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USA Handball Talk (Episode 43): USA Men’s National Team Center Back, Benjamin Edwards

(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.

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

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2025 IHF Trophy (Intercontinental Phase) (Youth) Information Page

The USA Youth Men’s National Team is participating in the IHF Trophy (Intercontinental Phase) Championship in Pristina, Kosovo. This page is intended to serve as a handy reference point for the tournament.

USA Roster

Likely Athlete Court Positions

Schedule (Note: The USA has started Daylight Saving Time while Europe won’t start until 30 March; hence the 5 hr difference between US ET and CET)

  • Wednesday, 12 March <Off Day>
  • Thursday, 13 March
  • Friday, 14 March
  • Saturday, 15 March,
  • Sunday, 16 March
    • 3rd Place: USA vs Uzbekistan 38-36 (20-12) Video Stats

Links

  • USA Roster Announcement: Link
  • Official Roster provided to IHF: Link
  • Team Cumulative Stats: Link
  • IHF Competitions Page: Link
  • Match Web Streaming: Link
  • Tournament Page (Wikipedia): Link
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2025 IHF Trophy (Intercontinental Phase) (Juniors) Information Page

The USA Junior Men’s National Team is participating in the IHF Trophy (Intercontinental Phase) Championship in Pristina, Kosovo. This page is intended to serve as a handy reference point for the tournament

USA Roster

Likely Athlete Court Positions

Schedule/Results

  • Wednesday, 12 March <Off Day>
  • Thursday, 13 March
  • Friday, 14 March
  • Saturday, 15 March
  • Sunday, 16 March
    • 1st place match: USA vs Uzbekistan 33-32 (18-13) Video Stats

Links

  • USA Roster Announcement: Link
  • Official Roster provided to IHF: Link
  • USA Cumulative Stats: Link
  • IHF Competitions Page: Link
  • Match Web Streaming: Link
  • Tournament Page (Wikipedia): Link
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2025 IHF Emerging Nations Championship Information Page

The USA Men’s National Team is participating in the IHF Emerging Nations Championship. This page is intended to serve as a handy reference point for the tournament

USA Roster

Likely Athlete Court Positions

Schedule/Results

Links

  • USA Roster Announcement: Link
  • Official Roster provided to IHF: Provisional Final
  • IHF Competitions Page: Link
  • Final Cumlulative Stats: Link
  • Match Web Streaming: Link
  • Tounament Page (Wikipedia): Link
  • IHF profile on Sigurður Guarino : From Iceland to the USA: Dream debut for Guarino at the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship: Link
  • IHF Article on All Star Selection: Link
    • Drew Donlin was selected at pivot/best defender
    • Gary Phillips was selected at right wing

USA Handball Talk (Episode 42): A Board Meeting Revelation Explains a Pivotal and Puzzling Judicial Committee Decision

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.

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

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U.S. Women’s National Team: What’s Next? (Part 4): Assessing the Borsos Era: Poor Results, but Mostly not her Fault

This is part of a series of commentaries that address the future of handball in the U.S.  In Part 1, I summarized the U.S. Women’s National Team poor results of the past 4 years. In Part 2, I addressed the need for USA Team Handball leadership to consider proactive steps to broaden the talent pool. In Part 3, I highlighted an Out of the Box possibility.

The USA recently parted ways with Women’s National Team Head Coach, Edina Borsos and immediately launched a search for what appears to be a short term assignment coaching the National Team at the upcoming North American & Caribbean Handball Championships, 6-13 April in Mexico City.

A Dismal (but not Surprising) Record; Does that Alone Justify Firing?

In terms of wins and losses the firing is certainly justifiable. In major competitions the U.S. Women compiled an 0-0-8 record. Yes, the Borsos era ended with the U.S. Women failing to win a single match in major competitions. I also don’t think a single match was won in friendly international matches, but perhaps there’s a win out there against some lower level club team. (Results of friendly matches were often never reported… a whole other issue I won’t delve into here.)

How can one possibly argue against sacking a coach with such a dismal record? Well, here goes: The USA women haven’t played a single match in the past four years where they were the better team on paper. In most cases they didn’t even have a decent chance for an upset. If you know anything about the sport of handball it’s very self-evident: The talent to effectively compete has simply not been available. It’s not even worthy of debate.

