Last month while visiting Oregon, I stopped by a Portland Sasquatch (FBIG) practice. Afterwards I had a short chat with Belgian native and club member, Jan Vanderstraeten. We discussed the challenge of developing handball in a big country and possible areas of focus to include more clubs in big cities and collegiate handball.
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Julia Malysz has been minding the net for USA Women at the Jr PANAM Games. She’s 19 years old, but has been playing for the U.S. for 6 years. At the USA Club National Championships we chatted about her start in handball, playing against adults, her national team career and plans for the future
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On Monday, 28 July, USA Team Handball conducted an online Town Hall. I recorded the meeting and recorded almost the entire meeting. (There are a couple of gaps due to recording issues.) The YouTube version has 18 different segments identified of different people speaking and Q&A. Here are those 18 segments with a few notes for context:
1) (0:00) USA Team Handball CEO, Mike King provided a summary of recent activities
2) (13:00) Handball Futures Executive Director, Karen Rosolowski provided an updated on the Handball Futures effort
3) (17:53) CEO discussion on future activities and plans
4) (29:25) Q&A Question from John Ryan regarding regarding making the Strategic Plan available to the membership
Note: The recording is hard to understand towards the end due to feedback. I was a bit confused regarding the document being approved… but, still being fine tuned in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Generally speaking, my experience is that documents that are still being fine tuned… are not final
6) (31:00) Q&A Question from former national team member, Mark Wright regarding the impact of Men’s Coach Robert Hedin’s departure and the plans for his replacement
Handball Woche article on Coach Hedin’s resignation: “Robert Hedin resigns as Men’s National Team Coach, but not for sporting reasons“: Link
USA Team Handball article on Coach Hedin: “Robert Hedin Steps Down as Men’s National Team Head Coach“: Link
7) (35:25) Brief remarks from Board President, Patrick Jalabert and Board Member David Eldridge
8) (36:24) Question from John Ryan as to whether the CEO will make the hiring decision for head coaches
The interim head coach for the Women’s National Team had been decided by a commitee: Link
9) (37:05) Question from Cristofer Conner on how stateside Americans can be identified and developed for national team consideration
Note: U.S. Men’s and to a lesser extent, Women’s National Teams have been mostly comprised of Americans who learned and developed their handball skills in other countries:
“Two handball championships in Sweden separated by 30 years: from 0% to 83% dual citizens: Does that matter“: Link
“Expatica Americana“: A closer look at the dual citizens who play such an important role on U.S. national teams: Part 1Part 2Part 3
10) (41:44) Question from John Ryan regarding plans for a stateside residency program
Note: I consider the decision to start a Residency Program at Auburn to be the biggest strategic mistake in the history of USA Team Handball. I guess my head is safe from exploding for the time being: Link
However, it does beg the question… If not a residency program, what is the plan going forward to field a competitive women’s team in 2028?
11) (43:26) Question from John Ryan regarding how current overall revenue and sponsorship revenue compares to last year and pre-COVID years
Note: I mistakenly pulled the $116,000 figure from the Handball Futures presentation. CEO, Mike King did not provide specific dollar figures and spoke in broad terms on several different finanancial topics such as revenues, expenses and net equity. These topics, of course, are intertwined, but it’s hard to get a handle on the current financial state of the organization without looking at numbers.
My comment at the end regarding the merits of a 20% increase in sponsorship revenue relates to the reality that when the numbers are smaller, percentages can be deceptive in terms of what they say. More is better than less, but expectations in an Olympic Quadrennial cycle should be much higher. (for reference, check out the 75% increase in total revenue from 1993 to 1994 below)
In the near future I plan to provide an update to this financial status article from 2024. In simple terms, my projection of skyrocketing revenues has clearly not materialized yet.
12) (50:58) Question from John Ryan regarding how the Board will decide to vote in the upcoming IHF President Election
Gerd Butzeck, the Managing Director for the Forum Club Handball (FCH) is challenging Dr Hassan Moustafa for the upcoming IHF President Election in December. Here’s a recent Handball-World interview: Link
My assessment: I found Board President, Patrick Jalabert’s response thoughtful and reassuring
13) (52:39) Question from John Ryan regarding the loss of Forum Club Handball support for the development of USA athletes with top handball clubs in Europe
The Forum Club Handball has placed several USA athletes with top clubs in Europe and paid for those athlete’s compensation. This program provided those athletes with an opportunity to train in a quality environment at no cost to USA Team Handball. Due to concerns with USA Team Handball management changes the program was put on hold in November 2024: Link
My assessment: I was surprised with the CEO response that the previous coaching staff had indicated that the program was no longer a high priority. I reached out to Coach Hedin and his recollection did not match the CEO’s words. I would assess that the number of player pool candidates for an FCH Program opportunity will ebb and flow. Perhaps we were at a temporary low point in terms of current candidates available, but that’s about to change if it already hasn’t. I see several strong candidates: Gary Philips, Mark Miller and Simon Neumaier to name a few.
