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.
Last Tuesday these two teams played to a draw in Austria. Leon will look to get 2 points at home in Spain Side note: Several players on the Fivers side will likely be part of the Austrian national team side that will the U.S. on 14 January at the World Championship
Tatran Presov vs IFK Kristianstad (-1.5) (Tuesday, 2045 CET): Link
Six matches on tap this week. Veszprem vs Kiel is the big match on Wednesday. If Kiel is going to make a run for a round of 16 bye they need to start that run with a victory here. On Thursday Paris S-G is pretty much in the same situation. They are a disappointing 3-0-3 in Group Play and a victory vs Group leaders Kielce could jump start a return to the top. No spoiler preview: Link
Szeged (-3.5) vs Meshkov Brest Brest (Wednesday, 1845 CET)
Nantes (-4.5) vs Motor Zaporozhye Wednesday, 2045 CET)
Elverum vs Flensburg (-3.5) (Thursday, 1845 CET) <<English Commentary>>
Liga Asobal
Liga Asobal: Nava vs Aranda (-4.5) (Wednesday, 2000): Video Link
Lidl Starligue
Creteil vs Chambery (-1.5) (Tuesday, 1900 CET) Link
The IHF and USA Team Handball have posted the 35 man provisional roster for the 2021 World Championships. Here are some break downs of the roster by age, where athletes first learned handball and by position.
USA Provisional Roster (Youngest to Oldest)
U.S. Provisional Roster (Youngest to Oldest)
The ages on the 35 man roster range from 16 to 36 with an average age of 23.9. This is surely one of the youngest teams every for the U.S. and this is due to quite a few younger dual citizens list on the provisional roster. Almost a third of the roster (11 of 35) are under 21 and could form the nucleus of a pretty decent Jr team.
USA Provisional Roster (Nation Where they First Played Handball)
U.S. WC Roster (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, 80% (28 of 35) of the U.S. roster originally played handball in 13 different countries. Germany leads the way with 7 athletes followed by Sweden with 5. Other nations: Denmark (3), France (2), Bosnia & Herzegovina (2), Croatia (2), Austria (1), Colombia (1), Egypt (1), Hungary (1), Israel (1), Norway (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 7 U.S. athletes that were raised stateside, 3 athletes (Hamm, Kennedy and Donlin) are products of Collegiate Clubs, 3 athletes (Lee, Reed and King) are products of the former Auburn Residency Program and 1, Gary Hines, was a product of an Atlanta based youth program and the Condors club.
USA Provisional Roster (By Position)
I’ve broken out the provisional roster by each position listed for the athletes on the roster. I’ve also taken a stab at projecting the 20 man roster. As, often is the case, this was a relatively simple task for the first 15 or so, but much more difficult as one gets nearer the cut line. Further complicating the task are these factors:
Some of these athletes have never played for the U.S. before (and, I’ve never seen them play before).
Some of these athletes have been playing regularly and some athletes haven’t been playing at all due to the pandemic. This could clearly boost the chances of athletes who are already in game shape.
The coaching staff might factor in long term plans for the U.S. and this could give a boost to a younger player’s consideration.
Generally, rosters contain 2 at every position and then a couple of extra players. With an expanded 20 man roster it’s tougher to project which positions will take 3 or more athletes.
That said, here’s my depth chart at each position with the athletes in green getting my nod. Again, I’m flying somewhat blind here, but we’ll see how close I come. For sure, I don’t envy the tough, real decisions the coaching staff will have to make.
USA WC Roster (Left Wings)
Sam Hoddersen was a steady performer at the PANAM Games, but projecting the #2 is challenging. Lukas Hansen is an unknown quantity, but plays on the youth team for one of Denmark’s top clubs, Frederica. And, he’s even played a few matches for their pro team in Denmark’s top level of play. Michael Lee and Michael King were alternates For the PANAM Games and will also get consideration. Juan Felipe Zabala Carvajal plays for Inter Miami and I’m not familiar with his play. A further wild card: Gary Hines has shown that he can play this position as well.
