it really hurts;I cannot possibly get up; at least not until my opponent has received a yellow card...

Judging from both the internet broadcasts and reports from those who were present, the recent Men’s Junior World Championship in Greece was a predominantly positive experience.  The performance of many teams and the skills of individual players showed a lot of promise for the future.  Moreover, the attitude of most players and team officials reflected an unusual sense of sportsmanship in most respects.  Teams generally seemed to put an emphasis on technical and tactical weapons rather than on physical or rough play.

But as a contrast, it was impossible to ignore a certain prevalence of ‘acting’ on the part of players who were (or wanted to give the impression of being) fouled, and then spent a considerable amount of time on the floor, writhing in pain and grimacing frantically.  On many occasions, the ‘acting’ seemed to be totally out of proportion in relation to the very modest body contact that had taken place.  And, of course, it caused many seemingly unnecessary and protracted stoppages in the action.  The referees tried their best to get the game going again, but often without much success.  All in all, a frustrating component of an otherwise attractive game.

Clearly, this is not a feature that we find only, or mainly, in handball.  It is not surprising that the best photo illustration I found was from football.  Here the players, especially at the professional level, have turned it into ‘gamesmanship’, using it systematically to cause unwarranted refereeing decisions, including punishments against opponents.  It was interesting to note, however, that the problem was less common in the recent Women’s World Championship in football.  Are the women sturdier, or are they simply more inclined to adhere to a spirit of fair play?

Similarly, in handball the problem tends to be less severe at the youth/junior level than among the adult players.  This may have something to do with a ‘macho’ attitude among the younger players, or it may simply mean that they have not yet been ‘brainwashed’ by coaches into adopting the unsportsmanlike methods instinctively.  But it has also been quite clear to me over the years, as a participant in numerous senior and junior events, that the issue is also ‘cultural’ in nature.  The tendency to this unattractive acting is much stronger among players and teams from certain regions, particularly North Africa and West Asia.

Here again one may wonder what is the cause.  Is it an indication of particularly bad sportsmanship in those regions, and if so why?   Or, if it happens so often at the youth level, is it really ‘cultural’ and something that comes with upbringing and engrained habits?  I have no expertise in such matters; I simply find it puzzling.  In recent months there has been worldwide admiration for the courage, maturity and physical/mental resilience on the part of the youth in precisely these regions, with a totally absence of self-pity and ‘drama’.  How can it be that the tendencies on a football field or handball court are so completely different?

Veteran Sarah Gascon wants to win now.

USA Team Handball (USATH) held a phone in press conference on July 28^th to announce the Women’s National Team roster for the PANAM Games in October.  Here are some highlights along with some commentary.

Playing to win (2016): Head Coach Chris Cappelmann indicated that he thinks the team has a realistic chance of beating Uruguay and the Dominican Republic in pool play, but that they would be hard pressed to beat Brazil.  It was also noted that the roster contains several younger players who will benefit from this experience and hopefully apply what they learn at the 2015 PANAM Games in Toronto, Canada.  I think Coach Cappelmann has targeted a realistic goal, even if I do give Uruguay and the Dominican Republic more of an edge due to the more experience those sides have playing together as a unit.  Without question, if the USA does make it to the semifinals it will be a major accomplishment for a program that’s been whacked pretty good in recent PATHF competition.

Playing to win (now): National Team player, Sarah Gascon, made it clear that from her perspective London 2012 was the goal.  This is certainly the right attitude for the players to have, even if the challenge is very daunting.  It’s also worth noting that a 2016 Olympics is less likely for several of the players in the “old guard” as many of them will hit the age of 30 between now and then.  If history is a guide, it’s likely that “life decisions” will put Team Handball on the backburner for some of them.

5 Weeks of Preparation:  USA Team Handball will hold a 5 week long training camp at Lake Placid prior to departing to Houston, TX (the USA staging city for all sports), enroute to the PANAM Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.  This will be the USA’s most extensive training camp prior to a competition in several years.

