Category Archives: College Handball

post

Treasure Coast Men’s National Development Team Makes Debut at Carolina Blue Cup

Posted on by

(Carolina celebrates their victory over Treasure Coast: Link)

This past weekend the University of North Carolina (UNC) hosted it’s annual Carolina Blue Cup. The UNC alumni team, Carolina Blue, took the title with a 26-23 victory over Army’s 1st team, West Point- Black. Aaron Hamm had 8 goals for Carolina Blue and Owen Rodgers scored 6 for Army.

In the 3rd place match UNC’s 1st team, Carolina, defeated Army’s 2nd team, 26-23. The full results for the tournament are at the bottom of this post.

Treasure Coast Debut

But, perhaps the most interesting aspect of this annual tournament was the debut of a Men’s National Devolopment Team which was referred to as “Treasure Coast”. For the unitiated, the Treasure Coast is the regional name for the coastal area north of Ft Lauderdale, including the town of Fort Pierce, where Westwood Academy High School will serve as a training center for developing handball athletes. A handful of athletes are already currently training there and more may be identified at a tryout being held there this weekend. If you follow the USA Men’s National Handball Team social media pages (Instagram Facebook) you likely have seen some videos talking about the training taking place.

The team had a humbling debut against a field of 8 collegiate clubs and 4 at-large clubs. In Group play they narrowly defeated Air Force, 31-30 and easily defeated SUNY Cortland, 33-12, to win their Group. However in knockout play they lost to Carolina, 33-34 in the quarter finals and then tied a relatively new club team with just 9 players, Charlotte Flight, 32-32. Overall, they finished 7th in the field of 12 teams.

Video of the matches vs Air Force and Charlotte can be seen here:

  • Video: Treasure Coast vs Air Force: Link
  • Video: Treasure Coast vs Charlotte Flight: Link

Treasure Coast Roster (A Mix of Newcomers and Collegiate Veterans)

The Treasure Coast roster featured a lot of inexperienced newcomers to handball, but also included a core group that was actually more experienced than most of the teams participating in the tournament. In particular, I think the 3 West Point grads (Considine, Miller and Phillips) were each Collegiate National Championship MVPs. Pitt’s Greenstein spent the Fall semester in the Netherlands playing with a club team and Liden was on the Jr National Team. The rest of the roster included a few athletes with limited club handball experience and several who’ve only been playing a couple weeks. It’s a mixed group, but several have NCAA D1 experience in Football, Baseball or soccer.

Commentary: Closing the Gap to Collegiate Clubs and on to the National Team Level… not as Easy or Quick as one Might Think or Want it to be

Earlier this week, the Carolina Collegiate team buzzed me in the comments section of this post wondering why their upset over Treasure Coast didn’t merit a post. Here’s one such comment:

The Freshman in question is Nate Wolfe. He’s a lefty and has only been playing handball since September. Similarily, Jack Tierney, a junior at AF sliced and diced the Treasure Coast defense for 14 goals in their narrow defeat.

Without a doubt, it’s bad optics for a USA Team Handball National Development Team to lose or just narrowly defeat a collegiate club. This past week the USA Men’s National Team social media channels featured plenty of weight training posts… but, none on its debut in competition. Yeah, I’m guessing the social media channels would have looked a little different if Treasure Coast had won the tournament.

And, having seen the team’s participating and some of the team rosters on USA Team Handball’s Sport 80 platform before the tournament, I figured Treasure Coast had a good chance of taking the title. They had enough quality experienced players and were facing relatively low level clubs. It didn’t work out that way and I think the team’s lack of playing together was a significant factor. And, for sure, the newcomers, despite some strong athletic backgrounds still have a long way to go. Yes, college club athletes who have only been playing a year or two have a significant experience advantage even against D1 athletes. These newcomers will close the gap and eventually have no problem against lower level USA clubs, but, as was demonstrated this past weekend, it will take longer than one might think.

There are multiple reasons why it will take awhile.

  • A raw talent gap… but not so wide: First, some of these collegiate teams have athletes that aren’t much of a step down in raw talent from their D1 counterparts. On average, solid collegiate clubs like West Point, Carolina and Air Force have at least 1 or 2 such athletes on their team.
  • Experience: If the raw talent gap is manageable, handball experience will trump that superior raw talent
  • Learning to play handball takes time. Even to learn the basics to play competently against lower level teams it takes a while. And, then to learn the fine points of the game it takes even longer. Finally, to master those fine points… we’re talking years.

And, if you are now thinking, “Hmmm, I wonder then how long it will take newcomers to close the gap with the athletes on our current Men’s National Team?” The best team we’ve had since the mid 1980s… Well, then you are asking the right question.

And, if you know the answer to that question it then leads you to a basic conclusion, which can best be summed up as… What in the hell does USA Team Handball think it’s doing in Fort Pierce, Florida?

