult and challenging 3rd step. I paused for a number of reasons, but one of those reasons was the enormous chasm between “What we have” and “What we want.”

The series covers everything from National Teams to finances to marketing to grass roots development, but here are the commentaries that specifically address Women’s Handball:

Demographics: American Citizen Female Athletes (Overview): Link
Demographics: USA Women’s Elite Player Pool (Overview): Link
USA Women At-Large and Collegiate Clubs: Link

There are a number of factoids in these articles regarding the current state of the U.S. Women’s program, but underlying everything is the reality that world-wide, there are maybe around 100 American Women that play handball on a regular to semi-regular basis. And, that number will go up or down depending on how loose or strict you want to define “play handball”.

**Reality… And, these estimates error on the conservative side.**

So, if you’re an outside observer, not familiar with handball in the U.S., you’re reaction might well be, “What the hell? I knew handball wasn’t very popular in the U.S., but that’s ridiculous.”

I could go into a long diatribe on why the U.S. is in this position, but that’s not the point here. (If you are interested, there’s plenty to read up on: Link) No, the point here is simply to understand that it is, indeed, reality. And, it’s why the USA Team Handball since it’s inception has almost entirely relied on “transfer talent” from other sports to field it’s national teams. Because…it’s the only way we could even field a team. Further, I should point out that the ages of talent transfer (ages 16-22) listed in the job description are more “aspirational” than a reflection of current reality. Historically, there have been only a handful of stateside national team athletes that first started playing handball prior to graduating from college. And, for the past 20 years or so the average age has been creeping up to somewhere in the mid 20s.

The U.S. Men as a Reference Point: A Focus on Dual Citizens as an Option?

This stateside challenge, as described, is not just a problem for the U.S. Women, it’s also a problem for the U.S. Men. This is perhaps mostly clearly demonstrated by the rapid transformation of the U.S. Men’s National Team from a mix of stateside/dual citizens to almost exclusively a dual citizen squad. Notably, the final 20 man roster for the 2021 Men’s World Championships was comprised of 17 dual citizens and just 3 athletes that had first learned to play the game stateside.

There’s been talk about conducting tryouts and expanding opportunities for stateside athletes, but the reality is that such athletes either entirely new to handball or training at levels significantly below European standards will struggle to make a U.S. roster for years to become. Not because our state side athletes aren’t dedicated or lacking in terms of raw talent, but because the U.S. has been gifted with a pretty good, if not golden, generation of dual citizen athletes. This generational good fortune has meant that very quickly U.S. Men’s Coach Robert Hedin has been able to put together a respectable side that I think would have surprised some folks at the World Championships. Further, the bulk of this roster is actually pretty young and will be around for years to come. That’s not to say I don’t see stateside efforts being built up and eventually more stateside athletes making U.S. rosters. It’s just that it’s going to take several years.

Could the new U.S. Women’s Coach follow the same blueprint as Coach Hedin? Well, undoubtedly whoever’s hired is going to take a look at his current talent pool and try to duplicate it. Unfortunately, while, the U.S. Women have some solid dual citizens they can rely on they have nowhere near the quantity or quality that U.S. Men’s coach, Robert Hedin can rely on. At least, I don’t think there are any hidden Hueter sisters that will magically appear out of nowhere, but I’m open to being pleasantly surprised.

Lacking this dual citizen option and a very thin talent pool means the very difficult task of creating a team from scratch has to be more aggressively pursued. Because if it’s not pursued the U.S. Women will struggle to field a competitive side.

Maybe Coaches Should be Hired to… Coach?

Having been around awhile and having observed and experienced first hand U.S. efforts to create national teams mostly from scratch I’ve come to a conclusion. You can call me old fashioned if you like, but personally I think coaches shouldn’t be hired to design and implement an athlete identification and transition pipeline. I think coaches should be hired to… well, coach.

There’s a couple of reason for this. First, the skill set inherent in planning, designing and implementing a National Team Program doesn’t match the skill set of most coaches. Coaches conduct practices, prepare their teams and lead them in competition. They really know the game and they know how to make their players better handball players. Some of those raw skills could be applied to the very complicated task of planning and designing a National Team Program, but I would argue that it’s a different job requiring greater planning and organizational skills.

The second reason is directly related to the “different mind set” most coaches have. Coaches, at least any coach worth his salt, are hard wired to focus on winning matches. Maybe in the back of their minds they are taking long term goals into consideration, but the focus is primarily figuring out how to win their next match. It’s what they do. It’s what’s expected of them. At the end of the day it’s how their performance as a coach will ultimately be judged. This reality is in direct conflict with the long term goal of building a National Team Program. And, in the unique case of the U.S. with a 2028, seven year timeframe to consider the required mindsets couldn’t be more different. Yes, smart long term program building decisions could in some instances be extremely detrimental to the prospects of near term results.

The analogy (while imperfect) that applies here is the General Manager (GM) / Coach roles and responsibilities split typically used in professional sports organizations. The GM makes the decisions that affect the long term direction of the organization. He ultimately decides what players are acquired and at what cost while the coach is responsible for taking the players he’s been given and… coaching the team. This doesn’t mean that the GM and coach don’t work closely together, just that there is a lead/follower relationship in terms of long term/near term responsibilities.

A Bill Belichick for USA Team Handball?

But, maybe there’s somebody out there in the Handball world who can actually do both the way that Bill Belichick is both the GM and Coach of of the New England Patriots? I guess he’s been relatively successful. That remains to be seen, but I’m guessing he might have higher salary requirements than the $4,800/year currently being offered.