Lack of Games:  While 5 weeks of dedicated practice time will allow the team to gel, there will unfortunately, be a lack of competition.  USATH looked at several options for competition and training in Europe and appeared on track for a trip to Spain, but this option fell through due to lack of USA funding and the economic struggles in Spain causing the sponsoring club to withdraw much of its hosting support.  A lot can be learned in practice, but the USA may not see how well those lessons are being learned until their first game in Mexico.  This lack of competition may well be the difference between winning and losing a close game.

7 Week Commitment: With a 5 week training camp and 2 weeks at the PANAM games, athletes with be dedicated almost 2 months to the USA National Team and a shot at the 2012 Olympic Games.  This is a massive time commitment for amateur athletes, most of who are either working or going to school.  It’s simply not sustainable and the U.S. will either need to have a stable of athletes who are playing professionally in Europe or who are receiving some level of compensation from USATH.

Resident Programs coming back?: The reality of the 7 week commitment problem isn’t lost on the Federation and the possibility of restarting a nation team residency program was highlighted.  The women’s team staff was impressed with the facilities and the support of the University of Central Oklahoma’s (UCO) staff during their training camp.  UCO has been designated a Para Olympic Training Center and they were some preliminary discussions about the possibility of setting up a permanent resident program similar to what was done previously at Cortland University in New York.   Other locations in the U.S. are also being considered and  it was noted that it’s likely a men’s and women’s program would be co-located as this would have advantages in terms of staffing.

The exact nature of the resident program is still to be defined, but it does seem to be similar conceptually  to what I proposed in an article a couple of years ago in that this would be more of a development program and that top players would still be encouraged to play with overseas clubs.  The details as to who, what, where, when and how seem pretty sketch at this point.  Hopefully, we’ll hear and read more of this important development in the coming months.

Finances:  U.S. participation in PANAM Games qualification events was not fully funded by the Federation and relied heavily on financial support from the independent USA Team Handball Foundation.  In light of this fact, I asked GM Steve Pastorino to give a grade as to the financial health of USATH.  Steve’s answer was that things were still “fluid” and this understated response certainly warrants further analysis.  More financial data has been released in the past few months on the Federation website, but it’s still hard to get a complete picture as to what exactly will be funded (and to what level) in the coming years.  I’ll be trying to track that that down in the coming weeks.

USATH (GM Steve Pastorino Blog) (28 Jul 11): 15 Women Named to Team USA for Pan Am Games: http://usateamhandball.org/blogs/steve-pastorino-on-handball/posts/3077-15-women-named-to-team-usa-for-pan-am-games

USATH (28 Jul 11): Women’s National Team Roster for Pan American Games Named:  http://usateamhandball.org/news/2011/07/28/women-s-national-team-roster-for-pan-american-games-named/43816?ngb_id=42

Edmund Sun (16 Jul 11): Team USA sets up camp at UCO: http://www.edmondsun.com/sports/x1241065109/Team-USA-sets-up-camp-at-UCO

THN (15 Aug 09): A Framework for Creating U.S. National Team Success (Part 3: National Development Teams): https://teamhandballnews.com/2009/08/a-framework-for-creating-u-s-national-team-success-part-3-national-development-teams/

New Ademar Leon Coach Isidoro Martinez

French Handball website, Handzone, has a short, wide ranging interview with former U.S. Men’s National Team coach, Isidoro Martinez.  In the interview Martinez reflects on Spain’s performance at the Junior Worlds (he was their coach), his new job coaching Spanish club Ademar Leon and the state of the Liga Asobal.

Martinez was the U.S. Men’s National Team Coach at the 2006 Pan American Elite Championships.  The U.S. lost to Greenland 30-29 in the bronze medal match, narrowly missing qualification for the 2007 World Championships.  Martinez did a credible job of putting together a competitive U.S. side in a short amount of time and also helped Gary Hines secure his first professional contract in Spain.

Handzone: Isidoro Martinez: looking towards the Liga and Montpellier http://www.handzone.net/asp.net/main.news/news.aspx?id=55734

THN (15 Apr 2006): USA Hires New Men’s National Team Coach: https://teamhandballnews.com/2006/04/usa-hires-new-men%E2%80%99s-national-team-coach/

Brazilian women celebrate after easy win vs Argentina

Brazil easily defeated rival Argentina 35-16 on Saturday to win the Gold Medal at the Women’s Pan American Championships.  The contest was never in doubt as Brazil held Argentina scoreless for the first 13 minutes on the way to a 22-5 halftime lead.  Throughout the tournament, Brazil was clearly the best team with an average margin of victory of 19.2 goals.  The closest any team came was 15 goals by Cuba and Mexico in Group Play.