Blue Cup Tournament Results

  • Group A
    • Carolina 29 – 13 Georgia
    • Carolina 21 – 21 West Point Gold
    • West Point Gold 40 – 10 Georgia
  • Group B
    • Treasure Coast 31 – 30 Air Force
    • Treasure Coast 33 – 12 SUNY Cortland
    • Air Force 31 -15 SUNY Cortland
  • Group C
    • Carolina Blue 33 – 13 Virginia
    • Charlotte Flight 22 – 16 Virginia
    • Carolina Blue – Charlotte Flight
  • Group D
    • West Point Black 32 – 12 Tar Heels
    • West Point Black 23 – 22 NYAC
    • NYAC 23 – 9 Tar Heels
  • Quarterfinals
    • Carolina Blue 27 – NYAC 26
    • West Point Gold 32 – 29 Charlotte Flight
    • Treasure Coast 33 – 34 Carolina
    • West Point Black 41 – 29 Air Force
  • Semifinals
    • West Point Black 43 – 28 West Point Gold
    • Carolina Blue 23 – 18 Carolina
  • Finals
    • 3rd: Carolina 26 – 23 West Point Gold
    • 1st: Carolina Blue 24 – 23 West Point Black
  • 9-12 Semifinals
    • Tar Heels 23 – 22 SUNY Cortland
    • Georgia 32 – 30 Virginia
  • 9-12 Placing
    • 11th: Virginia 28 – 24 SUNY Cortland
    • 9th: Tar Heels 24 – 23 Georgia
  • 5-8 Consolation
    • NYAC 30 – 28 Air Force
    • Treasure Coast 32 – 32 Charlotte Flight

post

USA Handball Talk (Episode 45): Pitt and DC Diplomats Right Wing, Zachary Greenstein… AKA Greeny

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:23 — 13.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Zach Greenstein led University of Pittsburgh to a D2 title last season and to a 5th place finish this year at College Nationals. He will be playing for the DC Diplomats at Club Nationals and for Volendam in the Netherlands next Fall. We discuss his start with handball, his upcoming European adventure and other handball topics

I sat down with Gary during the Collegiate Championships to learn more about his background and plans for the future. Here are some of the topics we discussed:

  • How he got started playing handball
  • What he likes about the culture of handball
  • His plans to play this fall for Volendam in the Netherlands
  • The challenge of learning to play with resin in Europe
  • How stateside Americans lack handball experience relative to their age when compared to athletes playing handball overseas. And, the need for clubs and national team coaches to weigh their future potential differently.

If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the  podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the  Team Handball Handball News podcast on Spotify: 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

post

Commentary: Assessing USA Handball Tournament Organization Pre-Union, During the Union Year and Post-Union:  Same as it ever was…

Posted on by

(The analog scoreboard on Court 3 at College Nationals:  Not electronic and missing some numbers)

As Usual:  Spirited Competition

This past weekend, as I usually do, I attended the Collegiate Handball National Championships.  The competition was spirited and didn’t disappoint.  From my perspective here are a few notable highlights:

  • My alma mater, Air Force, defeated West Point in pool play for the first time in several years only to see West Point re-assert themselves in the knockout stages for yet another title. (17 in a row, now)
  • Meanwhile in women’s play, North Carolina knocked off West Point in the Gold Medal match to end the West Point women’s streak at 4 titles
  • In Men’s Division 2 play, a new side, Kentucky, ran through the tournament undefeated to take the title over Case-Western.  It’s nice to see a new program do so well.  And, a shout out to Josh Palmer of Colorado State who did a solid job as a newcomer GK playing for Case-Western.  Maybe we’ll see the CSU Rams there next year.
  • All the results: Link

Sort of as Usual:  Organizational Challenges

Beyond the play on the court, though, there were some organizational challenges.  Here’s a list of what I observed:

  • Court 3, which was only used on Friday night, didn’t have an electronic scoreboard so the match time was kept by phone and the score had to be kept with the rotating strips. (see photo)
    • Adding insult to injury the analog score strips were missing a one and a zero… hence the post-it note.
  • Referees weren’t always on time for match start… but, they were always found without too much delay
  • Volunteers for scorekeeping weren’t always available… hence my stepping in to the void on Friday night
  • The cameras for video streaming weren’t always set up for operation
    • And, when the cameras were set up, they weren’t always manned… hence my stepping in on several occasions
    • And, the matches were streamed online at some non-traditional website locations, but the price (free) was right
  • I saw a set of handball goals fall apart on a couple of occasions.  Nothing major and nothing a wrench couldn’t fix

Same as it ever was

It’s been quite a few years since I organized a handball tournament, but I still remember what it’s like.  And, if you’ve ever organized or even just attended a few handball tournaments, none of what I described should surprise you.  Those sorts of things happen.  Sometimes the event goes off without a hitch, but usually there are a few hiccups.  And, then on occasion (like this past weekend) things add up and it can make the event look at times like a bit of a train wreck.  However, in almost 40 years of observing handball tournaments, our handball community pretty much always finds a way to cross the finish line.  There’s always complaining, but folks generally step in to help and right the ship.  This has been true whether it was a tournament under the old US Team Handball Federation, USA Team Handball, the short lived US Handball Union or at independent events sanctioned by no one.

I’ll now take my 40 year timeline and zoom in on the last 3 seasons.  The 2022-23 season organized under USA Team Handball CEO, Martin Branick, the 2023-24 season organized by US Handball Union Director, Michael King and the 2024-25 season organized by USA Team Handball CEO Michael King.

