The Handball123 forum is sponsoring a free online Fantasy Game for the upcoming Women's World Championship. For more information go to this website: http://sportensverden.dk/managergame/index.php?page=home

The rules are similar to fantasy contests in other sports except that you are locked into the players for the whole contest. Entry to the contest closes just prior to the first game on Saturday.

No, this isn’t a story about the defending World Champions getting ready for the European Championships or Montpellier’s total domination of the Ligue Nationale de Handball. While those items are noteworthy in the niche world of our little sport, the most famous French Handball ever occurred last week when soccer player Thierry Henry’s ‘handball’ allowed France to squeak into the World Cup

Google has a news feature which allows you to plug in a word to see what news stories have cropped up recently with that word in the story. This feature makes it relatively easy to see what if anything the mainstream media has to say about Handball or Team Handball depending on what you want to call the sport.

Google News search, however, is also a humbling reminder of just how low handball is in terms of name recognition. Even on a slow news day the most common mention of Handball in news reports is almost always the “handball” rules violation in soccer. Thierry Henry’s infraction caused a record in handball mentions on Google with literally thousands of stories about the “hand of frog.’ I guess that’s to be expected from the most popular sport in the world, but the 7 a side Handball version also usually falls second to the 4 wall variety with a plethora of stories frequently reported from both Ireland and the U.S. But, at least Handball (7 a side) normally beats out the Australian Rules Football ‘handball’, which is the little pass that players make when they hit their fist on the ball.

Finally, this phenomenon isn’t just limited to the English language as even French Handball fans probably recognize the irony that this French “Handball” has gotten more play in the media than their National team winning the World or Olympic Championship. This video shows that they at least have a sense of humor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kee-kCQAZs8&feature=related

The Scotsman: Ireland cries foul over the 'Hand of Frog': http://news.scotsman.com/world/Ireland-cries-foul-over-the.5842597.jp

Mateo Garralda, a 4 time Olympian with Spain is winding down his professional career with Kolding in the Danish league. Last month a forearm to the face of Lemvig player Ole Bitsch wasn’t seen by the refs due to its taking place away from the ball. Videotape of the shot, however, was caught on video and resulted in a 4 game suspension. Garralda and his club head down to Spain this weekend to take on Barcelona in a Champions League match.

Video: http://www.viborg-folkeblad.dk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090914/VSF/365710332/1454
Wikipedia profile: Mateo Garralda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mateo_Garralda

A quick reminder: ehfTV will broadcast the ceremonies surrounding Stefan Lovgren’s retirement from Kiel this Saturday, 8 August, starting at 1630 CET (10:30 AM on the U.S. East Coast)

efhTV.com Link: http://www.ehftv.com/men/live/high/000654
EHF article on event: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/012474

Haaretz, one of Israel’s leading newspapers, recent published an interesting profile on Leonid Doroshenko, who was recently “retired” from the national team at age 45. Doroshenko was a member of the 1988, Gold medal winning Soviet Union team before he emigrated to Israel in 1991. For more on Doroshenko, his unique weight loss program and perspective on Israeli Handball check out the article.

Haaretz: Handball/Dedicated to the bitter end: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1094663.html
EHF Player page: Leonid Doroshenko: http://www.eurohandball.com/ec/cwc/men/2008-09/player/516486

Team Handball News is pleased to announce that Christer Ahl has joined the Team Handball News staff as a columnist. Christer has over 50 years experience in Handball as a player, coach, referee and administrator. Most recently he was the President of the IHF Playing Rules and Referees (PRC) Commission. While he was PRC President and an IHF Council Member, Christer was an eyewitness to the inner workings of the IHF. Most notably, his interview with Team Handball News in May exposed some of the ongoing problems with the current IHF leadership.

Christer has indicated that while he will continue to comment from time to time on IHF related events and issues, he is also looking forward to addressing a wide range of topics covering the Handball World. These issues include Handball rules and interpretations, the match fixing crisis in Europe and structural issues affecting Handball clubs in Europe (his first commentary below). With his background and experience his commentaries are sure to become required reading to anyone who wants to better understand the issues affecting the sport.

Christer Ahl Handball Bio: http://teamhandballnews.com/content19.html

First Miami and the LNH.

Now, here come the Germans and the Poles.

[link=http://www.kicker.de/news/handball/startseite/artikel/510444/]Kicker.de[/link] is reporting that a 2010 friendly match between Poland and Germany at Chicago's United Airlines Arena is in the works. If anyone can translate the article – please do!

Thanks to Nathalie Dorner for the tip.

