Did I really think that the USA could beat Austria? Yeah, I did (with caveats)
Toma Rimac, joins the podcast and we take a deep dive into the betting odds for the upcoming Handball World Championships. This is a little bit different from your typical preview show as what might be a good bet is often different from predicting who will win. (Important Note: This podcast was recorded prior to all the COVID related developments on 12 January)
ESPN Broadcasting Handball in the U.S. Our handball world is about to change.
Yesterday, USA Team Handball announced that 31 matches of the upcoming IHF Handball World Championships will be broadcast on ESPN+, ESPN’s streaming platform. Pretty big news… Right? Actually, no, it’s not just “big” news.
In fact, It it the biggest and most important development in the entire history of team handball in the United States.
Long time readers of this website shouldn’t be surprised by my hyperbolic statement as I’ve been saying this in one way or another for years. Why friends will know that I’ve been espousing the critical need for more handball on TV since the late 1980s.
Most prominently, I’ve stated the following prediction several times: If handball were to be broadcast on a regular basis on a network like ESPN, virtually every statement discussing handball’s progress in the U.S. from that point forward would start with these words:
“Well, after handball started being shown on ESPN…”
Pick how you want to finish the sentence. Here are some possibilities:
Collegiate handball really took off with an expansion to several hundred clubs
Youth programs expanded in several cities feeding the collegiate programs
USA Team Handball had year on year membership growth of xx%; Along with accompanying increases in website visits and social media engagement
Merchandise sales of professional handball clubs in Europe gradually increased as more Americans became fans of the game
The quality of stateside play improved dramatically
The level of stateside talent making our national teams starting improving
One Marketing Objective Above All Others
As I highlighted in this commentary from last year getting more handball on TV more trumps all other marketing objectives for the sport… because it’s a true force multiplier that greatly improves the likelihood of better results in all other areas.
So after many years of frustration why are we finally celebrating such big news? As with many great successes it’s the result of a combination of things.
Better European Engagement: For starters the Europeans and the IHF have finally recognized the need for an American market and are starting to put some resources in place to make it happen. The handball world can bemoan the granting of a wild card to a USA team, but actual USA participation in the WC made it a more attractive TV product to ESPN.
Education on Finding the Right Network: Over time, through a variety of means, the key handball content owners now fully understand that not “just any ol’ network” will do for the U.S. market.
Better engagement from USA Team Handball: While I would have liked to have seen action sooner, I’ll just say I’m real pleased that it’s now taken place. Hats off to new CEO, Ryan Johnson, for helping to facilitate the finalization of this deal. In his first week on the job, no less.
Luck: Behind the scenes some connections were made that facilitated making this deal happen. And, most importantly, that good fortune was capitalized upon.
The Great Experiment Begins
So, will my prediction come true? Will every statement about handball in American now begin with a qualifier about whether is was before or after ESPN started broadcasting the sport?
Time will tell, but I’ve never ever been more optimistic about the future of the sport in this country.
Previous Articles/Commentary about Getting More Handball on TV in the U.S.
Why weren’t the U.S. National Teams at the London Olympics?:
Sep 2012: Part 5: A lack of awareness and marketing: One in a million? The 312 real fans of Team Handball in the U.S.: Link
Oct 2012: Part 6: A lack of awareness and marketing: The Catch 22 TV paradox: Link
Dec 2012: Part 7: A lack of awareness and marketing: The historic lack of European support: Link
Dec 2012: Part 8: A lack of awareness and marketing: Europe sees the light, but can’t quite figure out how to properly invade the U.S. market: Link
Dec 2015: 20 Team Handball Matches have been Broadcast the Past 2 Weeks on a U.S. TV Network: Few Know, Fewer Watch and No One Seems to Care: Link
Aug 2016: The Olympics are Over. Thanks for Watching. See you in 2020. How about Sooner?: Link
Feb 2020: ESPN Missed out on the English Premier League: Will they Miss the Boat for Handball Too?: Link
Is the U.S. winless in World Handball Championship Competition? Maybe. It depends if you want to count B World Championships.
