Argentina: Still the best of the Pan American also-rans. Can the USA put together a team capable of beating them in 18 months?

Much has been written or said about Brazil’s historic run to the title at the recently completed Women’s World Championship.  And, with good reason; It was truly historic for a Pan American team to win a title in convincing fashion.  If it wasn’t obvious before, there is now undeniable proof that the Brazilian women are as good and for the moment even better than the top European teams.  This is something no Pan American team (Men or Women) has ever accomplished and in doing so there is now a chasm in terms of quality between Brazil and the other Pan American teams.

With only one Pan American direct qualification slot for Olympic qualification normally this would mean that the rest of Pan America should immediately forgo any thoughts of going to the Olympics until 2020 at the earliest.   It’s just really hard to contemplate a scenario where any side beats Brazil anytime in the near future.  Throw out your “Miracle on Ice” analogies.  Unlike hockey handball is a high scoring game and there’s just no plausible scenario for a dramatically superior team to lose a 60 minute match to a significantly inferior foe.

Fortunately, for the rest of Pan America Brazil is hosting the 2016 and their automatic bid throws them out of the equation.  Instead of unseating Brazil all a Pan American side has to do is emerge as the 2nd best team at the 2015 PANAM Games in Toronto.  Currently there is a pecking order among the also-rans.  This past summer 3 teams (Argentina, Dominican Republic and Paraguay) took 2nd, 3rd and 4th at the Pan American Championships and qualified for the World Championships.  I had the opportunity to see each of these teams play in several matches and here’s a summary of how they fared at the World Championships and my assessment of their future prospects.

Dominican Republic
Group Play
– Record: 0-5
– Avg Scoreline:  18.4-35.6 (-17.2 Goals)
– Highlights:  Stayed relatively competitive vs Montenegro, losing by just 7 each half; Lost close match to 4th place Congo 23-22
– Lowlights:  Totally outclassed in matches vs France, Netherlands and South Korea.  Managed only 10 goals vs France
President’s Cup:  29-24 loss to Algeria and 27-26 victory over Australia
Overall Ranking: 23^rd
Avg Age of Roster: 21.8
Assessment:  Overall, a disappointing tournament for the Dominicans as they only managed to eke out 1 win and that was against the Australians who’ve consistently finished last at the World Championships for several years. They have a fairly young roster with only 1 significant contributor (31 year old winger Nancy Pena) over the age of 25.  The official roster indicates that all of their players are based in the Dominican Republic, but other sources indicate that several players are also playing for clubs in Spain.

Paraguay
Group Play
– Record: 0-5
– Avg Scoreline:  11-33 (-22 Goals)
– Highlights:  Played Argentina close in 2nd half, losing that half by score of 12-10
– Lowlights:  One of worst all-time performances in Group Play competition history.  Lowlights include a 40-6 annihilation by Poland and a 29-9 loss to Spain that included a goalless first half.
President’s Cup:  23-21 victory over Australia (won in penalty shootout) and 29-19 victory over Algeria
Overall Ranking: 21st
Avg Age of Roster: 21.5
Assessment:  Their performance in group play was a disaster, but you have to give the Paraguayans credit for bouncing back in the President’s Cup.  Particularly surprising was their convincing victory in their last game against Algeria.  This improvement illustrates what an important development opportunity merely attending a World Championships can be.  I suspect that Paraguay would have lost to Algeria had they met in Group play, but with the experience of just a few games they developed greater confidence.  They have a very young team overall, but two major contributors, Marizza Faria and Maria Gomez are 29 and 30 respectively.  On the other side of the age spectrum, their 2nd and 3rd leading scorer were Left Back Ana Acuna (age 19) and circle runner Sabrina Fiore (age 17).  Both show quite a bit of promise, but would probably need to play overseas or in Brazil to further develop as players.

