What We Want (Part 3): Fundraising

Posted on April 21, 2020 by John Ryan

Based on this comparison, was a $2M target for sponsorship revenue by the end of 2020 realistic for USA Team Handball?

This is part of an ongoing series: Link

Pretty much since its inception USA Team Handball has lacked sufficient funding to accomplish what it would like to in terms of National Team performance, grass roots development and anything else. So, it should come as no surprise that the Strategic Plan has some ambitious goals and targets. Page 4, Section 2) of the Strategic Plan covers fundraising:

Goal A focuses on near term hires and the establishment of retired executive volunteer and internship programs to support fundraising activity. To date, just the new CEO, Barry Siff, has been hired. There’s no data available yet as to how much new funding has come in, but Verizon has come on board as founding parner. It’s reportedly not a huge amount, but there is real potential for it to leading to more sponsors and sponsorship dollars.

Goal B discusses having a fundraising retreat and developing a fundraising plan. To my knowledge there has been no retreat or specific fundraising plan developed, although surely efforts to raise funds are ongoing.

Goal C discusses a long term strategic plan for fundraising. Again, I’m not aware of any strategic plan having been developed, but one can assume some sort of strategy is being developed. It has been noted that the Verizon deal provides credibility and can be a catalyst for future deals. Three of the sub-bullets refer to using Salesforce.com as a sponsorship platform, but if this platform has been acquired there’s been no announcement. For membership purposes the Sport:80 platform has now been adopted and it does have donation functionality, although not on the level of salesforce.

Goal D highlights focuses on membership and alumni as a source for annual giving. To date, I’m not aware of any new campaigns beyond the usual requests for donations.

Appendix A has several targets listed for specific time periods, but in many cases it’s not very clear what is actually attended.

Appendix A references “Finance” several times with a dollar value listed at the end of each quarter along with the amount of money the Board of Directors should raise in the preceding 2 fiscal quarters. It’s not clear to me what those end of Qtr dollar figures are supposed to mean. (Revenue? Cash on hand? Neither seem to make sense). The amount of money that the Board of Directors is supposed to have raised in the near term seem pretty ambitious and I suspect those targets haven’t been met.
- End 4^th Qtr 2018: $5,000
  - BOD raises $100K
- End 2^nd Qtr 2019: $100K
  - BOD raises $250K
- End 4^th Qtr 2019: $500K
  - BOD raises $250K
- End 2^nd Qtr 2020: $650K
  - BOD raises $500K
- End 4^th Qtr 2020: $750K
  - BOD raises $500K
- End 4^th Qtr 2024: $5M
  - “CEO raising money”
- End 4^th Qtr 2028: $10M
  - “CEO raising money”

Appendix A references membership several times with targets for the # of members and revenue from membership. No word as to whether these targets have been met. I suspect that membership hasn’t grown much and may have even gone down in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
- End 4^th Qtr 2018: 816/$57K
- End 2^nd Qtr 2019: 850/$60K
- End 4^th Qtr 2019: 900/$63K
- End 2^nd Qtr 2020: 1,000/
- End 4^th Qtr 2020: 1,200/$84K
- End 4^th Qtr 2024: 5,000/$350K
- End 4^th Qtr 2028: 5,000/$350K

Appendix A references sponsors several times with targets for the # of sponsors and revenue from sponsorship. It’s not entirely clear what these numbers mean, but I think the first number refers to the # of sponsors and the 2nd number refers to the total amount of sponsorship dollars. I suspect that the 2018-2020 targets have not been met. At one time the USA website had a page that listed partners/sponsors, but it doesn’t appear that page exists now. To date there have been 2 sponsorship announcements with Verizon and Molten. One can also assume that the jersey sponsorship with Eldera is still in place. Again, I don’t think any of these near term targets have been met.
- End 4^th Qtr 2018: 9/$824K
- End 2^nd Qtr 2019: 10/$900K
- End 4^th Qtr 2019: 11/$1M
- End 2^nd Qtr 2020: 13/$1.5M
- End 4^th Qtr 2020: 15/$2M
- End 4^th Qtr 2024: 15/$5M
- End 4^th Qtr 2028: 15/$5M

Discussion

In my opinion, the Fundraising section of the Strategic Plan needs to be totally rewritten. Parts of it are overly solution specific while other parts are overly vague. The specific dollar value targets aren’t clearly defined and the targets in many cases are so ambitious that even far more established team sport NGBs would be unlikely to meet them. Add, the current economic reality of the Coronavirus Pandemic and it’s even more clear that it’s time to start over.

What should such a rewrite include? For starters, realistic targets based in part on the fundraising performance of similar team sport federations. I would also suggest that top level strategies be identified for the major revenue categories: Grants, Sponsorship, Membership and Events.

As a reference, take a look at comparable NGB performance for 2013-2016. (The last quadrennial for which public available financial data is available.)

It only takes a glance to quickly ascertain that the desired fundraising targets are out of whack, particularly in terms of sponsorship. I guess it’s theoretically possible that Team Handball can develop some fundraising strategies that would leave these more established sports in the dust. Possible… But, really unlikely.

And, while aspirational goals can be OK sometimes, they’re not OK for realistic strategic planning. This is because plans have to match reality as to what can actually be done. And, this is really true in regards to funding because it is pointless to have grand plans if the funding to implement them won’t be available.

Where is Handball Popular? And, Just How Popular is Handball Compared to Other Sports?: Africa

Posted on April 14, 2020 by John Ryan

This is part of an ongoing series. Check out these maps for other continents
- Europe: Link
- North America & the Caribbean: Link
- South and Central America (In development)
- Asia (In development)
- Oceania (In development)

Some Notes on Handball in Africa

This assessment for Africa was a bit more challenging than the European assessment. Here are some notes as to why and how I put together this map.

I’ve received less feedback and have less of a sense as to the popularity of sports in Africa.
With less resources available, there are fewer team sports (beyond soccer) played in Africa. Or, if they are played they are not played on the same scale that they are played in Europe. Accordingly, determining the 2nd or 3rd most popular sport in some nations is a pointless exercise. Or, roughly similar to comparing the popularity of the 4th or 5th most popular sports in nations with more resources.
I reviewed national team participation and performance in the African Men’s and Women’s Championships as a way to help measure handball’s popularity in a country. This is an imperfect tool, but it does provide some insight as to a sports popularity. Roughly this equates to
- Regular medal winner (blue/green)
- Regularly participated (yellow)
- Periodically participated (orange)
- Infrequently or never participated, but has played in IHF Trophy events (red)
- Never participated, including IHF Trophy events (white)

Where is handball popular?
How popular is handball compared to other sports?