Next week the USA Men’s National Team will take part in the IHF Men’s Handball World Championship. It’s been 20 years since the U.S. last appeared in a Sr World’s Championships and the questions that keep cropping up are:
How well did the U.S. do in previous World Championships?
What’s the U.S. record in previous World Championships?
The short answer to the first question is “not very well,” but, the long answer is a bit more complicated due to the changes in the qualification paths, the number of participants and the competition formats the IHF has implemented since the first indoor championship was held in 1938. And, the answer to the second question is open for debate depending on what you count as a World Championship. The discussion below should help explain why answering these questions aren’t as simple as you might think they would be.
Changes in Qualification Paths (A, B and C World Championships)
Notwithstanding the complications COVID has caused with qualification for the 2021 World Championships, qualification for the World Championships is now fairly straight forward. Various continental federations are awarded a number of slots and continental championships are held to determine which nations will qualify for the final tournament.
But, this was not always the case. In fact, from 1976 to 1992 the IHF organized 3 separate World Championships designated as A, B and C World Championships. As you might assume the A Championship was for the top teams and the B and C Championships featured lower level teams. And, much like a European league there was relegation and promotion between the different championships. If one looks back at the nations participating in these various tournaments it’s not entirely clear how nations qualified for the different tournaments. The C World Championships just featured European teams and the same was true with the B World Championships until 1985 when nations from other parts of the world were added.
Presumably, the idea was to give nations like the U.S. an opportunity to get some quality competition on the world stage since only one nation from Pan America qualified for the A Championships. As you might expect the competition in B tournaments was a bit easier and this is reflected with the 6-0-14 record the U.S. compiled with its 3 participations in 1985, 1987 and 1992. Certainly better than the 0-0-25 goose eggs the U.S. has for its six A World Championship appearances.
Changes in the Nations Participating
It also should be noted that the number of participating nations has grown over the years. From 1964 to 1993, A World Championships featured 16 teams. From 1993 to 2019 the field consisted of 24 teams. And, 2021 will be the first time 32 teams will participate. In general, the fewer teams that participate in a World Championships, the stronger the overall field is.
Making the 16 team tournaments even more challenging was the inclusion of just one team from Africa, Asia and the Americas. It’s no real surprise that the U.S. failed to get a win in 1964, 1970, 1974 and 1993 against the European teams playing in these tournaments. I am a little surprised, however, that the U.S. couldn’t get a win vs an Asian side during these tournaments.
When the tournament was expanded to 24 teams that also should have given the U.S. a win or two, particularly at the 1995 WC just a year prior to the 96 Olympics where the U.S. picked up 2 wins and was fairly competitive against the European teams. Not sure what happened there… Although I did find out recently that Darrick Heath did not participate due to a contractual commitment with his club that precluded his fully participating in a National Team training camp. The 2001 WC was simply an overmatched team and they were undoubtedly the weakest team in that 24 team field.
Changes in Format
The final reason the U.S. hasn’t picked off a win at a World Championship yet is that with the exception of the 1993 tournament they’ve never played in a consolation or President’s Cup round. With the President’s Cup there are multiple matches against other teams that fail to make the Main Round and only the last place team goes home without a win. I could be wrong, but I don’t think the U.S. was the very worst team at every tournament they played in. If the President’s Cup format had been in place the U.S. in some of the earlier tournaments the U.S. would have picked off a win somewhere.
Should the B World Championship Matches Count?
Well, there are a couple of ways to look at this. One way is to go with the semantics of if you’re going to call something a “World Championship” then a win there counts. The counter to that argument is the “B” classification in front of it… As in, sorry, you’re not playing with the big boys, therefore it doesn’t count.
I tend to side with the latter argument. Yes, those B World Championships weren’t as weak as the “B” designation would seem to make it, but they were still “the little kid’s table” at Thanksgiving.
