Colton Strickler is a media representative for DNVR Rugby. In the first part of our discussion we focused on the Colorado XO Rugby Club that is focused on rugby training for crossover or “talent transfer” athletes from other sports. In the 2nd part I let Colton ask some handball newbie questions he has as a rugby guy. Then we discuss Major League Rugby (MLR), the relatively new pro rugby competition in the U.S. and the inherent challenges with starting a new professional league.
Some of the topics discussed during our Handball Q&A session
Did Jake Plummer play handball? Yes, but the wrong handball: Link
The semantic problems of handball/team handball: Link
How should a newcomer watch a handball match?
The success/failure rate for handball keepers
Where handball can be seen during the Olympics: Link
How handball is organized in Europe
Who is the Handball GOAT and who are the top players today?
The European Beach Handball Championship currently taking place in Bulgaria can be seen in the U.S., as usual, on ehfTV, but this this year there’s another option: beIN Sports XTRA. beIN Sports XTRA is a free web streaming channel that can be seen on PlutoTV, Samsung TV, Roku TV and others and this should provide an excellent discovery opportunity for new beach handball fans.
Schedule for Wednesday and Thursday (All Times are US ET)
Wednesday, July 14
3:00 PM: Spain vs Denmark – Women
3:30 PM: Spain vs Norway – Men
4:00 PM: Ukraine vs Bulgaria – Women
4:30 PM: Germany vs Portugal – Men
5:00 PM: Norway vs Denmark – Men
Thursday, July 15:
3:00 PM: Bulgaria vs Spain – Women
3:30 PM: Russia vs Germany – Men
4:00 PM: Bulgaria vs Denmark – Women
4:30 PM: Greece vs France – Men
Matches will also be shown on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the schedule can be accessed here: Link
How to Watch beIN Sports XTRA on Roku: To watch on your Roku, go to your home screen and look for the “Roku Channel” icon. It’s a streaming channel just like Netflix or Hulu and should be readily available. (If not, you can add it just like you would any other channel.) Click on the Roku Channel icon and then scroll down until you see “beIN Sports XTRA” icon. Click on it and the channel should start playing. It’s live so, there are commercials just like what you would see on a TV channel.
How to Watch Over The Air: The Roku channel is also available “Over the Air” on digital channels in several U.S. cities: List of Channels and Cities: Link
There are several USA women participating in the Budapest Beach Handball Cup. If there are any live streams available for their matches the links will be added here.
Christine Mansour can be seen in action this weekend with Dutch club, Kras Volendam
More information on where to find web streams for National Team, Professional Club and USA Competitions: Link
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
American Athletes in Action
The Rip Beach Handball Club wraps up their European journey with the Nazares, Portugal stop on the Arena Handball Tour. Many of the athletes playing for Rip Beach are also members of the USA Beach Handball National Team.
Also, on the Women’s side some American National Team players, Christine Mansour and Missy Sponagle are playing with Dutch side Kras Volendam. I will post the scheduled match times and results when they are available. They also will surely be available on Rip Beach Handball’s social media platforms
The intent of this page is to provide a consolidated location for 2020 Olympic Handball information that can serve both dedicated handball fans as well as newcomers just discovering the sport.
Olympic Handball Competition Schedule and Results:Link
Team Information (Official pages, previews, rosters and handy Wikipedia pages): Link
Hey, media person, just discovering handball: Think you’ve got a new idea on how the U.S. can win Olympic Handball Gold? Think again… Check out these articles dating back from 1996.
The Rip Beach Handball Club will be in action this weekend in Spain.
More information on where to find web streams for National Team, Professional Club and USA Competitions: Link
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
American Athletes in Action
The Rip Beach Handball Club will be participating in the Orihuela, Spain stop on the Arena Handball Tour. Many of the athletes playing for Rip Beach are also members of the USA Beach Handball National Team. I will post the scheduled match times and results when they are available. They also will surely be available on Rip Beach Handball’s social media platforms
6th place Dormagen hosts 4th place Elbflorenz in the last match of a very long season. A win here would put Dormagen level on points (40) with Elbflorenz.
The Euro Cup is a tournament for the European nations that had already qualified for the 2022 European Championships and this make up match is a tune up opportunity for Olympic bound Spain and a chance for Croatia to start their rebuilding effort.
Ebiye Udo-Udoma and the rest of the U.S. Men’s Beach Team Handball squad will be in action several times this weekend.
More information on where to find web streams for National Team, Professional Club and USA Competitions: Link
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
American Athletes in Action
The USA Beach Handball Men are participating in a tournament in the Canary Islands. On Friday and Saturday they play round robin matches. The top two teams will play for 1st while the the remaining 3 teams will play a mini round robin for places 3-5. (Note: Local Time for the Canary Islands is 1 hour behind CET)
More information on where to find web streams for National Team, Professional Club and USA Competitions: Link
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
Most of the professional club leagues have finished the season and to the best of my knowledge there are no mid week matches available for viewing on line.
In Cameroon, the 2021 African Women’s Handball Championships are taking place and some of the matches have been available for viewing online, either on the CAHB Facebook Page or on the Cameroon TV webpage. On Tuesday, the quarterfinals are taking place and since Africa has 4 tickets to the World Championships these matches are also de facto WC qualification matches.
Unfortunately, so far, the videos on the Facebook Page have been a bit sporadic in terms of availability and Cameroon TV has shown only matches with Cameroon play. Hopefully, this will change. Check back for updates.
Semifinal: TV Hannover-Bandstedt vs HC Erlangen (Saturday, 1715): Video Link
Eden Nesper (#44) is a Right Wing for Hannover; Nesper was named to the U.S. preliminary roster for this summer’s North American & Caribbean Championship
Hannover won 30-23 and will play in the first place match on Sunday.
1st Place Match: TV Hannover-Bandstedtvs HSG Blomberg-Lippe (Sunday, 1345): Video Link
More information on where to find web streams for National Team, Professional Club and USA Competitions: Link
For regular updates on when and where handball matches can be streamed online follow Team Handball News on social media: TwitterFacebookInstagram
All times are CET which is 6 hours ahead of US ET. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM and/or OddsPortal.
The handball season is winding down and there’s not much happening mid-week except for the good ol’ French LIDL StarLigue with a key match for a club to avoid relegation.
While living in France from 2002-2007 it was a bit annoying to see Montpellier win everything. But, there were a few club sides that would give them a battle and one of those clubs was U.S. Ivry. And, I’ll never forget the 2006-07 season where Ivry led by a young (just 22) and very talented Right Wing/Right Back named Luc Abalo pipped Montpellier for the title. I pity relative newcomers to the sport that think Abalo is just a pretty good wing. You should have seen him play that season where he scored from everywhere and willed Ivry to a title. Yes, he played quite a bit at backcourt and I’ve never seen an undersized back court player dominate the way he did that season.
Unfortunately, thing have gone downhill for Ivry since they won that title. A proud franchise located in the Paris suburbs, that 2006-2007 title was the last of 8 they’ve won (only Montpellier has won more French titles). Since that high water mark they’ve not contended for a title and they even got relegated to the 2nd division for the 2014-15 season, for the first time since 1957. They immediately popped back up to the 1st division, but it’s been a constant fight to stay there.
They now have 2 make up matches left to play and they need to get 3 points to pass Cesson-Rennes and avoid relegation. First up is the tougher of the two tests, a match against 7th place Toulouse on Wednesday. On Saturday, they have and easier task vs 13th place Creteil. Can they do it? It’s possible. In their last match they upset 6th place Chambery.
It may not be the Champions League Final Four, but for the players involved it’s pretty important and therefore handball worth checking out.