Those are definitely a couple of questions that I’ve been asked quite a few times. In 2005 I tackled those questions in one of my very first blog posts. Back then it was often stated that handball was the 2nd most popular team sport. Well, it would be totally awesome if that were true, but alas it’s not… not even close. In fact, even in Europe where handball is most popular there are only a handful of countries where our sport definitely takes 2nd place.

Methodology (or the Lack of One)

As an engineer I generally prefer to deal with data as opposed to gut feelings and anecdotal information. For sure there are a lot of different criteria that one could use to measure popularity. Here’s a laundry list for you:

# of participants
# of registered federation members
# of clubs
Attendance at matches
Frequency of TV broadcasts and ratings
Existence of a professional league
The salaries of professional players
Interest in national team performance
Social media interest.

Each of those criteria have merit, but there are several problems.

This data is not readily available on a country by country basis
The accuracy of the data that is available is often suspect or open to interpretation
The relative importance of each criterion is wide open to debate

Bottom line: An exercise to carefully weigh all of these criteria in a systematic reliable way is pretty much impossible.

That being said in most cases it’s fairly easy to weigh all those criteria and to come up with a ranking of the top 3 sports in just about any country. And, a ranking that most objective sports fans of that country would agree on without a whole lot of debate.

There’s a couple of reasons why this is true.

In most countries there is one dominant team sport and that sport is football (soccer). Practically no one will even credibly argue against soccer’s dominance. So off the top, we’re now only talking about 2nd and 3rd place.
And, again in most (but, not all) countries, #2 is often pretty well established based on the criteria above. Even without hard numbers the answer is obvious to people that live there.

All this being said, there are some countries, however, where handball’s place in the pecking order is open to debate. A debate, for the reasons listed earlier is pretty hard to resolve. So, instead of resolving I’ve decided to use the lack of a resolution as a way to help classify the sport’s popularity.

Classification (Key)

Here’s a few notes on how I’ve classified popularity.

Definitely the 2nd most popular team sport:
- Countries where handball is 2nd in a preponderance of the criteria
Either the 2nd or 3rd most popular team sport:
- Countries where there could be a legitimate debate between 2 sports as to which is 2nd or 3rd
- Countries where handball is clearly 3rd
A major sport with a significant presence
- Countries where the ranking becomes muddled from 3rd place on down, but handball is still clearly a major sport that captures significant attention
A minor sport with some presence
- Countries where the ranking becomes muddled from 3rd place on down, but Handball is more of a minor sport with a small, but dedicated following.
A very minor sport with a limited presence
- Countries where the sport’s ranking is somewhat moot because it’s hard to compare perhaps the 6th or 7th most popular team sport. Overall, participation numbers are small and the sport is seen as a curiosity by most of the citizens of that country.
A sport that is practically non-existent
- Countries where there are no national teams, leagues or clubs.

A few more thoughts

There is a rough pecking order from top to bottom. Blue is top; Green is next, etc.
This isn’t a perfect representation. And, one could argue for even more gradation. For instance, one could take the nations in yellow and create a rough pecking order.
What about individual sports? If you really wanted to further complicate matters we could add Formula 1, UFC and Tennis. I didn’t want to go there.

What do you think?

This compilation/depiction isn’t set in stone. It’s just one man’s opinion influenced by feedback. If I’ve missed the boat let me know via email or social media and I’ll reconsider updating the map.

Email: john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com
Facebook: Link
Twitter: Link
Instagram: Link

Also, I’ll be creating similar maps for the other continents and I could use some feedback on Asia and the Americas.

#SeniorNight: Air Force Team Handball Class of 2020

Posted on April 6, 2020 by John Ryan

Handball Athletes, Future 2nd Lts and Air Force Pilots
L to R (Brian Brown, Nate Luther, Mark Simpson, Richard Vaughn, Austin Faulkner and Will Walker. Other Club Seniors headed to pilot training are Anthony Sanders and Pen Pagel)

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt has been using his Sports Center platform to honor High School and College Seniors who didn’t get to finish their final season. I respectfully submit Air Force Team Handball’s Eight Graduating Seniors for #SeniorNight.

A lot can happen in just a month. A lot.

Air Force Team Handball: Just One Month Ago

On February 28-29, 2020, I had the opportunity to watch Air Force go 4-0 to take the title in their own Air Force Invitational. I had seen them play several times in the past few years and without a doubt I had never seen them play so well. A comprehensive 26-18 victory over North Carolina on Saturday and then an exciting last second, 28-27 victory over Dallas THC (Video) to take the title on Sunday.

Solid defense, smart shots on offense, limited turnovers. Individually some fine play, but clearly a collective team performance. After their victory over Dallas I made a point of telling the team that it was the best I’d seen an Air Force team play in years and made a prediction that was actually more of a declaration:

“Play like you did this weekend and you guys will beat West Point and win a national title.”

A bold statement since West Point has won 14 straight national titles and Air Force hasn’t beat them since 2008. Bold, but one that I stand by and not just because I’m a biased AF Academy graduate. In a different world maybe I would be sitting right now in the Columbus, OH airport writing about such a victory in the recently completed Gold Medal match at the 2020 College National Championships.

But, that’s not the world were living in now. And, it sucks… It sucks big time. Sucks for any handball player from any school that would have played in the Collegiate Tourney this past weekend. Sucks especially for the seniors.

For the eight graduating seniors at Air Force and the journey they’ve had it’s surely been really tough. Most of these eight seniors have been playing handball together all four years. They went from basic cadets with little or no knowledge that handball even existed as a sport to passionate athletes that have bonded over four years of practice and competition. The Collegiate National Championships would have been the culmination of that journey. One last opportunity to play for a title.

Like everyone the Cadet’s lives were upended by the Coronavirus Pandemic. But, this past month they’ve also been impacted in additional ways.

Just two weeks after the AF Invitational the Air Force Academy cancelled Spring Break. Most of the Air Force team had been looking forward to a trip to the Netherlands for a training camp and competition. Unlike most colleges, however, not everyone was sent home. Instead, just the Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors were sent home while the Seniors remained on campus to help ensure their on time graduation and entry into the Air Force. Additionally, to facilitate social distancing, all the Senior Cadets were moved into their own dorm rooms spread out as much as possible in the Academy’s two dorms. Classes then resumed online and for the seniors it became a surreal existence as the roughly 1,000 cadets left on campus were essentially “alone” together with strict limits on any interaction.