Go ahead, put Thorir Hergeirsson in charge of the U.S. Women if you want. Maybe he could have X’d and O’d a victory over Canada or Mexico at some point in the last four years, but I doubt it. Given the talent available the results are not surprising. And, unless there are some new dual citizen upgrades to the U.S. roster I suspect that we will very likely continue our losing streak in April.

If one defines “coaching” as taking the athletes you have available, forming them into a team and getting said team to perform to the best of its capabilities… then, in my opinion, Coach Borsos actually did a pretty decent job.

If, however, one expands the coaching role to include efforts to identify, evaluate, recruit and develop talent… then one might argue that it is indeed time for a coaching change.

Identifying, Evaluating, Recruiting and Developing Handball Athletes: How the U.S. is Different

Before I address the question as to how coaching applies to identifying, evaluating, recruiting and developing handball athletes it’s important to highlight how what might apply for a typical handball nation doesn’t quite fit for the U.S. and vice versa.

For a nation where handball is popular, the job in this regard, for the national team staff is much simpler. For the most part they don’t have to identify or find talent. That talent is readily available and their job is primarily one of evaluation or figuring out who has national team potential. Recruiting is also very limited. Occasionally, there may be some athlete who doesn’t want to play for the national team or perhaps some foreign national that needs to be persuaded to play for his adopted country, but it’s not commonplace. And, with a strong club system in place individual skill development is less neccessary so development focuses more on teaching athletes how to progress in a national team environment.

For a nation like the U.S. where handball is virtually unknown, however, recruiting is a more intensive effort. Primarily, this is because there are no real pipelines in place. And, because of this the U.S. has to identify, evaluate, recruit and develop athletes for alternative sources. For the U.S. the three primary cohorts are:

  • Dual Citizens: This cohort consists of American citizens that have lived most of their lives in nations where handball is popular. These athletes have to be found and then persuaded to play for the U.S. After they’ve been found and committed to play for the U.S., the U.S. then evaluates and develops these athletes much the way a European nation would.
  • Americans already playing handball in the U.S.: There aren’t a lot of Americans playing handball in the U.S., but there are some. These athletes can be evaluated much the way a European nation does, except that the talent pool is so small, it’s actually possible to evaluate every single handball athlete. Additionally, as the handball development is typically rudimentary it’s important to assess potential talent and to take into account that the age/skill level could be dramatically different from what one would expect in a handball nation.
  • Americans who have never played handball: This is perhaps the strangest cohort to someone from a handball nation. Needless to say… they are not doing this in Denmark and Germany. But, for many years this was the primary source for American handball athletes. And, to state the obvious… identifying, recruiting, evaluating and developing athletes like this requires a unique skillset. One that a typical handball coach, may or may not have.

Who’s in Charge of Finding and Developing Talent? And, do we have the Resources to Make it Happen?

So, I’ll now go back to my earlier statement: “If, however, one expands the coaching role to include efforts to identify, evaluate, recruit and develop talent… then one might argue that it is indeed time for a coaching change.” And, I’ll try to answer that statement as best as I can. And, it truly is, “best as I can” because I don’t think it’s ever been clearly defined who’s in charge of what. Or, as I wrote back in Oct, 2023, I think the lack of new talent is more of a “management” issue than it is a “coaching” issue.

Going back to the ancient history of when I played for the national team in the 1990s U.S. National Team coaches, especially the European ones, played little to no role in the finding and recruitment of athletes. They conducted tryouts and evaluated athletes for further development, but other members of the USA Team Handball staff did the legwork to bring those athletes in. Over time, particularly as resources dwindled, coaches became more engaged in recruiting efforts. They pretty much had to because if they didn’t do the recruiting they might not even have any athletes to coach.

More recently, USA Team Handball actually had a High Performance Manager, Krista Austin, on staff from 2021-23. Logically, recruiting was part of her job jar, but it’s not entirely clear what expectations were and how recruiting responsibilities were split with the coaching staff. And, when funding diminished in 2023 she left the organization and was never replaced.

Back to the Question at Hand: Does the Firing Make Sense?