During those 3 seasons I attended a SoCal Beach Handball Championships, 3 Samala Cups in Colorado and 3 Collegiate National Handball Championships.  And, I also watched quite a few matches online over the past 3 years.  I don’t want to pretend like I was some IG inspector walking around with a clipboard meticulously grading organizational performance using carefully established criteria, but in my opinion there’s not a whole lot to separate the organizational standards of the past 3 years.  If anything, last weekend’s college nationals puts this season below the other two seasons, but the sample size is still pretty small, and, as I highlighted previously sometimes things happen.

In very simple terms: Nothing has really changed and I don’t think there was much of a problem in the first place. Collectively, we know how to run a U.S. style weekend tournament. (Maybe, we should rethink whether we should be conducting so many weekend tournaments… but, that’s a commentary for another day.)

Was it all worth it?

So, if I’m a bit generous, and assess that nothing has changed organizationally, the rhetorical question is “Was it all worth it?”  And, by “it” I’m referring to the whole crazy sequence of events from the creation of the US Handball Union to the unorthodox firing of Martin Branick and his immediate replacement with Michael King.  And, of course, all the Board resignations and reputational damage that USA Team Handball garnered in the process.  Well, the answer is so obvious it doesn’t even really need to be answered.  I mean we’re talking some serious rationalization here, if you’re firmly in the “Yes, it absolutely was worth it” camp. Because 7 months into the new era… there’s not a whole lot to show for.

And, if you’re in the “Yes, eventually it will all make sense, but it will take some time” camp that blames the current situation on the challenges that were inherited let me clear up something for you.  It’s true that any newcomer inherits the problems (and successes) of his predecessor.  And, under normal hiring circumstances it’s reasonable to have to some sort of grace period before progress is expected.  But, when one comes into a role under very abnormal circumstances… There really shouldn’t be any grace period.  This is because the justification for blowing everything up is that things have gone totally to hell in a handbasket… and the newcomer is clearly going to be so much better that we can’t wait or be bothered with a normal hiring process. That any additional, self inflicted new challenges caused by the disruption will be small potatoes in the big scheme of things.  Otherwise, you just wouldn’t risk taking such action.  It just couldn’t possibly be worth it.  

And, while we’re just talking about tournament organization here, if one believes the Board of Director Meeting Minutes from last year the whole US Handball Union situation was the catalyst that eventually led to 3.5 board members deciding to blow everything up. Or… maybe it was just ostensibly the reason given so that other changes could be made? Regardless… it all just has me shaking my head.

post

USA Handball Talk (Episode 27): Don’t Pass the Ball to Dika Mem

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:15 — 30.8MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

John and JD discuss the infamous Dika Mem pass, NBC Peacock’s handball broadcasts and promotion of the sport, and John’s efforts to start club handball programs at Colorado and Colorado St.

Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

  • The infamous Dika Mem pass that saw France lose to Germany in a dramatic Olympic quarterfinal: Link
  • NBC’s Peacock coverage and John’s commentary that Peacock should become the USA TV home for handball: Link
  • Sports writer/influence Rodger Sherman’s All Caps Tweet that he will storm ESPN HQ if they don’t broadcast more handball: Link
  • Handball on Peacock petition: Link
  • Brazilian GK, Gabriela Moreschi on Instagram: Link
  • Euronews “No Comment” news segments: Link
  • 2022 Wheelchair Handball Championship Gold Medal Highlights: Link
  • Goalball Explainer video: Link
  • John’s Initiative to try and start handball clubs at CU-Boulder and CSU: Link
  • Ralphie the Buffalo Handlers: Link
  • JD interviewed on local Columbus TV: Link
  • Ohio State Rugby Club Alumni Association: Link

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the  Team Handball Handball News podcast on Spotify: 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

post

Colorado Collegiate Team Handball Jumpstart Initiative

Posted on by

WHO: Students interested in starting a Collegiate Team Handball Club at Colorado State University, the University of Colorado – Boulder or any other college or university in the state of colorado.

WHAT: Starting a Collegiate Team Handball Club can be challenging. This initiative will help you get your club started with equipment (balls and goals) and organizing your first practices. Additionally, I will arrange for the Air Force Academy club team and/or the Denver Wolves club to provide to demonstrate the sport with a joint practice/scrimmage.

WHERE: The primary focus of this initiative are the two largest universities (CSU and CU-Boulder) as their larger size and strong club systems will help facilitate the starting of a new club. There’s also a former handball player from France living in Boulder who’s interested in coaching and CSU even had a handball club program from 2012-15. That said, a Collegiate Team Handball program could start anywhere. If there’s genuine interest at your college I’ll help out.

WHEN: This initiative is planned for the 2024-25 academic year, but may be extended depending on need/interest.

WHY: I am a big believer in Collegiate Team Handball and this initiative is intended to provide a helping hand or jumpstart to get a couple of college teams started in the state of Colorado. If programs could get started at CSU and CU, combined with Air Force and Denver Wolves a 4 team league could be established.