Needless to say this was not an ideal situation and when last week 2 cadets committed suicide within 3 days of each other the Air Force went into crisis mode. After much discussion social distancing rules were relaxed and it was decided to speed up graduation to April 18th. To give you some idea of the extraordinary times we live in this is the first service Academy to graduate early since West Point had cadets do so during World War II.

So now the 8 seniors will graduate early and all 8 will be headed to pilot training. (Contrary to what you might think not everybody who goes to the Academy becomes a pilot and for 100% of a sports club team to do so is kind of special.) Being a pilot is surely a dream and goal they’ve been working towards many years before heading to the Academy.

The minor downside for these 8: Being an Air Force pilot and continuing your handball career isn’t an easy or practical thing to do. Perhaps some of these guys will find their way to an open club nationals on down the line, but more likely than not several have played not just their last collegiate handball match, but their last handball match ever.

In a different world that last match would have taken place this past weekend. That’s a bummer… for them… for you… for me… for everybody.

On the plus side. These eight are going to be serving our country for years to come. And, we couldn’t ask for a better group of young men to do so.

Throwback Thursday: Ross Miner, USA Team Handball’s Chicago Area Ambassador Talks College Handball Back in 2016

Posted on April 2, 2020 by John Ryan

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:20 — 22.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Ross Miner was recently hired by USA Team Handball to be their Chicago area ambassador. As an ambassador he will be responsible for developing youth and college handball in the Chicago are.

In this podcast from 2016, Ross and I discussed Illinois St winning the Buckeye Classic and his handball journey from discovering the sport on TV during the 2008 Olympics to starting the club program at Illinois St and attending the Aarhus Academy in Denmark.

We also discussed the state of the college game and whether the weekend tournament format should be scrapped in favor of league play.

Original Post: Link
Podcast on the Aarhus Academy: Link
The college handball club graveyard: Link

Don’t miss an episode:
– Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
– Or use this RSS Feed to sign up for the podcast in your favorite podcast aggregator: Link

And, be sure to check out the podcast archive with interviews and great handball discussion going all the way back to 2006: Link

Where is Handball Popular? And, Just How Popular is Handball Compared to Other Sports?: Europe

Posted on March 29, 2020 by John Ryan

This is part of an ongoing series. Check out these maps for other continents
- Africa: Link
- North America & the Caribbean: Link
- South and Central America (In development)
- Asia (In development)
- Oceania (In development)

Note: This map was updated based on feedback on 31 March 2020: See paragraph at bottom for what the feedback was and why or why not the map changed

Where is handball popular?
How popular is handball compared to other sports?

Methodology (or the Lack of One)

# of participants
# of registered federation members
# of clubs
Attendance at matches
Frequency of TV broadcasts and ratings
Existence of a professional league
The salaries of professional players
Interest in national team performance
Social media interest.

Each of those criteria have merit, but there are several problems.

This data is not readily available on a country by country basis
The accuracy of the data that is available is often suspect or open to interpretation
The relative importance of each criterion is wide open to debate

Bottom line: An exercise to carefully weigh all of these criteria in a systematic reliable way is pretty much impossible.

There’s a couple of reasons why this is true.

In most countries there is one dominant team sport and that sport is football (soccer). Practically no one will even credibly argue against soccer’s dominance. So off the top, we’re now only talking about 2nd and 3rd place.
And, again in most (but, not all) countries, #2 is often pretty well established based on the criteria above. Even without hard numbers the answer is obvious to people that live there.

Classification (Key)

Here’s a few notes on how I’ve classified popularity.

Definitely the 2nd most popular team sport:
- Countries where handball is 2nd in a preponderance of the criteria
Either the 2nd or 3rd most popular team sport:
- Countries where there could be a legitimate debate between 2 sports as to which is 2nd or 3rd
  - Example: In several Balkan countries depending on who you talk to either basketball or handball is 2nd
- Countries where handball is clearly 3rd
  - Example: There’s a pretty strong consensus that the proper ranking in Sweden is 1) Football; 2) Ice Hockey; and 3) Handball
A major sport with a significant presence
- Countries where the ranking becomes muddled from 3rd place on down, but handball is still clearly a major sport that captures significant attention
  - Example: In France few would argue with soccer being first and rugby being second, but 3rd place is less clear between basketball and handball. That being said, even if Handball is the 4th most popular sport it’s still is a “major sport with a significant presence.” This is clearly demonstrated by it’s pro league, attendance and national team
A minor sport with some presence
- Countries where the ranking becomes muddled from 3rd place on down, but Handball is more of a minor sport with a small, but dedicated following.
  - Example: Greece has a national league and several club teams playing at different levels, but the level of play is below that of other countries. They have a national team that is competitive, but still a notch below nations where the sport is more established.
A very minor sport with a limited presence
- Countries where the sport’s ranking is somewhat moot because it’s hard to compare perhaps the 6th or 7th most popular team sport. Overall, participation numbers are small and the sport is seen as a curiosity by most of the citizens of that country.
  - Example: Great Britain fits that definition pretty well. The sport is growing, but they have a ways to go move up in popularity.

A few more thoughts

There is a rough pecking order from top to bottom. Blue is top; Green is next, etc.
This isn’t a perfect representation. And, one could argue for even more gradation. For instance, one could take the nations in yellow and create a rough pecking order.
What about individual sports? If you really wanted to further complicate matters we could add Formula 1, UFC and Tennis. I didn’t want to go there.
A few tough calls
- Iceland: I’ve seen a few Icelandic basketball players playing for USA colleges and read that the sport is making inroads there. There are even more registered basketball clubs than handball clubs in the country… Still, I’m not ready to say that handball has slipped to third in Iceland.
- Portugal: I’m thinking that 5 years ago Portugal would have been orange, but now they’ve jumped to green? But, a couple of folks convinced me that it’s arguably #2 there. Could that be just a momentary blip due to a Euro 2020 high?

What do you think?

Email: john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com
Facebook: Link
Twitter: Link
Instagram: Link

Also, I’ll be creating similar maps for the other continents and I could use some feedback on Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Update (31 March 2020)

After the initial posting on 29 March, 2020, I received a lot of great feedback. Based on this feedback I made a few changes.

What’s Changed and Why

Romania (Green to Blue): Several comments all pointed out that handball is a solid #2 as a team sport; In particular, women’s handball both at the club and national team level has a pretty high level of attention- Arguably, higher than even football.
Cyprus (Red to Orange): Handball is not a big time sport in Cyprus, but based on their solid performances in both IHF Emerging Nations and early round EHF Qualification matches the sport has more than a limited presence
Faroe Islands (Blue): This small, but proud handball nation was inadvertently omitted. Some have even suggested that handball might even be the #1 sport there. Based on feedback, however, from one resident who is also a huge handball fan, however, I’ve assessed that it’s close, but not quite there yet.