Argentina
Group Play
– Record: 1-4
– Avg Scoreline:  20.4-28.2 (-7.8 Goals)
– Highlights:  Played very competitively against the defending World Champions, Norway for 45 minutes.  Even led Norway 6-4 after 15 minutes and were down just 8-10 with 2 minutes left in the first half.  Norway, however, had a couple of runs which put the game out of contention.  Particularly, disastrous was a 12 goal run which resulted in the ugly final result of 37-18.  Argentina was also competitive against Spain, losing only 25-19 and had a convincing 25-15 victory over PATHF rival Paraguay.
– Lowlights:  They were less competitive in a loss to Poland (31-17) and lost by 10 goals to Angola (33-23).  Angola has Africa’s strongest women’s program, but they weren’t as strong at this WC as they’ve been in other years.  Based on how Argentina played against European foes this should have been a much closer contest and a victory over Angola would have advanced Argentina to the knockout stages instead of the President’s Cup.
President’s Cup: 27-21 loss to Tunisia and 31-19 victory over Congo
Overall Ranking: 19^th
Avg Age of Roster: 23.9
Assessment:  I watched parts of several Argentinian matches and they clearly are a hot and cold team.  They are technically sound and when they play under control they can stay competitive against the top teams.  But, they also had several stretches with lots of turnovers which were disastrous.  Looking at the match reports many of these opposition runs were towards the end of the halves and this suggests some conditioning issues.  Additionally, while many players are technically sound they don’t have many players with exceptional quickness which can make a big difference in capitalizing on 1 v 1 situations against strong defenses.  Overall, they have a pretty young team which could continue to improve.  One major contributor, Madgalena Decilio is 30 years old, but the rest of their roster is 28 or younger.  Their best player Luciana Mendoza is 23 years old and plays for Blumenau in Brazil.  I suspect that her performance at the WC will draw some interest from a few European clubs.

For an additional assessment on Argentina read Ruben Gomez’s article at Mundo Handball.  Included in the article is some strong praise for Argentina, from Norway Head Coach, Thorir Hergeirsson, who indicates that they are the team of the future and will replace Brazil as the Pan American team to beat.

Can the USA Beat these Sides?

As an American, I couldn’t help but watch these 3 teams from a parochial viewpoint.  Essentially, I found myself asking, “Can the USA beat these sides at the 2015 PANAM Games and earn a ticket to Rio?”  Athletically, Argentina, Dominican Republic and Paraguay are nothing to write home about.  And, of the three teams only Argentina has sound technical handball skills.  Comparing these teams to past American sides, I’m pretty confident that any USA Olympic team from 1984 to 1996 would fare well.  They would easily beat the Dominican Republic and Paraguay and they would wear Argentina down physically.  And, now that the USA is setting up a Residency Program at Auburn University that appears to be comparable to the Residency Programs that were set up in the 80’s and 90’s.  But, can the U.S. make the necessary progress in the time alloted? Crystal ball prediction is fraught with peril, but here’s the case for yes and no depending on whether your you see the proverbial glass as full, half-full, half-empty or empty.

Glass Full Perspective:  Time is short, but in 18 months the U.S. puts together a team that gets the job done.  Some top notch recruiting finds several high quality athletes that quickly develop into great handball players.   Combined with the core veterans they jell quickly into a competitive team.  And, this team keeps getting better thanks to additional funding that supports a couple of extended trips to Europe to face challenging competition.  Come July 2015 they’re tested and ready to beat every team but Brazil.

Glass Half-Full Perspective:  The challenge of putting together a team in 18 months that can qualify for the Olympics might be asking quite  bit, but it proves to be well worth the shot.  The U.S. doesn’t make up the ground necessary to beat Argentina, but the USA makes sufficient progress so that it topples Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.   They even give Argentina a run for its money in the semis, but fall short.  More importantly, the stage is set for a stronger run towards the 2020 Olympics.   Several young talents have emerged and they are motivated and ready to put 4 more hard years of work in.   Also, while the Olympics were unattainable the U.S. easily qualifies for the 2015 World Championships and has that that opportunity to further improve as a team.

Glass Half-Empty Perspective:  The U.S. makes slow, but steady progress.  A couple of top notch recruits are identified and quickly become important contributors to the national team. The U.S. is much improved, but unfortunately so have most of the other Pan American teams.   Like the U.S. they’ve taken stock of the competition and decided to invest in a shot at 2016.  Several key opponents have taken overseas training trips and some players have been placed in competitive European clubs.  And, the Cubans have emerged as a rival to Argentina.  At the PANAM Games and Pan American Championships the U.S. faces tough competition to even make the semifinals.  Depending on the draw they face the difficult task of beating Cuba or the more feasible task of beating Paraguay or the Dominican Republic to advance.  A top 3 placement is a long shot and the U.S. faces a 50-50 proposition to even secure one of the 5 Pan American slots for the 2015 WC.   And, in regards to progress towards the long term the results are mixed at best.  There’s a bit of foundation established towards a run at 2020, but to a large degree the U.S. ends up having to start over.