HOW: The first step will be to generate interest in starting a collegiate handball club at your university. And, for interested students to link up and then work with their school’s Recreation Services to go through the steps for starting a new club.

For more infromation follow the CU and CSU Team Handball IG pages and send a DM for more information.

USA Handball Talk (Episode 17): March Madness Meets April Awesomeness

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:07 — 31.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

JD and John discuss the USA Men’s roster for the upcoming NORCA Championships, the College Women’s results and whether the College Handball Championships should change formats to an Elite Eight knockout format. results of last weekend’s Collegiate Handball Championships.

Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

  • The Sportico Podcast: Link
    • We’ve copied their show opening and practice of giving a name for each episode
    • It’s a great podcast if you’re interested in sports business
  • The USA Team Handball roster announcement: Link
  • Collegiate Women’s Handball results: Link
  • A profile on the Women’s MVP, Ariane Clerc: Link
  • John’s proposed new format for College Nationals: Link

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics, a title for our podcast or have some intro music you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the Team Handball News podcast on Spotify: 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

post

Collegiate Handball (Part 1): A New Format for College Nationals (Sometimes Less… is More)

Posted on by

This is part of an ongoing series, “Charting a way forward for USA Team Handball” which is a series of commentaries exploring different initiatives to help move the sport forward in this country.

Anyone who has ever asked me what I think should be done to improve handball domestically in the U.S. will get an answer that primarily revolves around collegiate handball. In 2014, I identified the main reasons I thought this was the case and I proposed several initiatives to improve collegiate handball. Some of them have even been implemented.

One initiative that hasn’t been addressed, however, was an initiative to “Upgrade the Collegiate National Championship and Promote it as USA Team Handball’s Premier Event.” Having attended the past two college nationals and a couple more prior to the pandemic I’m now even more convinced that we should take steps to make it happen.

Step one towards upgrading our collegiate championships would be doing away with the Weekend Tournament. Here’s why I think we need to move to a new format and why I think an Elite Eight would be a good alternative.

The Weekend Tourney… A Problematic Format

Because the U.S. is a big country and teams have to travel great distances to compete, the “Weekend Tournament” has become our primary format for handball competitions. Typically, this involves playing 4-5 matches over the course of weekend. Matches are often shorter (either 2×25 or 2×20 minute periods), but it’s still way too much handball in too short of time. Crimeny! The world’s best, full time professional handball athletes complain about two matches on back to back days. In the U.S. we have weekend warriors, who maybe even shouldn’t still be playing the sport, cramming 5 matches in 2.5 days. It’s silly, crazy or <insert your adjective here> with predictable consequences.

Those consequences are tired players. Tired players that can’t play as well as they are capable of and tired players who are more susceptible to injury. College age kids are younger and for the most part better able to handle such a demanding schedule, but I’ve seen enough Sunday morning handball that I can tell that it just looks and feels different than the matches played Friday night and Saturday morning. By Sunday many of the matches become more about a battle of endurance and attrition than anything else. And, I can tell… some players are just ready to go home especially if they are playing a consolation match with little on the line.

Proposed New Format: An Elite Eight with Consolation (3 matches/team)

The obvious solution from an aesthetic and player health standpoint would be to play a Final Four similar to a club final played in Europe. Four teams, two semifinals on Saturday and a Final/3rd place match on Sunday. But, while I really like the simplicity and marketing aspects of a Final Four I’m not sure it’s the right solution. After all, the collegiate championshps are a “collegial” event and it’s a great opportunity for athletes to interact with one another. Some colleges even tie club funding support to attending a National Championship. While limiting the final tournament to four teams would greatly simplify things it would also deny too many teams the opportunity to play in a final event.

So, if 2 matches over 2 days is too little and 4/5 matches over 3 days is too much I think the Goldilocks solution would be an Elite Eight (with consolation) played over 3 days. This would still have the simplicity/clarity of a Final Four while making sure each team gets 3 full length matches. Here’s how the 1st Division would have looked if we took the 5 D1 teams and the top 3 D2 from the 2024 Championships and seeded them 1 to 8.

While an Elite Eight knockout is simple and would require fewer match there are some drawbacks to this format. The biggest one, as anyone who follows NCAA March Madness knows is that there are no second chances. With group play you can recover from an earlier loss. With a knockout tourney your title chances could be over after your first match. While the inclusion of consolation matches means you can keep playing it’s still a bummer.

Match Timing

Another drawback would be some possible complications with the timing of the matches. Ideally, each team would play 1 match/day, but this would necessitate matches being played earlier on Friday and all teams taking another day off from school. Or alternatively, some teams would play two matches on Saturday. This could be a negative, though, in Sunday matches with one side (having played on Friday night and Saturday) being more rested than their opponent (having played two matches on Saturday).

Seeding

Finally, with no second chances it would be imperative that teams were properly and fairly seeded. After all, nobody wants to see the two best teams playing each other in the first game. Currently, the seeding process is limited by a lack of regular season structure in terms of college teams playing each other on a regular basis. It’s not that teams don’t want to play each other. It’s just that geography and a lack of coordination sometimes limits those opportunities. This could be addressed with the clear designation of some in-season collegiate tournaments or collegiate conferences as competitions that that will be used for seeding determination. Regional qualification matches could even be scheduled to help determine seeding.