I digress, so back to the question at hand. Assuming that coaching wasn’t the primary issue and that Coach Borsos is essentially being fired for failing to successfully identify, recruit, evaluate and develop new talent… One could make a very solid case that she has clearly failed in these areas. USA rosters have included teenagers that weren’t quite ready and aging veterans that should have been pushed out by new talents several years ago. Instead there have been very few new talents. And, none of them have been head turning, gifted athletes. With that lack of success, both in terms of results and recruitment, why not give someone else a try?

Well, here are a few reasons why one might say the firing wasn’t justified on recruiting grounds:

  • Did her job description clearly articulate recruiting responsibilities?
  • Is there some sort of documentation with recruiting performance expectations?
  • Was she given the resources to be a successful recruiter?

I don’t know for a fact… but, I’m guessing the answer to each of those questions is “no.” Perhaps during her tenure under three different CEOs there were some discussions pertaining to identifying, recruiting, evaluating and developing new talent. I sure hope there was. It seems there might have been.

Fledging efforts to expand the talent pool were conducted. U.S. based training camps were conducted. We even had a D2 basketball player with very little handball training play significant minutes at a NORCA Championship. But, this sort of thing was surely pretty new to Coach Borsos and being based in Europe made those sort of efforts challenging.

Ideally, discussions related to talent pool expansion should have taken place prior to hiring. And, requirements related to this skill set should have been articulated in the job announcement. Looking back, I suspect that those in charge observed the success Coach Hedin was having with the U.S. Men and decided it could be replicated… without understanding that the U.S. Women were not gifted the same dual citizen talent pool. And, that the ability to recruit new athletes might be the most important skill required for a U.S. Women’s Nationa Team coach.

Sometimes a Change is Needed

So to review:

  • Coach Borsos didn’t win a single match in major competitions… but, the U.S. was clearly the weaker team in every single match they played.
  • Coach Borsos had very little success in terms of recruiting new athletes… but, it’s unlikely she was hired to perform that challenging job and wasn’t given much in terms of resources to be a successful recruiter.

Or, to put in other terms:

  • Coach Borsos was very unsuccessful… but, it was mostly due to circumstances beyond her control.

In many ways it’s not really fair and not her fault. In my opinion, she was simply hired for a coaching situation that did not match her skillset. This was true the day she was hired and it’s still true four years later.

And, what is that coaching situation? Well, as I’ve alluded to, it’s the stark reality that our current talent pool of national team athletes is very thin and not very talented. If we want to field a competitive team at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles new talents are needed. The current talent pool will not get us there.

It’s still very unclear how the U.S. will tackle this challenge, but it will likely require some significant changes in how we manage and coach our U.S. Women’s National Team. And, if that’s the case we should indeed look to hire a coach to match that new coaching situtation.

But… do we know what that coaching situation will be? Do we have a plan for our Women’s National Team? Assuming the answers to those questions are “no” shouldn’t the U.S. first figure out what we want to do/can do?… And, then hire a coach to meet that need? I sure think so and will argue that case in a follow on commentary

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50 Years in the Sport: Former USA National Team Coach, Javier Garcia Cuesta’s Book on his Handball Career now Available with English Translation

Javier Garcia Cuesta had a long and distinguished handball career that included participating in four Olympics, one as a player (72, Spain) and three as a national team coach: 1984 (USA), 1992 (Spain), 1996 (Egypt). He had multiple stints coaching USA National Teams and his autobiographical retrospective on his career, “50 Years in the Sport” is now available with English translation at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

“Javier Garcia Cuesta dedicated his professional life to studying, developing, and coaching the sport of handball in his native Spain and around the world. He competed in the 1972 Olympic Games and the 1974 World Championship for Spain, before beginning a long and highly esteemed career growing and improving the game. 50 Years in the Sport is Javier’s story-one full of passion for handball, along with his great mastery of the skills and strategy needed to be successful. While he accomplished much on the court, his greatest legacy will be the impact he leaves behind with players, coaches, administrators, and so many friends in the game. He is admired for his dedication, loyalty, and commitment to build successful programs and see handball grow and thrive in the years ahead.”

Purchase on Amazon: Link

Purchase on Barnes & Noble: Link

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USA Team Handball Ends Women’s National Team Coaching Roles for Edina Borsos and Hendrik Schultze; Applications Sought for Upcoming Competitions

Yesterday, USA Team Handball announced that it was seeking applications for both a Sr and Jr Women’s National Team Coach. And, obviously, if an organization is seeking new coaches… the roles for the current coaches are ending.