USA WC Roster (Left Backs)
Abou Fofana is the projected starter at Left Back and Gary Hines will also likely play some there as well. Hines could also, however, ending up playing Right Back like he did at the PANAM Games or Left Wing as well. I see Seb Wheeler as the 3rd option here ahead of the other Left Backs listed.
USA WC Roster (Center Backs)
Ian Hueter is the key to the U.S. offense and has been playing well this season for his club team, Dormagen. Alexandre Chan Blanco is the biggest newcomer to the U.S. roster and leads his Liga Asobal club, Cisne, in scoring with 79 goals this season in 14 matches. He’ll play some at CB, but I’m thinking he might also be moved to RB as well. Certainly, he is in playing form and the U.S. will need to find a spot for him. I think Amir Seifert is the 3rd option here, but, a case could also be made for Aaron Hamm, who played at Jr Worlds. Also, Michael Williams makes a return after a long absence. He was a key player on the 2011 PANAM Games squad, but I haven’t seen him play since.
USA WC Roster (Right Backs)
Overall, I found this position the toughest to project. For the PANAM Games, coach Hedin chose to have Gary Hines play quite a bit of RB which was a bit out of position for him. In theory, none of these players could make the roster in favor of left backs and center backs moving over to right back. If, however the U.S. chooses to go with a left hander at this position, Benjamin Briffe is the most experienced option. He played a few years in France’s highest pro league, but he is currently living in the U.S., and thanks to the pandemic, he’s unlikely to be in game shape. Jonas Stromberg is an up and coming player that is showing progress and Adam Elzhoghby is another experienced option. There’s something to be said, as well, to having an Egyptian American on your roster at a WC that is played in Egypt.
USA WC Roster (Right Wings)
Ty Reed, currently training in Flensburg, is the obvious starter here, but it’s not clear who his back up will be. Max Binderis is a known quantity, but I have no idea as to pedigree of the newcomer, Nicolai Weber.
USA WC Roster (Circle Runners)
The U.S. has it’s most depth at the circle runner position so I see the U.S. taking 4 or even 5 players at this position. I’ve seen both Hueter and Donlin play several times this year and I give the overall edge to Hueter here. Donlin, however, has been making great strides while playing backup at Liga Asobal side, Leon, so he will see plenty of playing time. Domagoj Srsen is a bit of a question mark since he’s not actively playing. Still it’s hard to see a defensive specialist who’s played for Zagreb and Hannover not making an impact. Paul Skorupa edges out Alex Binderis, but I wouldn’t be surprised if both are taken.
USA WC Roster (Goalkeepers)
The U.S. goalkeeper situation is also fairly clear. Rene Ingram (IFK Kristianstad) and Nicolas Robinson (Elverum) were the U.S. GKs during the PANAM Games and are both training with Champions League clubs thanks in part to the Forum Club Handball. I haven’t seen Pal Merkovsky play, but he appears to be the backup GK for Gyongyos which is professional club that plays in Hungary’s top league. It will be interesting to see how he stacks up against the other two keepers.
Previous Articles Assessing the USA Men’s Player Pool
This Collegiate System doesn’t make much sense… It just doesn’t.
In Part 1, I highlighted the dramatic funding disparity between club and varsity sports. In Part 2, I review how much “Olympic Sports” cost Ohio St and why to a large extent American Football pays for everything.
There are a lot of ways one can classify or categorize the sports that are played at American colleges and universities. It can be confusing and sports are often lumped together in categories that can be misleading. Here are some of those categories and some basic definitions for them:
Revenue Producing Sports: These are sports which produce significant amounts of revenue and at many colleges they have a positive balance sheet.
Non Revenue sports: These sports do not generate much revenue and in most cases have a negative balance sheet.