Multiple Divisions and Size Limitations

The US Handball Union organized the 2024 Championship and decided to go with 2 Divisions. With two clear groupings of quality this was a decision that made sense and it was validated with fewer blowouts and as far as I know, no complaints from any of the teams. If there are enough teams an Elite 8 format could also work for D2. That said, in future seasons it may not be as clear cut where to draw the line between two divisions. And, how that line should be drawn. After all, if one looks at NCAA or high school sports divisions those divisions aren’t determined by the quality of the teams, but by other factors such as whether scholarships are awarded, stadium size and school enrollment. And, due to graduation and/or the arrival of key athletes the quality of collegiate handball teams can vary significantly from year to year.

Finally, at some point there is a breaking point of too many teams. (Or, there should be a breaking point.). At which point it will be necessary to reevaluate the concept of an “all comers” final tournament. The logical solution would probably be then to have regional qualifiers akin to what some NCAA sports like basketball have.

Too many collegiate teams would sure be a good problem to have. In the next installment I’ll discuss better promotion and presentation of the collegiate handball championships and how that could help fuel collegiate club growth.

post

USA Handball Talk (Episode 16): College Handball Groundhog Day

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:20 — 29.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

[MVP Gary Phillips led West Point Black to yet another title (photo: Rod Apfelbeck)]

JD and John discuss the results of last weekend’s Collegiate Handball Championships. Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

The ongoing North American Beach Handball Championships:

  • The Ground Hog Day reference is from the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray: Link (One might think referencing such a classic movie wouldn’t be necessary, but you’d be surprised)
  • NORCA Beach Handball:
    • Streaming: Link
    • Full Results (IHF): Link
    • Note: Puerto Rico placed 2nd in both the Men’s and Women’s competition and qualified for the World Championships
  • 2024 Collegiate Handball Championship Results: Link
  • Commentary: Why just about any college could start a handball program and quickly challenge for a national title: Link
  • All Star Teams: Link

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics, a title for our podcast or have some intro music you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the Team Handball News podcast on Spotify: 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

post

College Handball Nationals (Results Summary)

Posted on by

Based on records and result the team were split into two divisions. Five teams were identified for D1, but all D2 teams were given the option of playing an opening match vs a D1 team to “play in” to D1. Pittsburgh and San Jose St elected to play in, but lost their opening matches and were assigned to D2

Video Streaming

Matches were streamed on multiple platforms. For matches that were recorded on YouTube I have placed a direct link (see match results throughout) queued up to the start of the match. Matches recorded on Instagram, however, cannot be queued up and are generally only searchable (fast forward/rewind) on mobile devices.

  • Friday Matches on Court 1: Link
  • Saturday Matches on Court 1: Link
  • Sunday Matches on Court 1: Link

Play In Matches

  • North Carolina (Carolina) 29, Pittsburgh 16
  • West Point (Black) 38, San Jose St 16

Men’s D1 Competition

Group Play

  • Air Force 29, West Point (Gold) 28
  • North Carolina (Carolina) 17, West Point (Black) 26
  • Ohio St (Scarlet) 19, Air Force 33
  • West Point (Gold) 14, North Carolina (Carolina) 14
  • West Point (Black) 42, Air Force 22 Video
  • Ohio St (Scarlet) 26, West Point (Gold) 19 Video
  • Air Force 11, North Carolina (Carolina) 24
  • Ohio St (Scarlet) 16, West Point (Black) 29 Video

Note: Due to scheduling/time constraints a full round robin was not played. A draw determined that Air Force would be the one team to play all four teams and it was decided that West Point (Black) and West Point (Gold) would not play an intra-club match. With this alternate format match losses (instead of points) were used to rank the teams with the tie breakers being head to head results and the goal differential vs common opponents.

Standings

Note: Air Force beat both Ohio St (Scarlet) and West Point (Gold) to finish 3rd in the standings. Ohio St (Scarlet) Beat West Point (Gold) to finish 4th.

Matches to Determine Final Ranking

  • 4th vs 5th: Ohio St (Scarlet) 24, West Point (Gold) 31
  • 3rd Place: Air Force 32, West Point (Gold) 35
  • 1st Place: West Point (Black) 23, North Carolina (Carolina) 20 Video

Final Ranking

  • 1) West Point (Black)
  • 2) North Carolina (Carolina)
  • 3) West Point (Gold)
  • 4) Air Force
  • 5) Ohio St (Scarlet)

All Star Team

  • Gary Phillips, West Point (Black) (MVP
  • Jonathan Nwokeji, North Carolina (Carolina) (MVG)
  • Dominic Orsini, Ohio St (Scarlet) (Leading Scorer)
  • Jack Tierny, Air Force
  • Jackson Tumbarello, North Carolina (Carolina)
  • Sam Proctor, West Point (Black)
  • Ethan Flege, West Point (Black)

Men’s D2 Competition

Format

Division 2 played a modified knockout tournament with some matches eliminating the loser from the tournament and some matches keeping the loser in the tournament, but sending them to a more challenging match than the winner. The solid lines show where the match winners progress and the dotted lines show where the match losers progress. Matches where there is no dotted line are elimination matches. Depending on the stage of the tournament teams that were eliminated played additional consolation matches vs other eliminated teams.