Edina Borso has been the Sr Women’s National Team Coach since 2021 and is also the Head Coach of St-Amand, in France’s top professional league. The announcement highlights that she may continue working with USA Team Handball in a to be defined advisory role.

Hendrik Schultze has been the Jr Women’s National Team Coach since December 2023 and an assistant coach for the Sr Women’s National Team since 2022. An American, he has also represented the U.S. in Jr competitions. He is also a very active poster on USA Handball related initiatives on LinkedIn and the cohost of the U.S. Women’s National Team Podcast.

Coaching Applications being Sought: Timing, Hiring Process and Length of Appointment

The announcement and selection procedures (Sr Coach Jr Coach) call for a quick turn hiring process with applications due on 24 February for the Jr Coach and 28 February for the Sr Coach. The coaches are then to be selected and announced by 9 March. (Just 18 days overall)

The coaching appointments also appear to officially just be short term assignments covering only duties related to the upcoming Jr PANAM Game Qualification Tournament (23-29 March) and the Sr North American and Caribbean Championships (7-13 April). Of course, short term assignments sometimes can serve as a “tryout” for a longer term assignment.

Finally, the annoucements indicate that they will be in a “volunteer capacity,” which generally means they will be unpaid positions perhaps with a small stipend.

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2025 World Championships Review: USA Men with an A+ Performance that Exceeded Expectations

The USA Men participated in their second straight World Championships this past January and finished in 26th place with 3 wins and 4 losses. At first glance this doesn’t look like a great tournament result. After all, at the 2023 World Championships the U.S. made the main round and finished in 20th place. But, while the end result was a lower overall ranking, the body of work this time was, in my opinion, clearly better. Here’s a look at how the U.S. did in all 7 matches.

Match by Match Review

  • Preliminary Round
    • Portugal – USA 30-21 (15-10): The outcome of this match was never in doubt, but the U.S. made the eventual 4th place Portuguese work the whole way.
    • Norway – USA 33-17 (13-7): This was clearly the worst U.S. performance of the tournament… But, after Norway lost their first match vs Brazil, was there any doubt that the hosts would do everyting in their power to right the ship and take out their frustration?
    • Brazil – USA 31-24 (10-12): The U.S. led at the half and the match was tied at 18-18 with twenty minutes left. A remarkable performance against a Brazil side that edged out both Norway and Sweden for a QF slot. While Brazil dominated the final twenty minutes playing a world top 8 team to a standstill for forty minutes was a great confidence booster. One that hopefully serves as a stepping stone to an eventual 60 minute result against a top side.
  • President’s Cup
    • USA – Japan 27-25 (15-13): While Japan was missing some key players many players on their roster had just played in the Olympics this past summer and had been part of Japan’s successful Asian qualification. Not a top European side, but an experienced side that had played some big matches. The U.S. trailed early, but came back and led most of the way. Most importantly, they took control of the match in crunch time.
    • USA – Cuba 27-26 (14-15): Against their continental rivals the U.S. played a subpar match and even fell behind 4 goals (15-19 early in the 2nd half. But, the U.S. didn’t panic and eventually took a 24-23 lead with 9 minutes. Again… the U.S. was the better team in crunch time. Poised, they found a way to win when they weren’t having their best day. And, that’s what confident sides do.
    • USA – Bahrain 30-28 (15-14): At the 2023 World Championships Bahrain defeated the U.S 32-27. The match was not a blowout, but Bahrain was clearly the better side. This time around the U.S. was the better team and (we have a theme here) the better team in crunch time.
  • 25th Place (President’s Cup Title Match)
    • Poland – USA 24-22 (11-13) (10-8) (3-1) : Heading into this match the U.S. was a 7.5 goal underdog and the odds of an outright victory were 13-1 against. Poland is no longer a top European side, but their handball history is decidedly superior to the U.S. But, none of that mattered and the U.S. held a lead in the 54th minute only to see the match end in a regular time draw (21-21). The U.S. then came up short in the penalty shootout. Sure, I would have preferred a title, but all things considered, that’s a solid performance.