Varsity Sports: These are sports that are managed and funded by a school’s athletic department
Club Sports: These are sports managed and partially funded by a school’s Student Services or Recreation Services department.
NCAA Sports: These are sports that are sanctioned by the NCAA. Schools choosing to participate in NCAA competitions are required to follow NCAA rules, particularly when it comes to recruiting and scholarships.
NCAA “Head Count” Scholarship Sports: These are sports where the NCAA requires every scholarship athlete to receive a “full ride” scholarship. (In other words everything is paid for.)
NCAA “Equivalency” Scholarship Sports: These are sports where “partial” scholarships can be awarded and split among the roster of athletes. Coaches can still choose to award full ride scholarships to some athletes, but this will then limit the number of partial scholarships available.
Olympic Sports: These are Olympic sports, but the definition is pretty fluid. Non varsity sports (which also happen to be Olympic) are usually not part of the discussion. Additionally no distinction is typically made as to what role these college competitions actually have in terms of developing athletes for Olympic competition.
These categories can overlap into some fairly complicated Venn diagrams, but I’ve tried to group them in terms of net revenue and their relevance to athlete development for future Olympic competitions. Remember this analysis is for just one college, Ohio St, and it was compiled using this publicly available data: link
Net Positive Varsity Sports
At Ohio St, and at most colleges, there are only two sports that generate significant amounts of revenue: American Football and Men’s Basketball. At Ohio State they are also way on the plus side and generated $55M and $14M respectively in 2019. And, as we shall see as we look at the rest of the categories they essentially pay for all the other sports that lose money.
Varsity Sports (Olympic: Primary Development Pathway)
These 21 sports are Olympic sports where college programs are the primary development pathway for future Olympic athletes. It can be debated somewhat as to how vital college programs are for each individual sport, but I think it’s fairly safe to say that the vast majority of the athletes in the sports listed above would not have been Olympians if these college programs didn’t exist.
Here’s some food for thought:
How much value is the USOPC and the individual sports National Governing Bodies (NGB) getting out of these programs at Ohio St? Well, if one divides the net revenue (-$27M) by the total scholarships (179.3) it amounts to roughly $150,000/year for each full scholarship athlete. Multiply that by 4 and that is $600,000 over 4 years of college education… all for 1 potential Olympic athlete. (Yes, if one wants to further divide by partial scholarships and walk on athletes (total 702) you’ll get a smaller number: $38,000/year or $153,000 over 4 years.) That being said, in most cases the top athletes with the most potential will probably have a full ride scholarship.
Keep in mind… that these college sports program cost the USOPC and the individual sports NGBs nothing. All of this development of athletes is “free” and does not come out of their budget.
And, this is just for one college. Ohio St is big college with a fine tradition and one of the largest budgets, but it’s still just one college. There are 130 large schools (D1 Football Subdivision Schools (FBS)). There are an additional 217 Colleges with sizable budgets (D1 basketball schools without a D1 FBS football program). And, then there are several hundred smaller colleges with sports programs, albeit with fewer or no scholarships.
All of this is paid by college football and to a lesser extent Men’s college basketball? How does that make sense? Did the players sign up for this?
Varsity Sports (Secondary/Very Limited Olympic Development and Non Olympic)
The 12 varsity sports above have only marginal or zero benefit in terms of the development of Olympic athletes. The reasons vary, but are mostly related to athletes turning pro without collegiate careers or in the case of gymnastics and synchronized swimming athletes become high level competitors without college training. And, then the last 4 sports listed aren’t Olympic sports. Baseball and softball will be back for Tokyo, but won’t be played in Paris. Lacrosse hasn’t been an Olympic sport since 1908 although they surely would like to get back on the Olympic Program.