What Received a Lot of Feedback, but Stayed the Same

Some handball knowledgeable people pointed out some colors on the map that just didn’t seem quite right. While, I understood their points and even agreed with them to some extent I decided not to make a change, though, in several instances. More than anything the debate centers on the imperfect classification system which naturally leads to some reasonable disagreements.

Portugal should be moved to yellow… Especially if France and Spain are Yellow: It does look a little strange, but it shouldn’t be interpreted to mean that handball therefore is a bigger sport in Portugal than it is in those two countries. If anything it’s more reflective of the reality that France (rugby) and Spain (basketball) have strong #2 sports.
Netherlands should be yellow… Especially if their women’s team is now the World Champion: There’s no denying that the women’s team has been an incredible success, but I would argue that this success is more the result of a smart national team strategy making the most of a pretty small talent pool. Handball is still a fairly small sport there in terms of participation and national interest. That certainly could change and this map is not set in stone.
Why is Russia yellow… Handball isn’t as popular there as it is in other countries like France and Spain: Handball has certainly slipped in terms of popularity in Russia and I, for one, agree that it’s clearly more popular in many other countries depicted in yellow. However, it’s still an important sport there and it’s women’s team is still a force. And, if one looks at the countries in orange it’s also clear that handball is more popular in Russia than it is those countries.
Serbia should be yellow… Since handball has really slipped in popularity there: I got feedback from one Serbian that handball has slipped behind basketball, water polo and even volleyball. I’ll need more feedback, however, before I drop any Balkan state below green.

What We Want (Part 2): College Development: More College Clubs… and College Clubs Playing Handball at a Higher Level

Posted on March 26, 2020 by John Ryan

World University Championships: This biennial event might be a great way to further develop our collegiate programs and track how well those programs are doing in terms of developing handball athletes.

This is part of an ongoing series: Link

Collegiate handball has been identified as a key focus area for developing handball in the U.S. As such, several goals and objectives to move the college game forward have been identified both in the broader USA Team Handball Strategic Plan (drafted in 2018) and in a College Specific Strategic Plan (Feb 2018).

USA Team Handball Strategic Plan

A college and university initiative is identified on page 6.

D. Launch collegiate and university initiative.

i. Cultivate a competitive university club system across the United States.
ii. Target four geographies utilize the well-established collegiate club sports model.
iii. Create regional league competition.
iv. Host season ending Final Four event.

Target Outcome

Increase university club programs to 40 (4th Qtr 2020)

Appendix A

Appendix A references “Univ Teams” several times with targets for the number of teams
- End 4^th Qtr 2018: 14 (Accomplished: 15 Men’s Clubs /3 Women’s Clubs)
- End 2^nd Qtr 2019: 20 (Not Accomplished 15/3)
- End 4^th Qtr 2019: 30 (Not Accomplished 15/4)
- End 2^nd Qtr 2020: 35 (Not Accomplished 15/4)
- End 4^th Qtr 2020: 40
- End 4^th Qtr 2024: 100
There are several references to the selection and identification of new regions (Accomplished: 5 “hubs” (New York City, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles) have been selected.
There are several references to the establishment of regional leagues in the 2018-2020 time frame. (Not Accomplished: There are currently no regional collegiate leagues.)
A Final Four tournament for top collegiate programs was identified for the 4^th Qtr of 2019 (Not Accomplished)

Collegiate Strategic Plan (Feb 1^st, 2020)

The Collegiate Strategic Plan was developed by a Collegiate Working Group and provides more detail on collegiate goals and objectives. However, in my opinion, (similar to the more broad USATH Strategic Plan) it strays in some instances into what might more accurately be described as near term action plans. Here is an over of the plan’s contents:

2050 Vision
- Team Handball is a sanctioned NCAA Sport
- Scholarship sport that competes for the best athletes
- Widespread media presence
- Handball is a recognizable, established major sport in America

2019-2022 College Strategic Plan Goals
- 1) Create a comprehensive and streamlined starter pack to allow a college student to create a college handball program in a semester and supply a resource person.
- 2) Have sustainable clubs playing 15 games per season in 72 colleges, including 36 women’s teams.
- 3) Have the structures and systems in place to grow participation of college club players by 400%.
- 4) Assemble the necessary capacity to achieve the goals of this plan.
- 5) Raise sufficient funds to achieve the goals of this plan.

In my opinion goals 1 and 4 are near term actions that will be implemented to support goals 2 and 3. Goal 5 is probably more suited for a broader discussion on fundraising. As I think they are more “strategic”, here’s a closer look at goals 2 and 3:

Goal 2: Have sustainable clubs playing 15 games per season in 72 colleges, including 36 women’s teams.
- 2.1 Recruit colleges proximal to existing clubs
- 2.2 Establish new clubs in locations with a concentration of colleges based on receptivity and leadership
  - 2.2.1 Achieve 40 colleges by end of 2020
- 2.3 Provide competition structure leading toward a National Championship in order to enable the best teams in the country play each other
  - 2.3.1 Consider two-season structure to enable cross-regional competition
  - 2.3.2 Publish competition structure well in advance to enable maximum participation
- 2.4 Develop and implement a path to ensure club succession and continuation of administration
- 2.5 Provide support from USATH ambassador

Goal 3: Grow participation of college club players by 400 percent
- 3.1 Raise the profile of team handball
  - 3.1.1 In concert with USATH, develop and implement a comprehensive promotion plan to have handball recognized across the country
  - 3.1.2 Offer resources for parents, coaches, athletes
  - 3.1.3 Focus on benefits of participation
- 3.2 In concert with USATH, ensure a pipeline of athletes to join college clubs using the Athlete Development Model
- 3.3 Support established clubs
- 3.4 Provide pathway for athletes post college, e.g. national team, city clubs, coach, referee, volunteering

Discussion

In broad terms, I would assess that the overall goal of collegiate development is to:

Increase the number collegiate athletes, clubs and leagues (Increase participation)
Improve the level of collegiate play

Increase Participation

In terms of increasing the numbers of athletes, clubs and leagues several targets have been presented, but they could use further definition. Here are some clear targets that I emphasized in bold face in the text above:

Have sustainable clubs playing 15 games per season in 72 colleges, including 36 women’s teams.
Grow participation of college club players by 400 percent