That’s not to say that those wins at the B World Championships are meaningless. On the contrary, they are documented proof that U.S. teams back in the 80s and 90s had a measure of respectability. We were clearly better than 3rd tier European sides, could beat 2nd tier European teams, and on a good day give the top teams in the world a bit of a scare. If one looks at the score lines at the 1985 B World Championships the U.S. was competitive in every match. Even played the 2nd half to a draw with the eventual tournament winner, E Germany.
These results suggest that the 85 B WC was the best ever U.S. performance and that the 1995 WC was the best “A” World Championship performance.
As one looks ahead to the 2021 campaign, one can hope for a similar distinction: A measure of respectability against the really good teams and hopefully a couple of wins in the President’s Cup against similar sides trying to prove themselves. And, probably most importantly, real signs of promise as to even better performances at future World Championships leading up to the 2028 Olympics.
Every World Championship Match the U.S. Has Played in
Here’s a compilation of every World Championship the U.S. has participated in and the score from every match played.
IHF Competition Archive: Link (PDF with all competitions through 2009)
1963 Men’s Outdoor Field Handball World Championship (Switzerland)
The IHF staged one more Outdoor Field Handball World Championship in 1966 and then discontinued the tournament. The 1963 Championship was the only outdoor world championship that the U.S. particiated in.
1964 Men’s Handball World Championship (Czechoslovakia)
The Hueter brothers (Ian (center bottom) and (Patrick (left corner) are key members of the USA Men’s National Team.
There’s a long line of handball brothers playing for their country in international handball competition. France’s Bertrand and Guillaume Gille, Spain’s Alex and Daniel Dujshebaev, Poland’s Krzysztof and Marcin Lijewski, Argentina’s Diego, Pablo and Sebastian Simonet and Chile’s Emil, Erwin and Harald Feuchtmann to name a few. Why, even the U.S. had the Fitzgerald brothers (Joe and Tom) representing at the 1996 Olympics. Now added to this long line are Team USA’s Hueter brothers, Ian and Patrick.
Ian and Patrick join the podcast to discuss several topics to include their handball origins, connections to the U.S. despite mostly growing up in Germany, playing for TSV Bayer Dormagen youth teams and transitioning to the pro club, playing in the super competitive HBL 2, their recent contract extensions with Dormagen, Team USA’s upcoming training camp in Denmark and, of course, the upcoming 2021 World Championships.
Final Four 3rd Place and Championship (CET is 6 hours ahead of US ET)
EHF Champions League Final Four
Seven months later than planned due to the coronavirus pandemic the EHF Champions League Final Four takes center stage this Monday and Tuesday. It will be a little surreal seeing the normally sold out Laxness Arena in Cologne empty, but it will still be handball well worth watching.
How to Watch: If there is no TV contract where you live the matches will be available live on ehfTV. In the U.S and Canada the only way you can watch will be on beIN Sports XTRA, which is a free streaming service: More Info List of TV contracts by nation: Link Tom ‘Brannagáin will be providing English commentary for all 4 matches.
Odds: Barcelona, which is undefeated this season in all competitions, is a big favorite: Here are the odds for each team to win the tournament:
TSV Bayer Dormagen vs Gummersbach (-2.5) (Wednesday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. Dormagen is on a roll and will finish 202 with a huge challenge, taking on VFL Gummersbach which has lost only one game all season
Would you like to be informed as to when handball can be streamed online? If yes, follow Team Handball News on social media for updates like this as well as breaking alerts for unplanned opportunities like the free HBL matches that seem to pop up from time to time.
Ian Hueter and Dormagen take on Wilhelmshaven in a Boxing Day Matchup
Most of the pro leagues have shut down for the winter break, but the German Bundesliga marches on. Odds courtesy of Unibet.