Looking ahead, the Brazilian women will be overwhelming favorites to win the Gold medal and Pan American Olympic spot at the PANAM Games in Guadalajara this October.  On top of that they also appear to be in good position for a breakthrough performance when they host the World Championships in December.  In 2009 they beat runner-up France in pool play, but then placed a disappointing 15^th place after failing to qualify for the Main Round.  They’ve shown they can play with Europe’s best and with most of their roster now with several years of experience playing on top European clubs they know they have the talent.  Add the benefit of hosting the event a run to the semifinals is a distinct possibility.

With Brazil separating themselves from the rest of the pack it appears that the PATHF women’s team can currently be grouped as follows:

Tier 1:  Brazil
Tier 2: Argentina, Cuba
Tier 3: Uruguay, Chile, Dominican Republic
Tier 4: Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, USA, Canada

While it may be all but a foregone conclusion that Brazil will win Gold at the PANAM Games, the tournament does present an opportunity for teams to compete and show improvement against upper tier teams.  With Cuba not participating in the PANAM Games due to their decision not to play in the Central American and Caribbean there should be an interesting battle between the tier 3 (Uruguay, Chile and Dominican Republic) and tier 4 teams (Mexico, Puerto Rico and USA) for semifinal spots.  Beating Brazil and Argentina is not likely for those teams, but a bronze medal opportunity is certainly a possibility.

All but 3 teams have now qualified for the Women's World Championship in Brazil this December

The last two weeks included several qualification matches for the Women’s 2011 World Championship and the Men’s 2012 European Championship.  Both events will play a part in the eventual qualification for the 2012 Olympics.  To see which teams have moved closer towards a slot in London check our updated “Qualification Pages” on the right hand side of the page.

A re-imagined home page for www.universalsports.com

On Tuesday, NBC outbid ESPN and Fox for the U.S. TV rights for the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 Olympics for $4.38 billion dollars.  That’s $4,380,000,000, or as I like to say a lot of “zeroes”.   And part of that purchase is the right to broadcast the Team Handball competition at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.  It’s highly doubtful that Team Handball factored into NBC’s winning bid, but that point is moot.  Regardless, they own Team Handball’s most prominent showcase in the U.S.  Which leads to a couple of questions:

Will NBC broadcast more Team Handball in the upcoming Olympics?

To NBC’s credit they pretty much web streamed every men’s and women’s match in 2008.  Broadcast TV options, however, were somewhat limited.  While more Team Handball was shown than ever before most of it was broadcast on the Life and Bravo networks.  True devotees could find it, but the “stumble upon” opportunity for new fans was pretty small.  With the recent merger of NBC and Comcast, however, NBC will have more channels to broadcast events like Team Handball and it wouldn’t surprise me if the packaging of sports like Team Handball, Field Hockey, sailing, etc is more consistent.  So, yes, I think we’ll get more coverage in London, Rio and 2020.

Will NBC broadcast Team Handball outside of the Olympics?

While it’s nice to get the Olympic stage every four years in the U.S., the bigger question is what will happen in between Olympics.  As anyone who follows Team Handball in the U.S. knows the sport receives very little exposure on TV.  Baby steps have been made like the Comcast broadcast of the Germany-Poland match in 2010, German Bundesliga matches on the My Sports Germany channel and the Mhz network’s broadcast of the EHF Game of the Week this past season.  All well and good, but again these options have limited market penetration and are more for the true devotees than potential new fans.  To really spur the sports growth in the U.S. a committed patron willing to showcase the sport on a major network is needed.  Will NBC be that network?

There’s at least a chance they will be.  Buried in the reporting of the NBC victory, was a small snippet (only reported in a few media outlets) that the contract allows for the creation of an Olympic Channel if NBC, the USOC, and IOC can come to an agreement.  You might recall that back in 2009 the USOC trumpeted the creation of an Olympic Channel agreement with Comcast (which was then a separate entity from NBC).  Less than a year later, however, the USOC sheepishly shelved the project due primarily to NBC and the IOC both expressing displeasure with the USOC going at it alone.