A Side Note on Fuzzy Math
It should be noted that all of this self reported data from Ohio St should be taken with a grain of salt for multiple reasons. One big reason is the actual cost of a scholarship is open for a lot of debate. In most instances schools are not actually paying that full cost or losing out on the money that another non scholarship athlete would pay. Further, if one reviews the Ohio St database there’s some big accounting lines that aren’t associated with any particular sport. A whopping $75M (expenses) and $61M (revenue) is not explained or attributed to any individual sport. (See pages 15 and 16 in the report) I’m thinking one could probably actually attribute those costs if they really wanted to. As an example, how much time to you think the Athletic Director spends on football and synchronized swimming issues respectively?
Why this Crazy System?
If you ever live outside your home country, you’ll get the chance to see first hand how other countries do things and inevitably you’ll find yourself questioning how things are done back home. For me, personally, there were two big topical areas that came to mind. Health care and our sports structures. I won’t get into health care, but let’s talk a bit about how sports are organized in the U.S. and specifically, our college sports structure.
The European sports model is by no means perfect, but once exposed to it, it doesn’t take long for an American to compare it to the system they are familiar with… and start to scratch their head. Honestly, it’s pretty hard to look at the numbers above and defend this crazy system. Certainly it is impossible to do so from a fiscal viewpoint. Men’s football and to a lesser extent men’s basketball subsidize almost everything. That just doesn’t make any sense. And, worse the athletes playing those sports are not paid their market value and they have to become college students in order to play. Don’t get me wrong. Getting a college education is a good thing, but there’s no real reason it has to or should be tied to playing a sport.
So why do we have this crazy system? Well, if you do a little research you’ll discover that over time a system which made sense for amateur collegiate competitions gradually made less and less sense as two sports, American Football and Men’s basketball, grew into bigger and bigger sports with professional leagues. Instead of these sports becoming fully professionalized from age 18 and up, colleges hung on to these sports creating pseudo professional leagues which also became the de facto development competitions for the pro leagues.
At the same time other collegiate sports did not grow to the same extent, but since they were part of school athletic departments and the NCAA they were still provided substantial levels of support. This support was provided in part due to tradition and in part, due to NCAA requirements. Further, a U.S. law, Title IX required colleges and universities to provide equal opportunities in terms of sports and scholarships for women.
So essentially, over time we have created a system where hundreds of colleges in order to keep their cash cow revenue sports have agreed to fund dozens of other sports which are a net revenue loss.
A Crazy System, but it’s not All Bad
This system might seem a little crazy, but depending on where you stand it’s not all bad. More opportunities for women to play sports… That’s a good thing.
If you are involved with one of the dozens of sports propped up by this system it’s a great thing. If you are an athlete you have the opportunity to perhaps earn a scholarship and play in a well organized competition. If you are a high level coach there are multiple, good paying job opportunities. If you are part of the youth sports industry this system will help ensure that plenty of youth athletes will be interested in furthering developing their skills via sports clubs. If you are a sports NGB all of this development from youth to college is infrastructure that you don’t have to pay for. Indeed, it is often an additional source of revenue.
Of course, I know what supporters of these dozens of sports are saying as they read this. They are saying that their sport isn’t being propped up, but rather the demand from athletes was already there. That colleges are just responding to the growing demand from their sport.
I would argue, however, that they are exaggerating this demand in most cases. For sure, all sports have some level of intrinsic demand. Sports are fun and people play them just for fun. That being said most sports if they lost NCAA status, the great organized competitions that come with that status and, of course, the scholarships would see a significant decline in interest at all levels.
Different Tiers, Different Perspectives
Much has been written and said about how American football and men’s college basketball athletes should be paid for their efforts. After all they are bringing in revenue. Call these sports the top tier.
Much has also been written and said about the other NCAA sports that are in some cases now being cut from some schools. And, that these “Olympic Sports” are getting short changed. Call these sports the middle tier.
And, then there are sports like team handball and rugby with no NCAA status. Call this the bottom tier.
As a proponent of a sport in the bottom tier I can only look at the middle tier’s whining and say, “Give me a break! Good lord. You guys all lose money. Quit whining. You don’t realize how good you’ve got it.”