Of particular note, the text highlighting “playing 15 games per season”, seems to provide a benchmark for a club program. Essentially, making the point that there’s a significance difference between a club that plays 15 matches and a club that holds a couple of practices and plays in one weekend tournament. If that is the definition of a collegiate club it also decreases the # of clubs. Using the 15 match requirement for the last two seasons, there would have been this many clubs

2018-19 (9 Men/2 Women)
2019-20 (7/3) (I used 10 matches as the season has been shortened)

Participation growth is not defined, but it would logically have a strong correlation with the growth of the # of the clubs. Depending on the “start date” and the number of existing clubs at that point in time one can then project the number of clubs needed to obtain 400% growth. As an example, the U.S. had 15 men’s collegiate clubs and 3 women’s collegiate clubs during the 2018-19 season for a total of 18 clubs. 400% growth would then be 90 clubs. If one uses an average of 15 athletes per club, the total number of collegiate athletes for the 2018-19 season would be 18 clubs x 15 athletes for a total of 270 collegiate athletes. 400% growth would equate to 1,350 athletes by the end of 2022. And, of course, participation could also be simply assessed by totaling up the annual number of collegiate USA Team Handball memberships from year to year.

Improving the Level of Play

In terms of improving the level of play I would assess that both documents could use more specific targets related to accomplishing this goal. The USA Team Handball Strategic Plan mentions “Athletes identified out of University Programs” in a few places and references “pipeline development”, but there is not much “meat on the bones.” The Collegiate Strategic Plan included several bullet points that point to improving collegiate competition, but lacks measureable targets.

Here, though are some potential candidates:

USA Performance in World University Handball Competitions: Link (Actually participating would also be good. It’s doubtful that the 2020 Championship will take place, but 2022 could be a possibility.)
Numbers of collegiate athletes (Current/Former) on Youth (U19), Junior (U21) and Senior national teams
Numbers of collegiate athletes being identified for further development by International Clubs
Numbers of collegiate athletes transitioning to U.S. Clubs

I haven’t identified the actual numbers (and dates) that should go with these targets, but would suggest that the Board of Directors consider adding these targets (with dates/numbers) for future updates to the Strategic Plans.

That wraps up “What we want” for College development. Part 3 will take a closer look at Fundraising and Marketing

2003 EHF Champions League Finals (Portland San Antonio – Montpellier): Remembering a Classic

Posted on March 22, 2020 by John Ryan

(19 Year old Nikola Karabatic with one of his 11 goals in the first leg of the 2003 Champions League Final… Notice anything strange about this goal?)

The Coronavirus Pandemic has been a real bummer for sports fans everywhere. No more live sports. To fill the gap ESPN and other sports networks have been airing classic matches.

Handball is no different and last week I sent out a Twitter post asking for recommendations of classic matches that were available online and “Sharp Action” replied with a link to the 2^nd Leg of the 2003 Champions League Final between Portland San Antonio and Montpellier. And, then later someone pointed me to a great Spanish site (blog youtube) with the 1^st leg of this classic final.

1^st Leg (Spanish): Link
2^nd Leg (Spanish): Link
2^nd Leg (French): Link

What a gift! What a trip down memory lane!

It’s hard to believe it was 17 years ago. It seems like yesterday that I was watching these matches in with my 1 year old daughter “surfing” the coffee table in our Paris apartment. Now she’s getting ready to graduate from high school. (I guess it’s TBD as to whether she walks across a stage or just gets her diploma in the mail.)

Handball wise, it’s been quite an education. I remember that it took me awhile back in the 2002-03 season to figure out that club handball was on TV in France and what the Champions League was. Not to mention what the hell a “two match aggregate playoff” was. There was no Final Four at the time and therefore the semifinal and finals were decided by the aggregate score of two matches, with one being played in each locale.

I’ve only rewatched the first leg in Pamplona and I won’t give any spoilers, but here’s a few contextual tidbits that might help you appreciate the match more:

Arguably, these matches are a bit of a coming out party for France’s big 3: Nikola Karabatic, Didier Dinart, and Thierry Omeyer. Dinart is generally considered to be the best defender of all time. Omeyer is in the conversation for best all time GK and, of course, Karabatic may well be the handball GOAT. Certainly, few would argue against the reality that he has been the GOAT for the 21^st century.
Karabatic had just turned 19 years old at the time these matches were played. I will never forget a few months earlier watching Montpellier and checking his (at the time) relatively short Wikipedia page and absolutely being floored to discover that he was just 18 years old and thinking to myself, “Holy crap! How good is the guy going to be in a few years?”
Laughably, Montpellier coach, Patrice Canayer didn’t start Karabatic for this match. To Canayer’s credit, though, he doesn’t leave much after he does enter the game.
Take a look at this goal by Karabatic: Link (Notice anything unusual?)
Watch what Karabatic does at the end of the first half and think about how that might impact the final outcome.
Check out how Didier Dinart clogs up the middle on defense. There ought to be some handball analytics that measure what an impact that sort of play can be on the final outcome. You just don’t see many goals scored while he’s in the vicinity of the action. It’s hard to measure that, but if you watch just him (instead of the ball) for a few minutes you’ll start to appreciate what a difference he makes.
The Spanish club, Portland San Antonio was a major presence in the Spanish League and was actually located in Pamplona. Yes, the club was located there even if the club name by coincidence featured the names of two NBA franchise cities, which are not cities in Spain. Best that I can tell, San Antonio is a neighborhood in Pamplona while Portland was the name of the cement company that was their sponsor. They were also a casualty of the Spanish financial crisis that caused the dramatic decline in the Liga Asobal.
Be sure to appreciate Jackson Richardson’s skills both on offense and defense, but keep in mind that he was also almost 34 years old and was actually entering the tail end of a great career.
Portland San Antonio’s leading scorer for the match was a Belarussian, Mikhail Yakimovich, who also won a gold medal in 1992 for the Soviet Union. He was also 35 years old. Back in the day, Liga Asobal teams seemed to have quite a few players from the Balkans and the former Soviet Union populating their rosters and this is one of the reasons the league was once considered the best in the world.
The GK for Portland San Antonio, Vladimir Rivero, was originally from Cuba and tragically died a year later due to an aneurysm. He played 191 international matches for Cuba.
It’s kind of quaint to see all the lines on the floor for basketball, volleyball, etc, but that was pretty commonplace until the EHF instituted requirements for standardized floors.