A year later the landscape has changed dramatically.  NBC and Comcast are now a merged company and that merged company has bought the Olympics through 2020. The USOC is playing nice with the IOC and is planning to renegotiate the USOC’s financial share of U.S. Olympic TV rights.

Moreover, NBC has shown just how well they can promote a low profile sport if they put their mind to it.  Back in February, I wrote an article profiling what they are doing for Rugby 7s with their annual World Series event in Las Vegas.  Just this past weekend they showed several hours of a collegiate rugby 7s tournament in Philadelphia on NBC, the Versus network, and the Universal Sports channel, which has a web streaming and
broadcast presence.  In fact, I would venture to guess that this Universal Sports channel will soon be rebranded the Olympic Channel.

And it doesn’t take much to imagine Team Handball getting a presence on this web page.  Hence, my doctored photo of their homepage.  While it might have been expensive for NBC to travel to Guatemala for a Team Handball qualifier there’s plenty of content available which would have minimum production cost.  The EHF Champions League, the German Bundesliga, the World and European Championships, next spring’s Olympic qualifying tournaments.  Throw in a few events where the U.S. is participating and you have a nice channel to complement the rugby, cycling, and swimming options.

I know you’ve heard this before so many times.  But, Team Handball will sooner or later have a place in the American sporting consciousness.  It won’t take up as much space as our major sports, but if there’s room for Rugby 7s, lacrosse, etc., there’s room for Team Handball.  Here’s hoping that NBC will see the light.

Broadcasting and Cable (7 Jun 11) Confirmed: NBC Universal Wins Bidding for Olympic Games: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/469360-Confirmed_NBCUniversal_Wins_Bidding_for_Olympic_Games.php

THN (9 Jul): Olympic TV channel set to launch after 2010 Olympics: https://teamhandballnews.com/2009/07/olympic-tv-channel-set-to-launch-after-2010-olympics/

THN (1 May 10): U.S. Olympic Channel venture officially over:  https://teamhandballnews.com/2010/05/u-s-olympic-channel-venture-officially-over/

THN (28 Feb 11): Promoting Team Handball in the U.S. (Part 1): Las Vegas Rugby 7s Tournament: Undoubtedly, a model to follow: https://teamhandballnews.com/2011/02/promoting-team-handball-in-the-u-s-part-1-las-vegas-rugby-7s-tournament-undoubtedly-a-model-to-follow/

THN (12 Mar 11): Promoting Team Handball in the U.S. (Part 2): How is Rugby getting promotion done right?: https://teamhandballnews.com/2011/03/promoting-team-handball-in-the-u-s-part-2-how-is-rugby-getting-promotion-done-right/

Team USA poses for a celebration photo after their 14 goal victory over Guatemala

Team USA easily defeated Guatemala 38-24 in the third and final match of the 2nd Chance tournament in Guatemala City, Sunday night.  Due to the USA-Uruguay, 23-23 draw the night before the USA needed to win by at least 8 goals to pull ahead of Uruguay on goal differential and first place in the tournament.

The win now means that the USA has qualified for the PANAM Games this October in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Eight nations (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada and USA) will vie for the 1 Pan American Olympic qualification spot for the 2012 Olympics in London.  Argentina and Brazil are the prohibitive favorites, but Team USA should compete for a  semifinal spot as the 6 teams below those two sides are more evenly matched.

Final Standings
1) USA 1-1-0 3 Pts 61 47 +14
2) Uruguay 1-1-0 3 Pts 43 35 +8
3) Guatemala 0-0-2 0 Pts 36 58 -22

USA Federation write-up: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2011/06/06/usa-men-qualify-for-pan-american-games-for-first-time-since-2003/42652

Team USA poses prior to opening ceremonies Friday night in Guatemala

Uruguay and Guatemala opened the Second Chance Tournament in Guatemala City, Guatemala Friday night with a 20-12 victory over Guatemala.  The U.S. and Uruguay will play the 2nd game of the tournament on Saturday night at 8:00 PM (10:00 PM U.S. East Coast).  If Uruguay wins they will secure first place and qualification for the PANAM Games later this year.  A U.S. win will put the U.S. in good shape to qualify, but they would still need to defeat Guatemala on Sunday night.