Here’s some food for thought for you:
Ohio St University (just 1 college) spends more on 33 sports than USA Team Handball does as a national federation. Yes, for the last several years the expenses for USA Team Handball has been around $500,000. Divide that in two for Men/Women and only Men’s Rifle and Women’s Pistol at Ohio State have a smaller budget.
NGBs which have an NCAA component typically receive more grant money from the USOPC than USA Team Handball does. Contemplate for a moment where those NGBs would be in terms of competitiveness and fiscal status if they didn’t have that NCAA component?
Finally, here’s something else that will have you scratching your head again. Quite a few scholarships are actually awarded to foreigners. In fact, in 2019 there were 3,455 international student athletes playing Division 1 sports. Roughly 12% of Division I. Yes, U.S. colleges are spending millions of dollars to develop foreign athletes; many that have gone on to win Olympic medals. How does that possibly make sense?
Time to start over? The pandemic has exacerbated the dramatic difference between Tiers 1 and 2 with some schools dropping some sports. But, maybe this just isn’t an issue between tiers 1 and 2? In part 3, I’ll discuss how the pie should be split more equitably between tiers 2 and 3.
Abou Fofana and Angers take on Billere Friday at 20:00 CET / 14:00 US ET. Watch the match live on Angers Facebook page.
Plenty of handball viewing options this weekend, including some Friday mid-day options for Americans with a long Thanksgiving weekend. Odds courtesy of Bet MGM.
American Athletes in Action
France Pro Ligue: Angers (-0.5) vs Nice vs Billère (Friday, 2000 CET): Link (What? Bet MGM is posting 2nd Div French betting lines? They sure are)
Left back, Abou Fofana plays for Angers. Currently in last place, Angers could really use a win vs 11th place Billere.
Germany HBL 2: Dormagen (-3.5) vs Groswallstadt (Saturday, 1930 CET): Link (VPN required)
Ian and Patrick Hueter play for Dormagen. 9th place Dormagen will try and make it 3 wins in a row against 14th place Grosswallstadt
Other Matches this Weekend
EHF European Competitions: ehfTV
It’s the calm before the storm this weekend as there are no EHF Women’s Champions League matches this weekend. Instead Women’s National Teams are getting ready for the Women’s European Championships which will start this Thursday, 3 December. However, there are plenty of on demand matches from this past week’s Men’s Champions League. Options include Barca v Kiel; Paris v Porto; and Veszprem v Aalborg
Toulouse hosts Leon in a key EHF European League match on Tuesday
Plenty of handball matches to watch the next 3 days. What’s also fun to think about: The switch to midweek means that American fans will be able to start a new Thanksgiving tradition on Thursday: Dual screen Champions League Handball/NFL viewing after their turkey dinner.
American Athletes in Action
EHF European League: Toulouse (-1.5) vs Leon (Tuesday, 2045 CET): Link
Were at the halfway point of the Champions League and that means we get return legs from last week’s matches. This is generally interesting in that we get to see how coaches make adjustments in the intervening weeks to fix problems or pile on with what worked last week. I’ll be watching to see if Flensburg can rebound from their surprise draw with Brest and whether Barca will have no problems with Kiel again. No spoiler preview: Link
Veszprem (-6.5) vs Aalborg Brest (Wednesday, 1845 CET)
Kielce (-5.5) vs Vardar (Wednesday, 2045 CET) <<English Commentary>>
Celje vs Nantes (-2.5) (Wednesday, 2045 CET)
Paris S-G (-5.5) vs FC Porto (Thursday, 1845 CET)
Szeged (-4.5) vs Elverum (Thursday, 1845 CET)
Barcelona (-3.5) vs Kiel (Thursday, 2045 CET)
Liga Asobal
Valladolid vs Irun (-2.5) (Wednesday, 2000 CET) Link
Aranda vs Angel Ximenez (-2.5) (Thursday, 1830 CET) Link
A discussion on the new North America & Caribbean Handball Confederation
In Part 1, I chatted with Marxwell Masauna Frederiksen and Jackson Howden about their handball backgrounds. In Part 2 we discuss the cancellation of the North American & Caribbean Championship and the IHF’s decision to give the U.S. the NACHC slot for the Men’s World Championships. We also talk about the future of the NACHC including the possibility of the roommates playing against each other, the NACHC getting more spots for the WC, the possibility of Greenland playing in the PANAM Games/Olympic Games, expansion of the Forum Club Handball (FCH) program to help other NACHC nations and the development of beach handball in Greenland and Canada. Beach Handball in Greenland?