Links to more classic matches you can see online: Link

Podcast (Episode 66) Former NFL Tight End, Gary Barnidge and the Infamous NFL – FTC Budapest Handball Match

Posted on March 20, 2020 by John Ryan

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:30 — 16.3MB)

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Former NFL Player and newly converted handball fan, Gary Barnidge.

Earlier this month when the Coronavirus was just some issue China was dealing with a group of American NFL players (current and former) had a joint training session with Hungarian Club, FTC Budapest. Video of the match went viral as it seemed to provide what every handball fan wanted after the infamous, Jay Cutler, interview on Pardon My Take: Namely, a match between cocky, over confident NFL players and experienced handball players.

The reality, however, was significantly different. The NFL Players were part of the American Football Without Barriers, a non-profit group that uses sports as a tool to help disadvantaged children live healthy and fit lifestyles through the core values of physical fitness, wellness, and education. And, as the name implies part of that mission is conducting camps and spreading the gospel of American Football in places like Hungary.

Gary Barnidge, played eight seasons as a Tight End for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns and is one of the founding members of American Football Without Barriers. He joins the podcast to discuss their trip to Hungary, the growing popularity of American Football and what handball might learn from it, and, of course, their handball training with FTC Budapest.

What’s clear: Handball is harder than it looks and the sport has picked up some new and genuine fans from American Football.

Complete video of the entire training session: Link
Shorter video with match footage: Link

FTC Budapest Team Captain, Timuzsin Schuch

Don’t miss an episode:
– Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
– Or use this RSS Feed to sign up for the podcast in your favorite podcast aggregator: Link

And, be sure to check out the podcast archive with interviews and great handball discussion going all the way back to 2006: Link

The podcast was sponsored by Aspire Products, EMST150 Training Device. Check it out and don’t forget to use the promo code THN30 for a 30% discount.

What We Want (Part 1): Official Documentation and National Team Targets

Posted on March 18, 2020 by John Ryan

This is part of an ongoing series: Link

A Bit of History (Sometimes Tilting at Windmills Actually Works)

Long time readers will know that I’ve linked to one particular commentary on several occasions.

U.S. National Team Plans (Part 6): Federation Planning: Right Idea, Flawed Execution, Time to Right the Ship: Link

Way back in 2012, the USOPC sponsored a Strategic Planning meeting in Salt Lake City and the outcome of that meeting was… well, it was pretty much nothing. Lots of fine discussion, but unfortunately no follow through. No strategic plan was ever developed. Not that I didn’t valiantly try to engage leadership, but such pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead short term plans went forward without much thought in terms of the long term direction of USA Team Handball. Or, if there was such “thought” it went totally undocumented.

I kept hammering away at this discrepancy every chance I could and eventually in 2018 USA Team Handball decided to draft a Strategic Plan. I really don’t know whether my hammering actually contributed to that happening, but I like to think that it did. Regardless that document exists and is available here: Link

I even participated briefly in the plan’s development. Not as much as I would have liked, but at least I got to attend one meeting and influence its development. Here’s a commentary on the plan that I wrote back in 2018: Link

Note: The Board of Directors met in October 2019 to review and update the 2018 document and I was informed in February that the Board is currently review the final edits on that update

In addition to this strategic plan a separate College Strategic Plan has also been developed: Link

Background on Strategic Planning

When it comes to strategic planning there are often misconceptions as to what it is intended to accomplish. First and foremost, strategic plans are intended to be… well, strategic. They are not tactical. This means that they look at the big picture and attempt to define what are the mid to long term goals and objectives and some top level actions that should be taken to achieve those goals and objectives. It’s not a detailed plan of action but the guiding document used to develop such plans. So, one shouldn’t complain if a strategic plan lacks the detail needed to go out in take specific actions. In fact, it’s more appropriate to complain if a strategic plan is too detailed and solution specific.

The USA Team Handball Strategic Plan (An Overview)

As I alluded to in my commentary that was written shortly after it was released I have some issues with its structure and content. It’s too detailed (solution specific) in some instances and in some cases (youth development, beach handball) its discussion is too sparse. Parts of the document also seem a bit misplaced in that some very near term actions (e.g. staff hires) are spelled out, making the document more of a plan of action, rather than strategic guidance. As such, I’ve decided to distill the more strategic aspects of the document into some broad areas for further analysis. Those areas are 1) National Team Performance; 2) College Development; 3) Marketing and 4) Fundraising

1) National Team Performance

National team performance is referenced in several areas of the document and is most closely associated with the fourth focus area, “Organizational and Competitive Excellence”. Two items (C and E) are closely related to National Team Plans

C. Develop national team training and competition plan for Olympic, Pan American and World Championship Qualifications.

- i. Set competition goals and objectives.
- ii. Establish talent acquisition pipeline.
- iii. Develop national team training schedule.
- iv. Develop national team competition plan.
- v. Determine national team training site

On the surface these items seem fairly straight forward, but the “devil is in the details”. In particular, the U.S. has struggled in the past to simply define what a “talent acquisition pipeline” is, let alone establish one. The brief mention of a “national team training site” also needs to be fully defined as the simple item is wide open to interpretation. On one extreme it could be a full blown residency program and on the other extreme it could simply be a location for the national team to train for a week or two prior to major competitions.

E. Initiate Project France

- i. A project of USA Team Handball, International Handball Federation, and the France Handball Federation.
- ii. The project places USA Team Handball athletes (together as a team) into the French Handball League for regular competition.
- iii. The French Handball Federation has made an initial invitation for the team to begin competition in September of 2019.
- iv. National team athletes benefit through increased playing experience and competition.
- v. The national team program gains opportunity to develop as a unit and compete against international teams during national team weeks that are set aside in the European club system.
- vi. Project France is seen as a recruitment tool for university level athletes interested in advancing their athletic careers.

I personally see a lot of potential with an overseas effort like this. Indeed, back in 2014 I outlined a similar concept. However, this is a very solution specific concept and it is very misplaced to include it as part of a strategic document. For certain, it needs to be further assessed and compared with other possible actions before it is implemented.

Target Outcomes:

On the right hand side of page 6 there are several very specific target outcomes related to National Team Performance.

Qualify for the 2019 PANAM Games (Accomplished: Men and Women)
Top 4 Finish at 2019 PANAM Games (Partially Accomplished: Women: 4^th; Men: 6^th)
Hire Technical Director (3^rd Qtr 2019) (Accomplished: Stefan Olsson)
Begin “Project France” (3^rd Qtr 2019) (an effort that would see a U.S. team playing as a unit in a French league)
Qualify for the IHF World Championships by 2024
Top 12 Finish at IHF World Championships by 2024
Top 2 finish at 2023 PANAM Games
Qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games
Top 2 finish at 2027 PANAM Games
Top 6 finish at 2028 Olympic Games

I won’t go into detail as regards to the feasibility of these targets, but suffice to say some very realistic expectations were set for 2019, but the targets for the outer years are very ambitious.