American Athletes in Action
Germany HBL 2:
TV Wilhelmshaven vs TSV Bayer Dormagen (Pick em) (Saturday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. Dormagen had a huge win over VfL Lübeck-Schwartau on Wednesday and they have climbed the table to 4th place. Wilhelmshaven is in 12th place and 2 points will solidify their place in the standings. Dormagen has one more match to play and it’s a big one. On the 30th they will host 2nd place Gummersbach which is coached by the Icelandic legend, Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson.
Leipzig vs Flensburg (-2.5) (Sunday, 1430 CET): Link (VPN might be required; More info; What I use)
1st Place Flensburg travels to 6th place Leipzig. Flensburg needs every point to stay ahead of Kiel while Leipzig wants to move up in the standings for a shot at a European League slot for next year.
Would you like to be informed as to when handball can be streamed online? If yes, follow Team Handball News on social media for updates like this as well as breaking alerts for unplanned opportunities like the free HBL matches that seem to pop up from time to time.
The following is an English translation of an article that appears in the latest edition of the German magazine, HANDBALL Inside
The Los Angeles Project
By Erik Eggers
Because qualification was canceled due to the Coronavirus, the USA received a wildcard for the 2021 World Championships. This unexpected participation is only one step on the ambitious road to the Olympic Games in 2028.
Ian Hüter, 23, was sitting at his desk in Neuss and was completely immersed in his studies. He is working on his Bachelors Degree in International Business in Venlo. But then his WhatsApp almost knocked him off his chair: Robert Hedin, the USA head coach, in short, informed the team that they had received a wild card for the upcoming World Championships in Egypt from the IHF. “I got goose bumps when I read that,” says Hüter. “That’s really sheer madness”!
And so he will, Hueter realized, soon lead Team USA onto the court in Egypt against France, Norway and Austria. The center back for second division Bayer Dormagen has been the captain of the team for a while and his brother Patrick is also a member of the squad. “It will be fantastic, we are all just happy to be part of it “, he reports in an interview with HANDBALL inside. “We are all nuts for it, everyone can easily imagine that.”
This wildcard fuels the long-term project to bring handball in the USA up to world-class by the Olympic Games 2028 in Los Angeles and to popularize the sport on the most important market in the world (see “Utopia of handball”, Inside Handball Edition # 23) . The influx of potential candidates is increasing. “Since it has become clear that we will be at this World Championship already, a lot of players with an American passport have contacted us,” confirms national coach Hedin.
Among them were two professionals or semi-professionals from the Liga ASOBAL, the top Spanish league. “For one of the two players the World Championship won’t be happening this time, since his passport won’t be ready in time,” says Hedin. But he will invite the second player, Alexandré Chan Blanco (Dicsa Modular Cisne) to the preparatory training camp. Another will be a Hungarian pro who sent Hedin a video of himself playing against Veszprém in the Hungarian league. “I will also take a very close look at him during the camp,” says Hedin.
The criticism, especially in the Scandinavian media, that Greenland didn’t get the wild card award because the IHF has was only interested in economic goals, has little effect on the Swedish coach. “There will always be people who are dissatisfied with it,” says the European champion from 1994. The IHF simply had to make a decision after the qualifying tournaments in Mexico and Puerto Rico were cancelled.
From an athletic point of view, he cannot understand the allegations anyway. Says Hedin, “In comparison, we are no worse than Greenland.” With players like the Hüter brothers or circle runner, Domagoj Srsen, (Wilhelmshaven), we have already made progress. Circle runner, Drew Donlin, who also played in Dormagen, is meanwhile gaining valuable experience with Ademar Leon.
The national team is logistically controlled from Germany. The team manager is Andreas Hertelt, who won the European Cup in 1989 under Hotti Bredemeier with TuRu Düsseldorf (see also questions in Handball Inside Edition #29). Hertelt is looking for ways to organize the training camp originally planned in Norway. “It looks like we’ll all meet in Denmark at the beginning of January,” says Hedin, explaining the current state of affairs.