Addendum: Handball-World has two articles on U.S. – Germany cooperation
Interview with Frank Schneller: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=20986
Translation Page: http://teamhandball.wikispaces.com/Translation+-+Handball-World+Frank+Schneller

Dream with Unlimited Possibilities: International Match against Poland in the USA: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=20987
Translation Page: http://teamhandball.wikispaces.com/Translation+-+Handball+World+Germany-Poland+Chicago+Friendly

Anyone can assist in updating the wikispace translation pages. Simply click the "edit this page" button and start typing. To start a google automatic translation has been uploaded.

Dynamo (Volgograd) defeated Zvezda Zvenigorod 31-26 in the 3rd and deciding match to win the Russian Super League title. The match, however, had to be stopped with 40 seconds remaining in the match as the losing side did not go quietly.

YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO_q9ZCEm1g

U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) has a short audio story on a women’s handball club in Ramadi, Iraq. According to the story, Iraq used to have one of the better programs in Asia.

Commentary: I was amused that the NPR piece neglected to explain the sport as team handball. Despite the best efforts of regular contributor to NPR, Stefan Fatsis, I would guess that the vast majority of the NPR audience listened to the story with a vision of the 4 walled game.

Some Iraqi Women Play A Secret Game: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104494321

When the IHF Presidential Election Center page http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.744 was set up, the desire was that all candidates and their supporters would contribute to the site. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case, as so far only Jean Kaiser has responded to our questions. Additionally, the balance of the information concerning the incumbent, Hassan Moustafa, is focused on several negative stories concerning issues that have transpired during his recent term. Quite simply, to the best of our knowledge there have been no significant stories or commentaries written espousing the accomplishments of Dr Moustafa and why he should be re-elected as IHF President.

In an attempt to balance coverage at Team Handball News we are therefore soliciting anyone with Pro-Moustafa commentary to step forward for publication. As most readers of this website know, Team Handball News, has always been open to guest commentary. The requirements are not overly stringent. The author simply needs to put forth a good structured argument and avoid ranting without rationale.

Furthermore as an incentive, we will be offering a $20 prize for the best written essay. All entries should be submitted to john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com by May 25, 2009. For more information on contest rules and requirements please check the contest thread in the forum section.

Forum Contest Thread: http://teamhandballnews.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1228

Former Spanish National Team Captain and 3 time Olympian, Inaki Urdangarin, is relocating to the United States. Urdnagarin, who is married to Princess Cristina, has accepted a position with Telephonica and will be posted in the Washington, D.C. area. No word yet as to whether the DC Diplomats will sign him up as well.

Washington Post: “Spanish princess and family moving to Washington”: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/23/AR2009042301127.html
Inaki Urdangarin Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C3%B1aki_Urdangar%C3%and
DC Handball Club: http://www.dchandball.com/

The Austin RockStars Handball club was recently featured on the local channel 8 news in Austin, Texas. The videos are available on line at the links below. The handball being played in the videos is a slight modification of the sport called American Speed Handball.

News 8 Austin Article: Perhaps unknown to most, mystery sport is 2nd in world: http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=238763&SecID=2

Austin News 8 Videos
– Overview of Handball: http://www.news8austin.com/shared/video/video_pop.asp?destlist=65361
– Interview with Dede Pinkova: http://www.news8austin.com/shared/video/video_pop.asp?destlist=65362

Austin RockStars: http://www.austinhandball.info/default.aspx

American Speed Handball Rules: http://www.austinhandball.info/docs/American_Speed_Handball_Rules_R1.pdf

Handball is growing in the Pacific Northwest. On Saturday April 25th, from 1:30 – 4:30 PM, the newly created Oregon State University Handball Club will be hosting a mini tournament with a team from Portland, OR and a team from Seattle, WA.

This year alone, the Pacific Northwest handball community has grown from 2 to 4 teams with the additions of Seattle and Corvallis, to a 5 year old Portland – Vancouver rivalry, thus creating more playing opportunities.

A tournament was hosted by Vancouver in November 08, which saw the host team finishing first followed by Portland and Seattle. In December 08, Seattle hosted its first tournament with Vancouver winning ahead of Portland, CalHeat and Seattle. Portland and Corvallis have been playing games on a monthly basis.

If you are interested in joining any of the existing teams, or want to come watch the April 25th games, let us now and email us at info@portlandhandball.com

Also, if you’re looking for a team to play with at the U.S. National Championships, Seattle is looking for players. Contact TJ Ogden at info@seattleteamhandball.com

Editor’s note: Thanks to Portland’s Stephane Roux for the report. And a reminder to all: If you would like for an article to appear in Team Handball News send your suggested write-up to editors@teamhandballnews.com.