14) (55:02) Question from John Ryan regarding the Interim Board President becoming the Permanent Board President
Note: I’m not sure what happened with the audio breaking up during Patrick Jalabert’s response
My assessment: It should be noted that the need to get the “board back to a place of stablity”… stems from the sequence of events that resulted in 4 independent board members resigning from the board
15) (56:45) Question from Cristofer Conner regarding efforts to support youth development
My assessment: I wholeheartedly agree with the CEO comments regarding the need to develop sustainable youth development. One off events to introduce handball are nice, but unless there is a pathway for continued development the benefits of such events are limited.
16) Recording Gap
17) (1:01:10) Tracey Williams-Johnson (Handball Futures) request for club collaboration and support to new athlete development
18) (1:04:10) John Ryan question regarding the roster composition of the USA clubs participating in the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) Club Championships
Commentary regarding last year’s California Eagles roster: Link
Note: I am working on yet another commentary regarding this topic
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From 3-7 July, the Las Vegas Westgate Resort was home to two handball competitions: The North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) Club Championships and the World Series of Handball. I had the opportunity to see some of the matches and interview some of the participants. Included on this podcast are interviews with California Eagles right wings, Sean Corning and Ebiye Udo-Udoma and one of the organizers of the World Series of Handball, JD Orr. The mp3 audio file is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify and for download at the top of the page. Below are the YouTube videos for each interview and some links to what was discussed
In 2018, the IHF Council awarded the USA Men and Women wild card spots for 2025 and 2027 World Championships. This award was made to help the USA teams prepare for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The award, however, was not 100% guaranteed and included a vague caveat “provided that the USA National Teams have reached a certain performance level” that could be invoked to pull back the award. The first warning that this caveat would be used came on 27 March 2025 when an IHF annoucement awarding a wild card for China quietly omitted any mention of a wild card for the U.S. and was later confirmed on 12 May 2025 when the IHF awarded Croatia the 2nd available wild card for the 2025 World Championships.
While the U.S. Women’s National Team performance has been pretty low for several years it’s my opinion that the IHF decision to not award a wild card to the U.S. was ultimately triggered by a very questionable process to fire and hire a new Women’s Head Coach quickly before the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) Champions this past April.
Part 1 addressed the questionable timing and the use of a committee to select the coach. Part 2 addresses the selection criteria, the composition of the committee, the lack of transparency and the impact of not participating in the World Championship for the U.S. Women’s program.
Handball Futures Coach Selection Announcement: Link
The “Sequence of Events” that resulted in four board member resignations, one board member being removed and reinstated and the unorthodox hiring and firing of a CEO: Link
In 2018, the IHF Council awarded the USA Men and Women wild card spots for 2025 and 2027 World Championships. This award was made to help the USA teams prepare for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The award, however, was not 100% guaranteed and included a vague caveat “provided that the USA National Teams have reached a certain performance level” that could be invoked to pull back the award. The first warning that this caveat would be used came on 27 March 2025 when an IHF annoucement awarding a wild card for China quietly omitted any mention of a wild card for the U.S. and was later confirmed on 12 May 2025 when the IHF awarded Croatia the 2nd available wild card for the 2025 World Championships.
While the U.S. Women’s National Team performance has been pretty low for several years it’s my opinion that the IHF decision to not award a wild card to the U.S. was ultimately triggered by a very questionable process to fire and hire a new Women’s Head Coach quickly before the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) Champions this past April. This podcast (the 1st of 2 parts) breaks down how the hiring process unfolded and what I find questionable.
Here are some links to what was discussed:
Strategic Planning History
May 2013: Federation Planning: Right Idea, Flawed Execution: Time to Right the Ship: Link
August 2018: USA Team Handball Unveils it’s Strategic Plan: That a Really Good Step towards Bigger and Better Developments Link
October 2022: Strategic Planning Presentation to USA Team Handball Board of Directors: Link
17 February 2025: USA Team Handball announcement seeking Sr and Jr Women’s Head Coach: Link
17 February 2025: Coach Selection Process Procedures: Link
In just its second season, the San Diego Team Handball Club took 2nd place in the 2nd division at the USA Team Handball National Championships. One of the club’s founders, Olivier Izacard discusses the formation of the club and their plans for the club. Here are some of the topics we discussed:
How the club got started
The desire to creat a “club family” similar to his experience in France
How the Paris Olympics aided recruitment
How the team is mostly San Diego based
The demographic challenges of starting a club in the U.S. even in a decent sized metropolitan area like San Diego
Plans to start a youth program
The possibility of starting a collegiate program at San Diego State or other colleges in the local area.