Elite Athlete (Appendix A)

Appendix A provides additional detail and targets for select topics from year to year. One target block is entitled “Elite Athletes” and it’s envisioned that both the Men’s and Women’s programs will have 40 athletes identified as elite and that the definition of elite athlete will continue to evolve, which I presume to mean that the elite will become more elite. Additionally it’s desired to have a greater percentage of these athletes coming from our improving college programs.

That’s a top level review of USA Team Handball’s Strategic plan and a closer look at what’s desired in terms on National Team Performance. Part 2 will take a closer look at “College Development”

ehfTV Classic Matches

Posted on March 15, 2020 by John Ryan

Stuck at home and looking for some handball to watch? Here are some Classic Matches available on ehfTV that are available for viewing at any time.

Note: There is nothing regarding the result/score of these matches for a reason. If you haven’t seen it before it’s all new to you.

Classic ehfTV Matches

2014 Final Four Semifinal: FC Barcelona vs SG Flensburg: Video Link
2016 Women’s Final Four Championship Match: CSM Bucharest vs Gyor: Video Link
2016 Final Four Championship Match: Kielce vs Veszprem: Video Link
2017 Final Four Championship: Paris SG vs HC Vardar: Video Link
2018 2nd Leg R16 Veszprem vs Skjern: Video Link
2019 Final Four Semifinal: FC Barcelona vs HC Vardar: Video Link

Note: If you know of a great match on ehfTV that should be added please email me at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com or send me a Tweet.

Classic EHF CL Matches Available on YouTube

2003 EHF CL Championship: Montpellier vs Portland San Antonio 1st Leg 2nd Leg
2009 EHF CL Championship: Kiel vs Ciudad Real: 1st Leg 2nd Leg

Classic International Matches Available on YouTube

1980 Olympics Final: East Germany vs Soviet Union: Link
2004 Olympics Women’s Final: S. Korea vs Denmark: Link
2007 World Championships SF: France vs Germany: Link
2009 IHF World Championships Final: France vs Croatia: Link

Great EHF Champions League Matches we’d like to see that are currently unavailable

2004 1^st and 2^nd Leg Championship: Celje vs Flensburg
2005 1^st and 2^nd Leg QF: Montpellier vs Flensburg
2010 2^nd Leg QF: Montpellier vs Chekhovskie Medvedi
2012 1^st and 2^nd Leg: Fucshe Berlin vs Leon Ademar

Great International Matches we’d like to see that are currently unavailable

2004 Olympic Games QF: France vs Russia

Note: If you know where these matches can be seen on line please email me at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com or send me a Tweet

USA Team Handball Makes a Coaching Change for its Women’s Beach Handball Program (Some Questions Regarding Need, Timing and Process)

Posted on March 13, 2020 by John Ryan

Former USA Beach Handball Women’s Coach, Juliano De Oliveira.

Earlier this week USA Team Handball announced the appointment of Lisa Dunn to be the new Women’s Beach Handball Head Coach and Michi Mensing to the Asst Coach position. Left unsaid, however, was that Juliano De Oliveira, the Head Coach since 2016 had been “let go”, fired, or not renewed (pick your description).

De Oliveira did get a mention though for having “laid the foundation for the program” and indeed that’s the case as he took the helm of a pretty much non-existent, dormant program in 2016 and under his helm it has been established as North America’s best Women’s Beach Handball side and one that is now respected on the world stage.

Here’s a review of what the U.S. Women’s team has accomplished in the four major tournaments they have participated in under his watch.

Juliano De Oliveira Coaching Record

2018 Pan American Championships
– Match Record: 2-4
– Games Record: Not Available
– Final Ranking: 6^th out of 8 Teams

2018 World Championships
– Match Record: 1-8
– Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 2-16
– Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-0
– Points Differential (Non Shoot Out Matches): 213-338 (-125)
– Final Ranking: 14^th out of 16 Teams

2019 North American and Caribbean Championships
– Match Record: 6-0
– Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 12-0
– Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-0
– Final Ranking: 1^st out of 8 Teams

2019 World Beach Games
– Match Record: 2-5
– Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 6-8
– Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-2
– Points Differential (Non Shoot Out Matches): 224-240 (-16)
– Final Ranking: 10^th out of 12 Teams

A review of these results makes it pretty clear there’s been some solid progress. A team that wasn’t very competitive in 2018 turned it around in 2019. A clear sign of progress was their dominating performance at the 2019 North American Championships. A weaker field than the Pan American Championships the year before, but they left no doubt that they were the best team in the new Confederation.

Arguably, more telling was the better performance on the world stage. In two similar events (2018 World Championships and 2019 World Beach Games) the Final Ranking wasn’t much different (10^th out of 12 vs 14^th out of 16), but a closer look at the results reveals significant improvement.

In 2018, the women were 2-16 (Win Percentage of .111) in non-shootout games with an average point differential of -7/game. Translation: most of the games were noncompetitive and essentially over in the first few minutes. In 2019, they were 6-8 (.429) and the average point differential was 1/game. Games were typically much closer and the U.S. had a shoot out loss to 6th place Argentina and they battled 3rd place and perennial power Brazil to a golden goal in one match. In consolation play they actually blew out some teams.

To be clear, playing teams closer is still not winning, but make no mistake, it’s progress.

A Question of Need (Management Expectations)

Perhaps, however, management expectations were higher for U.S. performance. For sure, it would have been nice to get out the consolation bracket and place higher, but it’s debatable as to whether that was a reasonable expectation for such a new program with some key players getting their first experience at a high level tournament.

Additionally, while results in competition are important, there surely were other goals and objectives for the program. I don’t know what was expected, but one can only assume those expectations weren’t being met. Otherwise, if the team is making progress why make a change?

A Question of Timing (Why Now?)

The timing of the move also suggests that more was at play than just team results. Otherwise such a change would logically have occurred right after the tournament in October rather than 5 months later. Coaches everywhere know the drill. If your team performs poorly and the season/tournament has ended they know that the “phone call” could well be coming. The Monday after week 17 in the NFL is known as Black Monday for a reason. Ask French Men’s Coach, Didier Dinart, what happens when you have one bad game (vs Portugal) at the European Championships. You’re often shown the door. That’s just how it works. Results matter, but, Coach De Oliveira was not shown the door until several months later suggesting that the move was not directly related to competition performance.