Hertelt, who lives in Krefeld, is also trying to acquire additional sponsors for the World Cup on short notice. A major sponsor has been emblazoned on the jersey since January: the American communications company Verizon. Its CEO, Hans Erik Vestberg, was once the president of the Swedish Handball Federation. In the long term, sponsor acquisition should also be easier, because the IHF Council has already decided to provide Team USA with a wildcard for the World Championships in 2025 (in Croatia, Denmark and Norway) and 2027 (in Germany) in order to help the team be more competitive at the 2028 Olympic tournament.
Also embedded in the US project is Stefan Bögel from Solingen, who used to work as a player’s agent in the Bundesliga, but now is primarily responsible for the female second division team HSV Solingen-Gräfrath. Bögl specifically coordinates the scouting of the younger age groups who are eligible for the 2028 Olympics, today’s A and B youth (ages 16-19) players. “The prospect of participating in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles is extremely tempting,” says Bögl.
PROMISING OUTLOOK
When they showed up with a US team at the Sauerland Cup in January, many young people with a U.S. passport had already approached him. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic prevented further scouting. A training camp planned in Luxembourg was canceled. “A lot has been destroyed by Corona,” complains Bögl, who emphasizes that the US association does not find players with money. “We are not Qatar, which has naturalized ready-made professionals with a lot of money,” he says.
“For a long time many players even have had to pay for their own transatlantic flight tickets,” assures Bögl. Ian Hüter confirms that. Yes, that happened in his early days with the program, especially during the training camp in Alabama. “We paid for the flight to Atlanta ourselves,” he says. “But for the PANAM Games in Lima in 2019, the Federation paid all the costs.”
Even before the surprising wildcard at the beginning of November, the U.S. federation was testing some highly talented junior players. Hedin has high hopes for Luke Bolte from Tiffin, Ohio. The 20-year-old pivot, who is 1.95 meters tall, weighs over 100 kilograms and has a perfect physique for handball, made his debut during the Sauerland Cup. Bolte will also take part in the Pre-World Championships training camp, said Hedin.
Most of all, however, there is Tristan Morawski, 15, a very promising left-handed backcourt whose father played for the Polish national team and who is not shy about aiming for very big goals: “I want to become the Michael Jordan of handball,” the over two meter tall teenager announced in conversation with the Olympic Channel. Hedin says he thinks it’s good when kids set high goals for themselves. But for the World Championships in Egypt Morawski will not be able to participate. “The age limit is 16 years.” Morawski’s 13-year-old brother Kailan is also assessed as having excellent talent.
Tristan Morawski also made his debut at the Sauerland Cup in January playing for the U.S. U19 team as a 14-year-old and has been even more motivated ever since. “I want to be the best,” he says, emulating his role model, Mikkel Hansen. “I want to play in the Olympics, win gold and be an MVP.” He dreams that handball will be as popular as basketball in the US in the not too distant future. It is his goal to expose handball to a larger audience, said Morawski.
Initially, however, he will also benefit from the support program established by the Forum Club Handball (FCH) to provide handball training for talented prospects. The association of the leading European top clubs is spending a total of seven figures on this, announced its managing director, Gerd Butzeck, in this magazine two years ago. The German goalkeeper René Ingram is now with IFK Kristianstad, and the talented goalkeeper Nico Robinson moved from the upper division TuS Dotzheim to Elverum this past summer.
Circle runner, Bolte, and Morawski are to be trained at the SG Flensburg-Handewitt Academy. “I can’t even put into words how much I’m looking forward to it,” says the young left-hander. “I can hardly wait.” Exactly the same development is intended for the female talents, because the US women will also have a team at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
FEMALE ADVANCEMENT
The idea behind the training program is that sustainable development is only possible if the US prospects are fully immersed in the handball environment associated with a top club. It would be a mistake to rely solely on athletes like winger Gary Hines, who played for a long time in the 3rd division at HSC Bad Neustadt and now, as a 36-year-old, is finishing out his career with Bögel’s home club Solingen-Gräfrath while concentrating on his coaching education. “Gary is incredibly fit,” says Bögel about the man who has already proven his physique several times on the RTL show “Ninja Warrior Germany”. “But, of course, you can tell that he didn’t play handball in his youth.”