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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.
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Gary Phillips is one of the best prospects to ever come out of a USA Collegiate Handball club. Earlier this month he led West Point to a 17th straight Collegiate Handball title and was selected as the tournament MVP. At the IHF Emerging Nations Championships he was selected to the all star team. An unprecedented accomplishment for a handball athlete still in college.
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:
Air Force upsetting West Point in Pool Play (West Point came back in knockout play to win their 17th straight collegiate championships)
Phillips on attack vs North Carolina; Photo courtesy of Rod Apfelbeck
The three players in the past 40 years that had John saying, “Who the hell is that guy…”
Playing on the national team with Americans who’ve learned handball in another country
Playing at the Jr World Championships in 2023 with “glue” and against more experience goalies
Playing with the Sr National Team at the Emerging Nations Championships in March and getting selected as the all-star right wing
Playing right back vs playing right wing
Gary’s backgound and being recruited to playing QB for West Point football
Transititioning from American football to handball
West Point competing at Club Nationals in May
Gary’s chances of joining the Army’s World Class Athlete Program (WCAP)
The challenge Europeans sometime have in properly assessing the potential of stateside Americans who started playing handball at older ages
How playing for a top club on a daily basis can accelerate player development
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
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(Benjamin Edwards at the 2025 World Championships in Norway)
Benjamin Edwards is just 18 years old, but has already played for the the U.S. Men’s national team at the Youth, Junior and Senior levels. During the 2025 World Championships in Norway I sat down with Benji to talk about his handball journey to date and plans for the future..
Here are some of the topics we discussed:
Playing for top club, Veszprem in a pre-season tourney
Getting started with handball
His connection to the U.S.
Moving to the Veszprem Academy at age 15
Potentially getting “loaned” to another club
Playing in Hungary’s 2nd division
How USA national teams develop a team spirit
Prospects for the U.S. at the 2028 Olympics and beyond
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
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On 12 February, 2025, the USA Team Handball Board of Directors held their monthly meeting and I recorded the open public portion of the meeting. The meeting started out with a seemingly mundane discussion regarding a proposed new member, Margaret Rubin for the Nominating and Governance Committee.
However, I was agape to find out that Rubin, who also serves on the Judiciary Committee had a 7-8 year relationship with USA Team Handball CEO, Michael King. This is relevant because she had played a pivotal role in 3-2 Judiciary Committee decision that prevented the board from reviewing Board decisions that had taken place while Ebiye Udo-Udoma had been improperly removed from the Board. Which, of course, included the infamous 3-2 board decision to remove Martin Branick from the CEO position and immediately replace him with King. The entire sequence of events can be seen here: Link
This podcast focuses on the most recent revelation and some of the inherent problems with the way everthing went down this past summer. Yes, if your “means” to achieve your “ends” is crappy enough… you don’t get the ends you thought you were getting.
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
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(John Ryan on defense against Magnus Wislander at the 1993 World Championships)
Magnus Wislander played 384 international matches for Sweden and is considered one of the all time great handball players. Two of those 384 matches were against the U.S. at the 1993 World Championships and the 1996 Olympics. He was in Oslo at the 2025 World Championship for Swedish Radio and by chance, we were both asking ourselves the same question: How would the U.S. national team of the 1990s fare against the current U.S. National Team? This short 3:30 minute discussion addresses that question and how the game has changed in the past 30 years.
Commentaries from 2023 comparing the 1993 and 2023 USA National Teams
Two Handball World Championships in Sweden Separated by 30 years (Part 1): Nostalgia and and a Little Bit of Deja Vu: Link
Two Handball Championships in Sweden Separated by 30 Years (Part 2): From 0% to 83% Dual Citizens- Does that Matter?: Link
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
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Alex Chan joined the U.S. National Team in 2021 and has been a key contributor ever since. I sat down with Alex during the U.S. rest day after their first match vs Portugal at the 2025 World Championships.
Some of the topics we discussed include his handball career, his time playing for club Cisne and being one of the leading scorers in the Spanish Liga Asobal and playing for his current club, Burgos.
Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page.
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