U.S. National Team Captain Mark Ortega chats with John Ryan and about Friday’s match and Saturday’s showdown vs. Uruguay.  (Running time is 9 minutes)

John Ryan and Christer Ahl discuss the EHF Champions League Final Four matches that took place on Saturday and Sunday, as well as the event’s format, schedule and promotion.  Running time:  37 minutes

Note: Be forewarned, the quality of the audio is sometimes spotty and on a few occasions there’s some feedback that could be ear-piercing if you have the volume set too high.  And, if anyone out there is a wizard at skype audio recording and has a few tips that could help us improve the sound quality please drop me a line at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com

Was the defender really inside?

For many years, I have had a ‘pet peeve’ regarding a situation that handball referees are facing and far too often decide incorrectly.  It involves the situation where an attacker with the ball frontally approaches a defender who is standing just outside the 6-meter line.  If the attacker simply runs into the defender, or possibly tries but fails to pass him on either side, chances are that both players will fall to the floor inside the 6-meter line.  And what happens?  With a straight face, the referee gives a totally unwarranted 7-meter throw to the attacking team, often showing with a magnificent gesture that supposedly the defender was standing inside the line before the collision.

The correct decision in most of these situations is an offensive foul, and a free-throw for the defenders.  An exception is if the defender anticipates the collision and uses illegal means before there is body contact.  It is a big difference between a 7-meter throw, with a good chance of scoring an easy goal, and the loss of possession.  In other words, the consequences of a bad decision in this situation are much greater than a wrong call in most other situations.

While this situation has frustrated me a lot over the years, I have always been somewhat prepared to defend the referees or at least to find a reasonable explanation.  With multiple points of focus, it can happen that the referee looks away precisely at the moment of the collision and does not know where exactly the feet of the defender actually were.  And I have also speculated about the possibility that the cynical attackers fool the referees to believe that the defender must have been inside, simply by their act of running straight into the defender.  The referee may think: ‘surely the attacker would not do so, unless he saw clearly that the defender was already inside.’

But after having been preaching about this situation together will all my colleagues on the IHF Referee Commission for decades, I am now getting tired of finding excuses.  In part because it is not getting any better, and in part because I now often see another situation, with a common element, where the referees far too frequently get it wrong.  This situation is a seemingly easier one:  an attacker is trying to penetrate and shoot at the 6-meter line but is fouled (from the side or behind).  Sometimes the player maintains the balance and scores a correct goal.  But often the foul causes the attacker to touch the floor inside the 6-meter line with an arm and/or leg (or even the ‘whole’ body) before releasing the ball.  Clearly the correct decision is then a 7-meter throw, and a goal cannot be allowed if the player manages to ‘score’ from this position’.  But far too often, the referees happily signal ‘goal’.

I am beginning to feel quite strongly that the explanation in both the situations I have discussed in more sinister than I used to think.  I am now ready to believe that the referees consciously/cynically, or at least subconsciously, chose the easy way out. In other words, they know that in these two situations not many persons will have observed with certainty what the facts were.  So it is easy to ‘get away with’ the convenient but wrong decision, especially if it is indicated with firmness and conviction.

What I mean by ‘convenient’ is that in the first situation it is easier, i.e., less likely to cause protests, if I give a 7-meter than if I call an offensive foul.  And in the second situation, it is easier to allow a goal if the ball is already in the net, rather than to disallow the goal and order a 7-meter throw.  BUT, the job of the referees is not to look for the easy way out and to concentrate on avoiding (justified or unjustified) criticism.  On the contrary, showing courage and ‘call it as you see it’ are the trademarks of a strong referee.

Given my decades of involvement in refereeing, I am not entirely comfortably about ‘accusing’ referees of this behavior.  I would probably prefer to stick to a less sinister explanation.  But I can no longer remain quiet about my suspicions.  And I am encouraged in this, when I listen to my old colleagues who still remain on the IHF Referee Commission and are beginning to sense the same thing.  And clearly they have no tolerance for this kind of action, especially among their top referees.