Kras Volendam Women’s Head Coach, Mark Ortega (Photo: Jaap van der Pijll)
The following interview was conducted by Dutch club KRAS Volendam
The USA national team is going to the World Championships. Anin-depth interview with Mark Ortega/Coach of KRAS Volendam ladies
Recently the USA Men’s National Handball team has been invited to participate in the World Championships. Normally this news would not have a great impact on HV KRAS/Volendam, but this season we feel the effect due to our American trainer Mark Ortega and players Alex Binderis and Christine Mansour.
How many games will the USA win at the World Championships?
“The USA has never won a game at the World Championships. I predict we will win at least two, but more importantly we will show our growth as a handball team and as a nation.”
Team USA made it to the World Championships. The world doesn’t really know much about this. Tell us about the journey?
“The last three to four years Team USA has made some huge leaps. This is a combination of various factors. The last few USA Junior National teams have had some recent success on the international stage. Due to the new IHF developing Nations Tournaments. The last four years the USA Men’s Junior National team has qualified for the IHF Developing Nations Final, which has led to the Junior National team qualifying for the Junior World Championships in Spain (2019). There’s also a new program developed where the USA Handball players (both male and female) are placed at high level clubs in Europe. FCH (Forum Handball Club) started this program with a selected group of athletes and coaches and currently contains approximately 10 athletes and one coaches. In my perspective the IHF, FCH and EHF are all doing their part to see the USA Handball develop. From creating high level youth and junior tournaments to creating programs designed specifically for player and coach development, allowing these players and coach to be part of major clubs throughout the world. It’s easy to see that we, Team USA, are on the fast track to possibly bring our national teams to a higher level. I’m excited to see this new development.
On a personal level HV KRAS/Volendam has seen this as an opportunity and jumped on board. It’s great to work with a club that sees things in advance and isn’t afraid of anything abnormal within the handball world.”
What’s your role at HV KRAS/Volendam and for Team USA and how does this combination work?
“My role at HV KRAS/Volendam is a combination between creating a stable women’s handball foundation for HV KRAS/Volendam and working on the development of the Team USA handball.
It’s a challenge for me as fulltime trainer/coach for our Ladies first team. But the club gives me enough space to combine my daily work with the position as USA assistant within the men’s National Team. I’ve been the assistant there for the past six years and have been responsible for many aspects regarding the development of the team. For example, I’ve worked as the full-time residence coach in Auburn for the past five years, Alabama, USA. Where I’ve had the privilege of working with five-time Olympian Javier Garcia Cuesta helping develop USA players. Most of the players in the residency program were ‘late starters’ of the game, many football or basketball players. Ty Reed is one of those players who started in Auburn and now plays in Flensburg, Germany. But I’ve also recruited high level athletes and dual citizens for the USA national team, which is not easy. Without any funding and only being able to talk about what if… what if… scenarios, to recruit players. Players such as Ian Hueter, Patrick Hueter and Domajoj Srsen have heard my talk of what the USA National team can do and it’s great seeing them get a chance to participate in a World Championships early in their career. These players have dual citizenship and respectfully played or have played in the top leagues in Europe.”
Team USA and HV KRAS/Volendam don’t seem to be a logical match? Can you tell me if there is a match?