Match Results (Main Bracket)

  • Match #1: North Carolina (Tar Heels) 27, SUNY Cortland 14
  • Match #2: Ohio St (Gray) 26, Olin 21
  • Match #3: Case Western Reserve 28, Auburn 19 Video
  • Match #4: James Madison 27, Miami (OH) 26
  • Match #5: Pittsburgh 17, North Carolina (Tar Heels) 18
  • Match #7: San Jose St 33, Case Western Reserve 18
  • Match #8: James Madison 22, Ohio St (Gray) 24)
  • Match #9: Miami (OH) 25, Auburn 22 Video
  • Match #10 (QF): Case Western Reserve 25, Pittsburgh 28
  • Match #12 (QF): North Carolina (Tar Heels) 17, James Madison 22
  • Match #14 (QF): San Jose St 35, Miami (OH) 29
  • Match #17 (SF): Ohio St (Gray) 17, Pittsburgh 24
  • Match #18 (SF): San Jose St 26, James Madison 33
  • Match #22 (1st Place): Pittsburgh 34, James Madison 23 Video

Match Results (Consolation)

  • Match #6: SUNY Cortland 25, Olin 23 Video (portion of 2nd half)
  • Match #11: Auburn 25, Olin 28 Video
  • Match #13: SUNY Cortland 27, Olin 22 Video
  • Match #15 (5th Place): Case Western Reserve 22, Tar Heels 20
  • Match #16: Auburn 19, Miami (OH) 29
  • Match #19 (9th Place): Olin 26, Auburn 21
  • Match #20 (7th Place): Miami (OH) 29, SUNY Cortland 19
  • Match #21 (3rd Place): San Jose St 33, Ohio St (Gray) 25

Final Ranking

  • 1) Pittsburgh
  • 2) James Madison
  • 3) San Jose St
  • 4) Ohio St (Gray)
  • 5) Case Western Reserve
  • 6) North Carolina (Tar Heels)
  • 7) Miami (Oh)
  • 8) SUNY Cortland
  • 9) Olin
  • 10) Auburn

All-Star Team

  • Joseph Kuo, San Jose St (MVP) (Leading Scorer)
  • Amit Kumar, Olin (MVG)
  • Joshua Ko, Case Western Reserve
  • Zachary Greenstein, Pittsburgh
  • Marcus Washington, Pittsburgh
  • Luke Bush, James Madison
  • Merrick Adams, James Madison

Women’s Competition (Check back for updates)

Group Play

  • Ohio St 21, West Point (Gold) 20
  • North Carolina (Carolina) 11, West Point (Black) 21
  • Ohio St 18, North Carolina (Tar Heels) 9
  • West Point (Black) 30, Ohio St 15
  • West Point (Gold) 11, North Carolina (Carolina) 18
  • West Point (Black) 33, North Carolina (Tar Heels) 3 Video
  • West Point (Gold) 18, North Carolina (Tar Heels) 3
  • North Carolina (Carolina) 19, Ohio St 19 Video

Standings

Note: Due to scheduling/time constraints a full round robin was not played. Ohio St played a full round robin and it was decided that both West Point and North Carolina would not play intra-club matches. With this alternate format match losses (instead of points) were used to rank the teams with the tie breakers being head to head results and the goal differential vs common opponents.

Note: North Carolina (Carolina) placed 2nd due to their superior goal differential in their common matches with Ohio St.

Matches to Determine Final Ranking

  • 4th vs 5th: West Point (Gold) 14, North Carolina (Tar Heels) 7
  • 3rd Place: West Point (Gold) 16, Ohio St 14
  • 1st Place: West Point (Black) 25, North Carolina (Carolina) 9 Video

Final Ranking

  • 1) West Point (Black)
  • 2) North Carolina (Carolina)
  • 3) West Point (Gold)
  • 4) Ohio St
  • 5) North Carolina (Tar Heels)

All-Star Team

  • Ariane Clerc, Ohio St (MVP) (Leading Scorer)
  • Becky Gonzalez, North Carolina (Carolina) (MVG)
  • Mathilde Mortensen, North Carolina (Carolina)
  • Savannah Weston, West Point (Black)
  • Maci Hodgins, West Point (Black)
  • Ksneyia Farrell, West Point (Black)
  • Sydney Rhuda, West Point (Gold)
post

USA Handball Talk (Episode 15): College Nationals Preview

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:40 — 28.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

US Handball Union Executive Director, Michael King joins the podcast to discuss this weekend’s College National Championships. Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

Current News Items

  • The ongoing North American Beach Handball Championships:
    • Video (Live and On Demand): Link
    • Canada’s remarkable comeback vs Mexico: Link
    • Results:
  • USA Sr Men Friendly vs France on May 11th: Link

College Nationals Preview

  • The Men’s Tournament Divisions
    • Pittsburgh will play in D1 if they North Carolina Friday night; they will drop to D2 if they lose
    • San Jose St will play in D1 if they beat West Point (Black); they will drop to D2 if they lose
  • Tournament Schedule: Link