A strong US team for Los Angeles is one thing. “The other thing is that handball has to grow in the USA,” says Hedin. “At some point we need a league system in the United States that also generates presence in the U.S. media.” Jean Brihault, the former EHF president, who also sees opportunities in college sport, has been working towards this goal for more than two years (see Interview in Handball Inside Edition #23: Translation). Initiatives like this have, of course, taken place in the past: The successful participation of the U.S. team in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich fizzled out, as did as the international match between Germany and Poland, which the German Horst-Dieter Esch, who was in charge of USA Team Handball at the time, played and organized in Chicago in 2010. In any case, there is a lot of work ahead for the handball developers in the USA.
In Egypt, however, as everyone involved is well aware, they will have to set their sights quite a bit lower. “I’m afraid we will get kicked in the face really hard at the World Cup,” Bögel suspects. “It’s not going to be enough for France and Norway” Hedin says and laughs out loud on the phone. We will probably end up in the Presidents Cup, in which places 25 to 32 will be determined. “Our goal is to win USA’s first World Championships game,” says Hedin. “Every game at this level is important for our development.”
Captain Ian Hüter regrets he won’t encounter injured legend Nikola Karabatic on the Giza pitch. “But there are also a lot of other great players that we will be up against, like Sander Sagosen,” he said. Above all, he is looking forward to meeting the French double world champion Kentin Mahé, who was trained like Hüter in Dormagen. “Kenny even went to the same school as me then,” says Hüter, “and as a kid I stood in the stands when he played. Of course, I looked up to him.” Perhaps in Giza there will be an opportunity to chat with his former idol about Dormagen. Or even outplay him and score a goal.
Thanks to Erik Eggers for providing a copy of the article and to Christa Ingram who assisted with its translation.
A few notes:
Luke Bolte will not be taking part in the Pre World Championship training camp mentioned in the article.
Tristan Morawski is already training at the Flensburg Academy.
Pal Merkovszki, a GK for Gyöngyösi KK is the unnamed Hungarian player.
Analysis of the USA’s 20 man roster for the World Championships: Link
For more on the Forum Club Handball’s support to USA athletes check out this podcast interview with Andreas Hertelt: Link
Istres hosts Montpellier on Youtube Channel LNH TV... Would you believe me if I said saw these two sides play each other in a neutral site match in Florida?
It’s getting closer to the winter break, but there’s still a smattering of matches this week. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM.
American Athletes in Action
Germany HBL 2:
TSV Bayer Dormagen vs VfL Lübeck-Schwartau (Wednesday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
TV Wilhelmshaven vs TSV Bayer Dormagen (Saturday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required; More info; What I use)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. While many of the national leagues have shut down for Christmas, that’s not the case with Germany. In fact, Dormagen has yet another game scheduled for the 30th.
Granollers (-5.5) vs Nava (Tuesday, 1900 CET) Video Link
Would you like to be informed as to when handball can be streamed online? If yes, follow Team Handball News on social media for updates like this as well as breaking alerts for unplanned opportunities like the free HBL matches that seem to pop up from time to time.
Irun hosts Barcelona in a Liga ASOBAL battle at the top of the table. It could be the best chance for an ASOBAL foe to knock off Barca this season.
The Women’s European Championship wraps up this weekend, but at the same time, there’s still plenty of Men’s pro club action. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM.
American Athletes in Action
Germany HBL 2: TV Emsdetten (Pick em) vs TSV Bayer Dormagen (pickn (Friday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. Dormagen hung tough with co-league leaders, Hamburg earlier in the week for most of the way, but ended up losing 32-26. They will be looking to rebound with 2 points vs Emsdetten, a team that is currently in the relegation zone.
You also might want to check out this video feature on the Hueter Brothers: Link (in German).