Overall Team Assessment

Over the course of two weeks the USA Men played 7 teams of varied experience and talent levels. We didn’t know it going into the tournament, but based on the final rankings of the teams participating, Group E (Portugal (4th), Brazil (7th), Norway (10th) and the USA (26th)) was the strongest Preliminary Group in the Tournament. And, then against peer nations in the President’s Cup, the U.S. won all three of their 3 group play matches and played to a draw in the President’s Cup final, only to lose on penalties.

Betting lines are by no means official, but it’s telling that the U.S. covered the goal handicap spread in 5 of their 7 matches, only failing to cover versus Norway and Cuba. And, in two cases, against Japan and Bahrain they won matches relatively comfortably agains teams they were expected to lose to by 3 or 4 goals. By these numbers, there is no debate… The U.S. repeatedly exceed expectations.

How did the U.S. do it? Well, here are some of the reasons that I think are behind the team’s success.

  • Solid defense: The U.S. gave up an average of 27.7 goals/match. The IHF doesn’t provide a handy ranking for this metric, but a quick review of match scores for the teams the U.S. played shows that the U.S. held their opponents to fewer goals than their average. While some of this might be attributable to the somewhat methodical U.S. offense, keep in mind that same offense also had it’s fair share of turnovers. In fact, if one takes out the resultant fast break goals, the U.S. set defense (dare, I say it?) approaches the defense played by some of the top teams. It approaches… it’s not quite there yet. But, if one is trying to understand how the U.S. was tied with Brazil with 20 minutes left… it’s good defense combined with fewer turnovers on offense.

    And, the defense starts with a center block of Domagoj Srsen and Patrick Hueter with Drew Donlin and Paul Skorupa filling in with no real drop in performance. Yes, 4 big, physical guys that are largely interchangeable and familiar with each other’s play. Throw in Ian Hueter and Abou Fofana playing pretty good “2” defense as well and it’s very capable defense
  • Reliable wing scoring: I’ll be doing a more indepth position by position review, but right wing, Sean Corning and left wing, Sam Hoddersen provided consistent scoring both on the wing and fast breaks
  • Crunch time leadership: Center back 1a, Ian Hueter and center back 1b, Alex Chan kept the team poised in crunch time. Games the U.S. might have lost in the past due to mistakes, are now games we are winning.
  • A core group with several years of shared experiences: Back in 2018 at a PANAM Games qualifier, I saw a backcourt of Abou Fofana, Ian Hueter and Gary Hines make short work of a Canadian side that had beaten the U.S. a few months earlier. More players have been added and roles have changed, but a talented core group has now been together for several years… and, it shows. We aren’t the team that has to figure out how to play and work together a week before the tournament. We are the the team that already knows what to do.

When determining an overall grade for this U.S. team I guess one could simply say 26th out of 32 teams and think C-, at best. And, for sure, I would love for the U.S. to be a side that makes the Main Round, the Quarterfinals and play for medals. But, I think it’s more appropriate to take the talent level of the team into account and match it to expectations.

Overall, this is a team with some talented athletes. Competitive, pretty good athletes, but no individual athletes with the talent that makes them can’t miss, top club professionals. However, when you combine these individuals into a team, the sum is greater than the individual parts. And, it is why their performance repeatedly exceeded expectations and is a performance that I think deserves an A+ grade overall.

Coming up: I’ll provide a more indepth position by position review and I’ll also start looking ahead towards 2028.

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USA Handball Talk (Episode 41): Handball Great, Magnus Wislander

(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.

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

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Pro Handball USA Launches with Press Conference in Denmark

(Pro Handball USA press conference; photo from Fredericia Avisen)

Yesterday, Pro Handball USA, held a press conference and kick-off event in Herning, Denmark to introduce the new organization to the Handball world. With the theme, “America Deserves Handball” Pro Handball USA will first seek to bring pro clubs to the U.S. for matches as part of a summer tournament in 2026 and is targeting a U.S. based pro league for 2028. According to one report on the press conference, Barcelona and Paris-SG have committed to participate in the a summer 2026 tournament which will take place over 10 days in Las Vegas.

Of note, unlike previous pro handball related this effort is focused on both men’s and women’s pro handball and will also include a community based effort “The Handball Frontier.”