A Question of Process

Personnel changes can be accomplished in a number of different ways, but a more open and transparent process might have been warranted. In 2018, the U.S, advertised for the “court” Men’s Head Coach position and received dozens of applications and this process resulted in the eventual hiring of Robert Hedin. A beach head coaching job is certainly less sought after, but a more open process would probably stifle any concerns that personnel changes were being quietly orchestrated behind the scenes.

Practicality for Practice

A majority of the athletes likely to make the U.S. roster currently live in Southern California. Having a coach co-located with those athletes facilitates instruction during practice. There, of course, can be training camps in other parts of the country, but such traveling can be expensive.

A Tough Coaching Change

Making a coaching change is rarely easy and with the U.S. beach handball community being so small it’s even tougher. Everybody knows everybody really well and everyone knows that Coach De Oliveira has been there from the start, first as Assistant Coach for the Men’s Program and then as the first coach of the Women’s Program. This past summer I saw firsthand the effort involved in setting up the Southern California Beach Handball Tournament. It takes a village to stage such an event, but De Oliveira is a really big part of that village. I can only assume that he’s also been a big part of everything else that’s taken place the last several years. With all of that work done as an unpaid volunteer coach/organizer.

To make the determination that all that work plus steady progress in International competition just wasn’t good enough couldn’t have been easy. To say thanks, but sorry your assistant coaches are better equipped to take the team to the next level, that’s got to be a very tough call.

The Road Ahead (Near and Far Term)

In the near term it’s all about the Beach World Championships, currently scheduled for 30 June – July 5 in Pescara, Italy. (One can at least hope that the Coronavirus Pandemic will have subsided by then). With likely a very similar, but now more experienced roster, I would have expected a better performance regardless as to who was coach. In my opinion a great result would be top 8, 9^th-12^th would be OK, while 13^th-16^th would be a disappointment. From a few social media postings it appears the athletes are motivated and they have recently met in Atlanta and San Antonio for training. Even were planning to train in Southern California this weekend, but it has since been cancelled due to Coronavirus concerns. I wouldn’t bet against dedication like that. This side will rally around who’s ever coaching and come together for the best performance possible.

Beyond the World Championships this summer, however, some serious thought is needed as to what the long term strategy should be for Beach Handball. The big inflection point will be the IOC’s decision on whether to include Beach Handball at the 2024 Olympics. I think the odds are against it due to athlete quotas, but if does happen, we could have a seismic change in terms of the resources and focus that will be placed on Beach Handball. One can even envision a residency program (perhaps at Chula Vista, CA) and an influx of talent that would make the U.S. a strong medal contender.

But, even if that doesn’t happen a strategy’s still needed. In particular, there will be a need to consider steps to develop beach clubs, grow the elite talent pool and whether one geographic area should be selected for focused development.

(Note: I reached out to USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff, for more information regarding the coaching change, but he declined to comment.)

Team Handball News Collegiate Top 5 Poll (Mar 2020)

Posted on March 11, 2020 by John Ryan

Air Force Moves Up to #2 in the Latest Poll

College Season Heating Up…but the Championship has been Postponed

Some recent matches have upended the Collegiate Top 5, but on the top of everyone’s minds is the recent decision by USA Team Handball to postpone the Collegiate National Championships. Originally scheduled for 3-5 April at Ohio State University the tournament has now been postponed due to concerns with the Coronavirus situation and Ohio State’s recent decision to suspend all “In-Person” classes until March 30th.

This is a shame because the championship was shaping up to be one of the most interesting and potentially wide open contests in years. Yes, Army- West Point, is still the odds on favorite, but several sides have stepped up their game and seemed poised to provide them a real challenge. Here are the result of the latest poll.

Army: Per usual, Army has had an outstanding season and is unbeaten in college play. They are also on track for a 2nd place finish in the Northeast Team Handball League behind NYC.

Air Force: Air Force was beaten soundly by Army in November 40-28, but in January at the Cal Cup, the margin was just 31-29. More recently, they went 5-0-0 at their own tournament and had an impressive 26-18 victory over previously unbeaten North Carolina. This victory (no surprise) vaulted them to #2 in the standings.

North Carolina: North Carolina has a 14-0-2 overall record and their top accomplishment this year was winning the Carolina Blue Cup. They’ve been a consistent performer, but the loss to Air Force dropped them to #3

Ohio State: Ohio State has a 10-1-1 overall record and in February they knocked off previously unbeaten Pittsburgh 31-19. This record and the key victory over Pitt has vaulted them to 4th place, but all their wins have come at home. It remains to be seen how well they can do against sides that play against tougher competition.

Army (2nd Team): Army’s 2nd team took 2nd place at the Carolina Blue Cup and this performance earned them a 5th place ranking. In the semifinals they shocked perennial power NYAC and in the finals they only lost, 31-29 to North Carolina. The only question mark? The roster for the side that played in Chapel Hill had some players who’ve also seen 1st team action this season. So, it was perhaps a better 2nd team side then the team that has played in other competitions.

Looking Ahead

Lots of questions marks remain regarding the evolving Coronavirus situation and it’s impact on sporting events. The USA Team Handball announcement even suggested that attendees hold off on making travel plans for the that the Club National Championships scheduled for 8-10 May in Detroit. Even if the Coronavirus concerns get resolve with students finishing up the semester in May and seniors graduating it could be very challenging to reschedule the college championship. Yes, it would certainly be a huge disappointment, but there’s a very real possibility that there won’t be any more college handball this season.

2019-20 College Records: Link

2019-20 Game Results: Link

Spain’s Copa Del Rey with an American Angle

Posted on March 5, 2020 by John Ryan

Logrono’s Jr Scott and Leon’s Drew Donlin

This weekend 8 Spanish Club teams will meet in Madrid for the finals of the Copa Del Rey Cup. Of special interest to American handball fans will be the 2nd quarterfinal between Ademar Leon and Logrono La Rioja which will have one current U.S. National Team player (Drew Donlin) playing against a possible future U.S. National Team Player (Jr. Scott).

Leon and Logrono will play tomorrow (Friday) at 1615 CET / 1015 US ET. And, the match can probably be seen here in the U.S., but it might take a little planning/effort. (How to watch in the U.S.: Link)

Andemar Leon vs Logrono: Video Link

The winner of the match will face the winner of Barcelona/Granollers on Saturday in the Semifinals.