Glass Empty Perspective:  The U.S. program manages only marginal progress in 18 months.  A handful of recruits are identified, but they aren’t “knock your socks off” athletes.  They’re developing as handball players, but not to the point where they’re really ready for international play.  The U.S. team ends up being mainly composed of hard-working veterans who’ve had less than satisfactory results in the past.  A more cohesive team thanks to the Residency Program, but not a whole lot better than previous teams sent to the 2011 PANAM Games and the 2013 Pan American Championships.  Meanwhile, the rest of Pan America also realizing the unique opportunity Brazil’s participation represents takes major strides forward investing in overseas training and coaching.   The U.S. faces a tough match in the second chance tournament against either Paraguay or Uruguay to simply qualify for the PANAM Games.  And, at the PANAM Games and Pan American Championships the U.S. team doesn’t come close to qualifying for the semis and ends up around 8th place.  Finally, perhaps the worst result of all, the National team sees a rash of retirements both from veteran players and newcomers distraught and unmotivated at the unlikely prospect of beating Brazil in 2019.  And, then the U.S. does as it has several times before, starts all over again with a new crop of athletes in 2017.

My Perspective:  As a skeptic of Residency Programs in general and someone that advocated against starting a program so quickly it should be no surprise that I lean more toward the glass half empty side of things.   Call me a pessimist if you like, but it truly will be an uphill battle.   There surely will be improvement, in my opinion, just not enough improvement to merit the expense in terms of funding and man-hours when the U.S. faces so many other challenges across the board in terms of grass roots development, marketing, etc.

All that being said you can also be assured that I would be more than happy to see 18 months hence, the glass half full or even better full with a ticket to Rio punched.

Despite a questionable decision in the closing minutes of the Auburn – Alabama football game, Alabama Coach Nick Saban is considered to be a pretty good sideline coach. Where he truly excels, though, is in behind the scenes recruiting to convince 5 star athletes to come play at Alabama. Arguably, a good recruiting program is the single most important factor in determining a collegiate program’s success. It’s also the key to USA Team Handball success and more emphasis is clearly needed in that department.

As I reviewed parts 1 and 2, it became clear to me that while I was zeroing in on the envelope for USA Team Handball recruiting, that I had neglected to define what recruiting means in the first place.  So stepping back a bit here’s the Merriam-Webster Definition:  Link 

1. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, the armed forces, etc.
2. to form or build (a group, team, army, etc.) by getting people to join
3. to persuade (someone) to join you in some activity or to help you

Keep this definition in mind as I take a closer look at USA Team Handball recruitment, past, present and future.

Athlete Recruitment for USA Team Handball (Historical)

First, here’s a brief review of how USA Team Handball has recruited in the past.  For the most part athletes came from the following sources:

Military Athletes: The U.S. military at different times has identified national team players through tryouts.  Most notably, several members of the 1972 Men’s Olympic Team were identified through a U.S. Army program.  Over the years other athletes have been identified by U.S. military programs for National Team tryouts and have become members of the U.S. National Team.   (Note:  This category doesn’t include collegiate athletes from West Point and Air Force Academy.)

College Club Athletes: Several athletes that played Team Handball for collegiate clubs have gone on to play for the national team.  Historically, three clubs, West Point, Air Force and North Carolina have provided the bulk of those athletes.

Club Based Athletes: Non collegiate clubs have also identified and developed athletes that have moved on to the National Team.  The New York Athletic Club (formerly known as Garden City) has been the most successful in this regard developing several athletes in the 70s, 80s and 90s.  The Condors (both the California and Atlanta incarnations) were perhaps a distant second.

Dual Citizen Athletes: In most cases these athletes are American citizens who have lived and developed their handball skills in Europe.  Recruiting has primarily consisted of advertising that the U.S. was looking for handball players with a U.S. Passport.  Prior to the advent of the internet this was done through letter writing campaigns to European Federations.  Additionally, many Americans over the years have self-identified their availability to the Federation and the internet has made it much easier to find these athletes.  Finally, a handful of athletes have played for U.S. National Teams after moving to the U.S. and obtaining citizenship.

Post College Career Athletes: This category consists of collegiate athletes with virtually no prior Team Handball training.  Many of these athletes were identified through letter writing campaigns to college coaches in other sports like basketball, football and volleyball.  The letter would identify the qualities desired and provide dates for a tryout.  Athletes that answered the call were provided room and board at the Olympic Training Center and in a few instances, even provided with transportation costs.  Another prime recruiting opportunity were national team tryouts for other sports conducted at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  The Women’s program, in particular, identified several top players who were introduced to the sport while unsuccessfully trying out for basketball teams.

Olympic Festivals:  Another important tool for recruitment was the Olympic Festivals that were held from 1978 to 1995 in non-Olympic years.  In total, 120 athletes (60 men/60 women from all of the above categories participated in these two week events that provided structured training and competition.  Selection to the regional teams was competitive and the Festivals were undoubtedly the single most effective tool for recruitment and player evaluation at levels below the national team.