France Pro Ligue: Angers vs Besancon (Friday, 2000 CET): Link
Abou Fofana plays for Angers. Last weekend Angers had a dismal 28-20 loss to Sarrebourg, another struggling team at the bottom of the league table. On Friday night they get a chance to end the first half of the season on a positive note as they host Besancon a team just 4 points ahead of them in the standings.
Spain Liga Asobal: Huesca vs Leon (-1.5) (Saturday, 1800 CET): Link
Circle Runner, Drew Donlin plays for Leon. Should be a good battle between 4th place Leon and 5th place Huesca. <<Postponed due to positive COVID tests>>
A big challenge for Dormagen and the Hueter brothers on Tuesday
The 2020 EHF Women’s Handball European Championships is in full swing, but there’s still plenty of Men’s club action to watch this week as well. Here’s a summary of the next 3 days.
American Athletes in Action
Germany HBL 2: Hamburg (-3.5) vs Dormagen (Tuesday, 1800 CET): Link (VPN Required)
The Hueter brothers, Ian and Patrick play for Dormagen
Dormagen looked sharp last Friday, a 27-19 victory over Hamm-Westphalia. Now they travel to Hamburg to take on 2nd place Hamburg. A side with clear aspirations to move up to the HBL next season
Hungary K&H League: Gyöngyös vs Eger (Wednesday, 1800 CET): Link
GK, Pal Merkovszki, plays for Gyongyos
This will be the last game of the year for Gyongyos
Check out Merkovszki from this match earlier vs Komlo: Link
The Hueter brothers (Patrick and Ian) can be seen in action on Friday with their club Dormagen
Yes, the Women’s European Championship continues this weekend, but at the same time, there’s still plenty of Men’s pro club action. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM.
American Athletes in Action
Germany HBL 2: TSV Bayer Dormagen (pick em) vs Hamm-Westfalen (Friday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. Dormagen had a disappointing lost last week and 2 points would put them level with Hamm.
You also might want to check out this video feature on the Hueter Brothers: Link (in German)
Hungary K&H League: HE-DO B. Braun Gyöngyös – Sport36-Komló 2020 (Saturday, 1800 CET): Link
Pal Merkovski plays in the #2 GK for Gyongyos.
France Pro Ligue: Sarrebourg (-1.5) vs Angers (Saturday, 1800 CET): Link Abou Fofana plays for Angers. If this was a U.S. league this battle between the last 2 teams in the standings would be meaningless. But, with a
Spain Liga Asobal: Leon (-2.5) vs Valladolid (Saturday, 1825 CET): Link
Circle Runner, Drew Donlin plays for Leon. Should be a good battle between 5th place Leon and 8th place Valladolid. Both clubs typically have aspirations for a European competition slot.
Other Matches this Weekend
EHF European Competitions: ehfTV
With the exception of some makeup games the European competitions will be off now until February. You might want to check out the Match of the week played earlier this week: Elverum vs Flensburg (English commentary)
The USA Men’s National Team Roster (By Age: Youngest to Oldest)
The 20 man roster ranges from 17 Jakob Rysgaard Christensen) to 36 (Gary Hines) and has a very young average age of 23.5. Five of the athletes (Jonas Stromberg, Amar Amitovic, Paul Skorupa, Rene Ingram and Nicholas Robinson) were on the U.S. Jr World Championships team and Pal Merkovsky was on the Hungarian Jr World Championship team.
Much has been said and written about the U.S. getting an unwarranted helping hand to participate in this championship. That the U.S. didn’t earn it’s slot. There’s some truth to that, but no one can argue with one of the rationales for the U.S. bid: That participating in this World Championship will help develop athletes in preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games.
It’s difficult to project out 7.5 years, but the bulk of this talented and youthful roster has a future with the U.S. National Team. We will be seeing several of these athletes in a U.S. uniform in Los Angeles at the 2028 Olympic Games. How many? I’m thinking 5, but it could be as many as 10.