  • Men’s season record with college vs college matches in parentheses
    • D1
      • West Point (Black)  8-1 (5-0)
      • West Point (Gold)  9-5 (4-1)
      • Air Force 5-6 (0-1)
      • North Carolina (Carolina) 7-5-1 (5-2)
      • Ohio St (Scarlet) 19-0-1 (18-0)
    • TBD (Will play in D1 or D2)
      • Pittsburgh  13-7 (11-6)
      • San Jose St  0-0 (0-0)
    • D2
      • James Madison 9-6 (12-9)
      • Case Western Reserve 11-8 (10-7)
      • Ohio St (Gray) 9-14 (9-11)
      • North Carolina (Tar Heels) 3-10 (3-6)
      • Miami (OH) 7-16 (7-15)
      • Auburn 0-5 (0-3)
      • Olin 0-0 (0-0)
      • SUNY Cortland 0-0 (0-0)
  • D2 Format
    • Matches with 1 solid and 1 dashed line have both the winner and loser moving on in the bracket
    • Matches with just 1 solid line are “elimination” matches; the winner advances, but the loser is either finished or will play consolation matches
  • Women’s Teams
    • West Point (Black)
    • West Point (Gold)
    • North Carolina (Carolina)
    • Ohio St
    • North Carolina (Tar Heels)
post

USA Handball Talk (Episode 14): Hungary, Hungary Hippo

Posted on by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:40 — 30.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

We cover a couple or recent news items and then discuss the Ohio State Handball Club’s Spring Break trip to Hungary. Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

  • The Hungry, Hungry Hippo Board Game: Link
  • TSV Bayer Dormagen article on Patrick Hueter “stepping away” next season: Link
  • The IHF Beach Handball Showcase: Link
  • IOC Rep, Kit McConnell explaining why beach handball (and several other proposed “disciplines”) weren’t added to the LA 2028 Olympic Program: Link
  • Dragan Dukic (Tatabanya’s Coach): Link
  • Scrimmage vs the Tatabanya youth team: Link
  • My view during the Olympic Qualification Tournament matches: Link
  • How combining handball development with traditional touristy travel is a better cultural experience
  • How Mark Cuban helps USA rugby and his college rugby club: Link
  • The business opportunity for a “Handball Travel Company” to arrange more trips for USA Collegiate Clubs
  • Rugby tour company: Link
  • Travel Company that advertised in the early days of the Team Handball News Website that ripped off some handball travellers: Link

Finally, a big shout out to USA Women’s Coach, Edina Borsos, for her help with arranging the logistics for the trip.

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics, a title for our podcast or have some intro music you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the Team Handball News podcast on Spotify: 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

2023 College Nationals Preview

Posted on by

The 2023 USA Team Handball National Championships throw off Friday at 3:00 PM US ET at the Heminger Center on the campus of Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. Twelve Men’s and 4 Women’s teams will be competing with matches taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here’s a brief overview of the event:

Women’s Championship

The four women’s teams participating West Point’s 1st and 2nd teams, Ohio St and North Carolina. (The 1st team is identified as West Point-Black and the 2nd team is West Point-Gold). The four teams will first play a round robin which will be used to seed the teams for a knockout tournament with the Final being played on Sunday at 12 noon.

The teams are familiar foes as they are the same teams that participated in last year’s championships and they have already played each other several times this season. West Point-Black hasn’t lost to the other sides this season and is a strong favorite to defend their title.

Men’s Championships

Twelve Men’s teams will take part in the tournament and they have been drawn into four groups of three teams. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout tournament while the 3rd place teams will play in a consolation round robin group. Here’s a quick summary of the groups:

Note: West Point, Ohio St and North Carolina each have 2 team participating and a (1st) or (2nd) is used to initially define which is the designated 1st and 2nd team

  • Group A: Air Force, Tar Heels (2nd), SUNY Cortland: Air Force is the favorite to win the group with the Tar Heels likely to take second. Cortland is a brand new club playing in their first tournament so they will be looking to learn from these opening matches.
  • Group B: Ohio St-Scarlet (1st), West Point-Gold (2nd), Cincinnati: Ohio St-Scarlet narrowly lost to West Point’s 1st team in the championship match so they are the clear favorite to win the group. That said, they probably won’t want to overlook West Point-Gold which is the most competitive 2nd team in college handball. Cincinnati has not played Ohio St close this season so they are the likely 3rd place team
  • Group C: West Point-Black (1st), Ohio St-Gray (2nd), Auburn. Having won 14 straight titles it’s hard not to see West Point taking 1st place. Ohio St-Gray and Auburn will battle for 2nd place
  • Group D: Carolina (1st), Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and Miami (OH): Carolina took 3rd place last year and is the favorite here. CWRU and Miami are relative newcomers and will face off for 2nd

U21 Players to Watch: 6 athletes represented the U.S. at the 2022 North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation Jr Championships (U21) where the U.S. finished 2nd and qualified for the World Championships this summer. Those athletes are

  • Charlie Harper, Left Back, Ohio St-Scarlet,#43
  • Mark Miller, Right Back, West Point-Black, #9
  • Gary Phillips, Right Wing, West Point-Black, #11
  • Samuel Proctor, Pivot, West Point-Black, #15

Links:

  • Web Streaming: Link
  • Men’s Competition Page: Link
  • Women’s Competition Page: Link

Shaquille O’Neal Reportedly Interested in Supporting the Development of American Handball

Posted on by
Gauthier Mvumbi, Detroit Handball Club Ambassador… Shaquille O’Neal, American Handball Ambassador At-Large?