Athlete Recruitment for USA Team Handball (Recent and Current)

In more recent times recruitment has focused heavily on dual citizen and club athletes.  I would assess that USA Team Handball has by now most likely identified every passport carrying citizen with decent handball ability and done a pretty good job at convincing them to wear a U.S. uniform.  Collegiate club athletes have primarily come from 3 programs (West Point, Air Force and North Carolina) with the service academy graduates having the additional benefit of financial support from the military’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP).  A handful of athletes have also come from at large clubs with many of those athletes picking up the sport and joining local clubs after having seen Team Handball on TV during the 2008 or 2012 Olympic Games.

With few exceptions, however, the bulk of these athletes haven’t involved much recruitment effort.  At least, not by the dictionary definition.  In most cases these athletes were already committed to the sport and were essentially just raising their hands and asking to be considered for USA National Teams. In some respects this shouldn’t be too surprising:  Recruiting the already committed is a piece of cake, while recruiting brand new athletes (such as post collegiate athletes) is always going to be more of a challenge.  And, asking newcomers to pay all their costs to attend tryouts when there’s no clear path forward was probably a near impossible sales pitch. 

Athlete Recruitment for USA Team Handball (Going Forward)

With a Residency Program now in place, however, USA Team Handball can now sell prospective recruits on a pathway for further development.  Assuming the Residency Programs follow the basic tenets of previous incarnations athletes can be assured that they will be provided with a good training environment and the opportunity to represent their country in international competitions.  Auburn University is also a brand name school with both a great sporting and academic reputation.  There are now enough positives to make a credible pitch. Credible, but still challenging and additional benefits like scholarships, room/board and stipends would certainly help especially when competing for talent against other college and post college options for athletes.  Quite frankly, in my opinion, it’s very uncertain whether USA Team Handball can successfully recruit the athletes needed (younger with more raw athletic ability) without those types of benefits, but it’s too late to backtrack.  For better or for worse the decision to move forward quickly with Residency Programs has been made.

To make the expense of a Residency Programs truly worthwhile it needs to populated with great athletes with great potential.  It may be tough to make that happen, but one thing is for sure.  It has no chance of happening without a dramatic change in mindset as to what recruiting means for USA Team Handball.  USA Team Handball cannot  be satisfied with simply announcing open tryouts on its website and then hoping some good prospects show up.  Maybe, that would be feasible if the U.S. had a substantial existing talent pool or a guaranteed Olympic slot, but neither of those are true.  More time and resources have to be dedicated to recruiting brand new prospects to make the trek to Auburn.  In short a change in mindset is needed.  One that clearly puts recruiting at the very top of the agenda.

This means effective talent identification methods that can scour the U.S. and find athletes that are

1. As young as possible
2. As athletically gifted as possible and
3. Willing to consider playing Team Handball

This means effective talent evaluation methods to fully assess whether talent that has been identified is a good fit for USA Team Handball programs.  And, as we are talking about athletes prior to showing up for tryouts, this may even mean methods of evaluating athletes before seeing them play handball.

This means effective recruiting practices to proactively engage prospective talent and persuade them to commit to the USA Team Handball program.

Fortunately, USA Team Handball doesn’t have to write a new book on how to do effective recruiting.  The model is there in the tactics and techniques that U.S. College sports programs have developed into both an art and science over the years.  College recruiting is a big business and arguably recruiting is the most important aspect of a college coach’s job.  Why is this behind the scenes aspect of coaching so important?  Because while X’s and O’s are important and running finely tuned practices are important more often than not wins and losses are simply determined by which team has the better athletes.  That’s why college programs have assistant coaches fully dedicated to recruiting.  That’s why coaches like Nick Saban at Alabama are hitting the recruiting trail to make face to face pitches to potential recruits so that they join their program and to committed recruits so they don’t change their mind.  Coaches like Saban know they can’t win without the horses, so they pull out all the stops to get those horses.  And, USA Team Handball needs to adopt a similar mindset when it comes to recruiting.

USA Team Handball, of course, doesn’t have the resources of Alabama or Auburn football.  Why, it’s doubtful that it has the resources of Auburn softball or even some random NCAA Div 3 basketball program.  That being said USA Team Handball does have some advantages.  For instance, it doesn’t have to follow the voluminous NCAA recruiting handbook:  Link.  The U.S. is also a large country and USA Team Handball should be able to more effectively recruit nationwide than all but a handful of colleges.  As outlined in previous installments while we may be looking at only a small percentage of available athletes our large size means there’s still quite a few rocks to turn over in a search for athletic gems.  But, those rocks won’t turn over by themselves.  USA Team Handball needs to start working the recruiting game harder.

So, a change in mindset to put more emphasis on recruiting is in order and the practices used in college recruiting are the model to follow.  Easier said than done; In the next installment I’ll take a closer look at the college recruiting model and how it might be adapted to best fit the unique circumstances of USA Team Handball.