Attending the press conference, was the Pro Handball USA CEO, Mads Winther, USA Team Handball CEO, Mike King, IHF Executive Committee Member, Narcisa Lecusanu and two Pro Handball USA ambassadors, Mikkel Hansen and Stine Oftedal.

Here are a few articles related to the press conference:

  • Mikkel Hansen and the stars’ plans for handball in the USA: Link
  • Mikkel Hansen wants to make handball an American sport: Link
  • I’m not naive to think that it will happen overnight, says Mikkel Hansen: Link
  • This is what Mikkel is doing now: – I’m not going to the USA to live: Link
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USA Handball Talk (Episode 40): USA Men’s National Team Back Court, Alex Chan

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.

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

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2025 IHF Men’s Handball World Championships Betting Odds

(Odds for Team USA to make the Main Round and other stages of the World Championships)

Before it starts here’s a look at the Futures betting market for the 2025 IHF Men’s Handball World Championships. (All odds are courtesy of Bet365: Link)

Preliminary Group Odds

There are 8 Preliminary Groups with 4 sides in each group. Here are the odds for each team to win their group.

  • Group A: Who’s going to win the President’s Cup? With four European sides (GER, POL, CZE, and SUI) battling for three main round slots, the odd man out will likely be the favorite to win the consolation President’s Cup tournament. I’m thinking Czechia will get that honor.
  • Groups A-E: A mini PANAM Games in Porec?: Based on the odds, there’s a decent chance that Argentina, Chile, USA and Cuba could all end up in 4th place. This would create a miniature PANAM Games Group II in the President’s Cup.
  • Group E: Value Pick: At 100-1 odds I made a small wager on Brazil to win Group E. Having seen Brazil give Germany a battle in two recent friendlies there’s nothing to say they can’t do the same thing against two good teams (Norway and Portugal) a rung below Germany. And, not just “battle,” but pull off a couple of upsets. Of course, Brazil being Brazil… they could also implode. Even lose to a scrappy USA side. But, 100-1 odds… I’ll take that.

Can Team USA Make the Main Round?

Two years ago, Team USA beat Algeria to make the Main Round. This was a nice accomplishment, so I’ve been getting asked a lot as to whether the U.S. can again make it out of the Main Round. Unfortunately, the U.S. is in a much tougher group and barring an incredibly unlikely implosion by the hosts, Norway and newly established top side Portugal, this essentially boils down to the U.S. upsetting Brazil. Brazil has consistently beaten the US for 25+ years, but in recent years the U.S. has managed to play them close for a half, but not for a full 60 minutes. So, it’s conceivable to think of an upset, but what are the odds?

Among the different odds available at Bet365 is the option to bet at what stage a team will be be eliminated. While there are odds for the U.S. to make the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals or win it all those are very unrealistic sucker bets. Realistically, the U.S. has only two outcomes: bowing out in preliminary group play or making the main round. The odds for those are listed as -5000 (1-50) and +700 (7-1). However, since sports books shift the odds to make a profit those aren’t actually the true odds. To get a better picture of the true odds we need to look at Brazil’s odds and split the middle. With Brazil listed as -1400 (1-14) to make the Main Round a rough assessment is that the oddsmaker think the U.S. is about -1100 or 11-1 to make the main round. Or, in percentage terms around 8%.

Main Round Groups

After the Preliminary Round Groups A-B, C-D, E-F and G-H will merge into four Main Round Groups with the top two in each Group advancing to the Main Round. Also of note, the quarterfinal match ups will pair up Groups 1 and 3 for half of the bracket, while Groups 2 and 4 will pair up for the other half of the bracket.

  • Two Groups with two big favorites: Denmark and France: Groups 1 and 2 have Denmark and France as the overwhelming favorites to win their resective groups. Lots of matches to be played, but that seems right.
  • Two Groups projected as dogfights: In contrast to Group 1 and 2 there are no clear favorites for Groups 3 and 4. And each of those groups have 4 sides with pretty realistic chances to finish in the top two. This should result in some compelling matches

Odds to Win the Title

In the end… it’s projected to be France vs Denmark. We shall see, however. As the Olympics showed with Germany bouncing France out in the quarterfinals the odds are just the odds.