Gauthier Mvumbi, Detroit Handball Ambassador

During the 2021 World Championships this past January, Gauthier Mvumbi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a media sensation and was christened the “Shaq of Handball”. This got the attention of Shaquille O’Neal and he even reached out to Mvumbi via Instagram. For a while Mvumbi was the darling of the handball media world, but I figured his 15 minutes was going to be up pretty soon.

Then a few weeks ago, Detroit Handball announced on social media that Mvumbi had agreed to be a handball ambassador for the club. I greeted this announcement with skepticism and, in part, it directly led to a recent podcast discussion on social media with Detroit Handball Club President, Joey Williams. During the podcast, I tried to get a straight answer as to just what this “ambassadorship” entailed, and from my perspective I never really got a satisfactory answer. Being somewhat old school, I wrote the whole thing off as pretty much attention for attention’s sake.

The Two Shaqs are Still Talking

But, then I read that the two Shaqs have continued their friendship and according to a recent interview in the French newspaper, L’Echo Republicaine, they are still in contact with each other. Further, Shaquille O’Neal apparently has some interesting in helping out handball in the U.S.

Here’s a translation of a portion of the interview

Gauthier Mvumbi, you will become the ambassador of US handball. Explain to us!
I will help promote handball in the United States, help its development. I will participate in internships, summer camps, gala matches. I will go back and forth, but I remain above all a handball player in France or in Europe.

In which big American city?
The Detroit club contacted me. In the near future, Shaquille O’Neal also wants to be involved and take on some responsibilities. Shaq would like to explore possibilities to help make handball more attractive in the U.S.; With a 5 year time frame.

Are you still in touch with the NBA star?
We talk to each other regularly. The plan is to go to the U.S. in July and meet each other in person. That will be something!

Shaquille O’Neal as a Handball Ambassador?

Shaq wants to help make handball more attractive in the U.S.? Wow! It true, that would be a godsend of epic proportions. A few years ago I highlighted what USA Team Handball should look for in terms of new Board Members. I identified a need for millionaires (or even better, billionaires) and handball gospel spreaders, who could help educate the U.S. Shaq would be both in one package.

Shaq made a small fortune as an athlete ($292M on salary alone) and he continues to add to that fortune as a pretty effective ad pitchman for a number of different products. He’s got a fair amount of cash that could be put to good use. With the USA Team Handball budget at around $500K he could effectively buy out the organization if he wanted to.

But, where he would really shine is as a handball pitchman. He has millions of followers on social media and one Tweet or IG post from his Shaqness would effectively reach more new fans and players than a year’s worth of carefully crafted social media campaigns from various handball outlets in the U.S. and world-wide.

How Shaq Could Help Handball in the U.S.

Shaq as an ambassador and proponent for the sport could be an epic game changer in so many ways. Here are just a few ways he could help out:

  • Athlete recruiter: With a few targeted social media posts Shaq could reach hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of potential new handball athletes at all levels. Which, of course, would be really cool, but hopefully such a message could be coordinated with U.S. clubs nationwide so that they could be effectively prepared to engage with the new Shaq recruits.
  • TV and Web Streaming advocate: There currently is no TV home for handball in the U.S. beIN Sports TV and ESPN+ have failed to meet expectations. Shaq works for TNT and coincidentally, play by play for the Olympics will be provided by Matt Winer with NBA TV. Both properties are owned by Turner Networks which has been bought out by AT&T and will now be combined into a new to be named conglomerate with Warner Media and Discovery. A new media behemoth which will likely have a new streaming platform.
    • What if Shaq advocated for this new streaming platform to carry the EHF Champions League, the World Championships and other handball events?
    • What if they had Shaq, Kenny, EJ and Charles Barkley do an Inside the EHF Champions League show? And, maybe Matt Winer (with his newfound handball experience) could replace EJ as he has done in the past. Yes, those guys know nothing about handball, but, trust me, it would still be really entertaining!
  • Sponsor a college program: The interview states that Shaq wants to make the U.S. “Championnat” more attractive. Literally, that means the “National League” and the U.S. doesn’t actually have such a league. Our vast size and the amateur status of the sport pretty much makes that impossible and creating a pro or even a semi-pro league would require some major investment. While Shaq has the resource to create such a league, a more practical effort near term would be to beef up the U.S. collegiate competition. In particular, Shaq could support one college program with the intent of turning that program into a national power. As, I wrote last year a modest investment could very quickly create a national title contender. What college to choose, though? His alma mater, LSU is a candidate, but an HBCU would also be a possibility.

Those are just some possibilities. Share your ideas on social media: Twitter Facebook Instagram

Earlier commentary: “What if Shaq had played handball?”: Link