U.S. Roster (By Nation Where Athletes First Played Handball)
The USA Men’s National Team Roster (By Country Where they First Played Handball)
All of these athletes are Americans, but the U.S. is a large nation with a global population. Estimates vary, but as many as 9M American citizens live in another country so it’s no real surprise that some of those 9M learned to play handball where they grew up. In fact, 85% (17 of 20) of the U.S. roster originally played handball in 13 different countries. Germany leads the way with 6 athletes while Denmark, France and Sweden have 2 each. Other nations: Bosnia & Herzegovina (1), Croatia (1), Egypt (1), Hungary (1), Spain (1).
(The fact that the U.S. has so many dual citizen athletes is sometimes seen as controversial, but it shouldn’t be. I addressed this reality and its implications for the U.S. National Team and the sport’s development previously in a series of commentaries Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
In terms of the 3 U.S. athletes that were raised stateside, 1 athlete (Drew Donlin) first learned to play at a college club (Air Force), 1 athlete (Ty Reed) is a product of the former Auburn Residency Program and 1 athlete (Gary Hines) was a product of an Atlanta based youth program and the Condors club.
Only PANAM Games veteran, Sam Hoddersen, made the 20 man roster. I projected that Lukas Hansen would also make the cut, mostly based on the fact that he plays for a top division Danish Pro Club, Fredericia HK. I’ve heard there may be some issues with his passport, but I don’t know if that was the deciding factor or not. The fact that only 1 left wing was selected and 4 right backs were taken leads me to believe that we will also see a lot of Gary Hines at left wing as well.
USA Left Backs
It was pretty much a given that Fofana and Hines would be selected, but it was less clear who else might get selected here. I had chosen Seb Wheeler based in part on his PANAM Games Alternate selection last year, but the coaching staff went with Amar Amitovic.
USA Center Backs
Again, there was zero doubt that the Team Captain, Ian Hueter and newcomer, Alexandre Chan Blanco, who leads his Liga Asobal club, Cisne, in scoring would make the team, but I went with Amir Seifert as the 3rd option. The coaching staff decided to just take 2 center backs and have identified Michael Williams and Philipp Scholz as potential replacements.
Also, another factor to take into account. Chan and Hueter might both be worthy of starting and playing a lot of minutes. I won’t be surprised to see both of these athletes on the court at the same time with one of them moving to left or right back.
USA Right Backs
For me right back was the hardest position to project. The PANAM Games roster had no true right backs on its roster. A situation that was problematic at times. Now for the World Championships the U.S. will have 4 right backs. However, each of these athletes have question marks. Briffe played professionally in France, but hasn’t been able to play indoors in the U.S. due to the pandemic. Elzoghby played great for the U.S. back in 2010-11 but was less impressive in friendlies last year. Stromberg played well at Jr World’s, but is he ready for the Sr level? And, of course, the same is true for Christiansen who is just 17. (He must really have potential to be selected at that age). I suspect that the coaching staff (like me) is a little in the dark and will use the training camp to figure out who emerges from these 4 options.
USA Right Wings
I only projected Reed and Binderis getting selected here, but Nicolai Weber must also have impressed with his game film. Reed is the projected starter and I suspect the coaching staff will use the training camp to evaluate who will be the primary backup.
USA Circle Runners
The U.S. is well stocked at circle runner and I think these four athletes will all get significant playing time. And, we will likely see two circle runners playing on offense some of the time and on defense most of the time with one of these 4 also subbing in as a defensive specialist. Alex Binderis is the victim of a deep depth chart and was selected as an alternate.
USA Goalkeepers
Last year, I thought the U.S. was lucky to have 2 young, quality goalkeepers with a future. Now we have 3? And, the new addition, Pal Merkovsky, may even be better. That’s crazy good fortune. It should be a great training camp with all 3 GKs looking to impress the coaching staff. I know nothing about the other 2 GKs selected as alternates, but in this time of COVID, where multiple positive test results is a real threat, keeping extra GKs as alternates that can be called up is a wise move.
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