“HV KRAS/Volendam and Team USA are actually much alike. The fit is obvious in regard to the players and coaching levels. The club is still emerging in the league and is trying to develop players at various skill levels, just like our national team programs. Coaching handball in the USA is not considered the highest level throughout the world and you have to develop players with various skill levels and mindsets. The same goes at HV KRAS/Volendam. An emerging club with large differences in skill level and mindset between the players. As a trainer I work with developing the talent that is at hand. That’s a different way of creating impact and improving skill sets to when you ‘just buy’ pro players and work on a team. HV KRAS/Volendam has amateurs with highly skilled talents. You have to know how to reach each one of them to impact them all.”
“I have to say that I’m thankful for HV KRAS/Volendam’s work. They made this opportunity possible for me. You have to be able to look outside of the box to give an American an opportunity like this. It says a lot about their direction and vision as a club. To broaden the program and impact for Team USA we need more clubs who are willing and able to facilitate like HV KRAS/Volendam does. In the end HV KRAS/Volendam’s investment for the future will give them a unique position within the handball world.
They have also given me the opportunity to complete my IHF Master Coaching Course via the Spanish association. In February I’m expected to receive my EHF Master Coaching course/Pro License. This EHF license will make me the first American born coach to have the necessary license to legally coach Pro teams and National teams at EHF and IHF official competitions. I’m very proud of this.”
Alex Binderis is also at HV KRAS/Volendam. Could you tell us something about him?
Alex has a unique story. As a younger player he participated in some of Sweden’s National team development programs. As the years went by Alex and his family continued to follow the USA National team. At the age of 19 Alex and his brother Max decided to try and join the USA National team. Both have seen recent success participating in IHF Developing Nations Tournaments. Alex was invited to join the FCH program last year and Volendam answered the call. After playing many years on different Swedish teams Alex is not only fulfilling his dream to play as a professional but also fulfilling his Dad’s dream for Alex to be a professional handball player in the Europe’s top league.
We take it you’ve had some influence in the arrival of Christine Mansour as well.
“We were able to invite her this year to join HV KRAS/Volendam to train and compete with the women’s teams. The interesting thing about Christine is that she’s never played indoor handball before; however, Christine is the best beach handball player for Team USA and her potential is enormous. Even with the Covid outbreak Christine is making enormous steps to becoming a better all-round handball player. I expect her, when we start again, to play an important role. Again HV KRAS/Volendam thinks out-of-the-box and gets it done. A great development for USA team handball.”
What is your direction and drive for handball?
“Handball has been a central part of my development for the past 17 years. I understand with our sport that sacrifice is needed a lot. I learned this as a player and expect this mentality from my players. I also realized in my career as a player that if I was on the court it was important to find players that were better than me. You have to test yourself and commit to getting better. My wife and two kids moved to Volendam as part of our sacrifice and commitment to our goal of becoming a better coach and representative for the USA.”
What are your plans for the future?
“Recently, I resigned as the assistant to the National team coach to concentrate on representing the athletes on the Board of directors of USATH. Being in the Netherlands and seeing what goes on in the management of the club I’ve come to realize that we can make huge strides in the development of USA team handball, both on management and board level. Since I stepped down from my position as assistant coach of Team USA, I’ve been elected to represent the athletes on the board of Team USA. Seeing what happens behind the scenes at HV KRAS/Volendam gave me the insight to make this move and get more involved directly with all the athletes. My goal will be to help all athletes’, men and women, to find the road helping them succeed. This is a role long needed within the USA as American athletes don’t have a contact person to whom they can go whatever their playing level. And I would like to be that person. My goal is to develop new programs, similar to our program at HV KRAS/Volendam. This would give athletes more opportunities to play and develop.”
Athletes first, seems to be your message.
“Being a head coach in the Dutch Women’s first league now opens a new and wide road of development for coaching. Being an American coach in Europe means many eyes will be on me, and that attention will help the USA gain more possibilities. I hope my path will give more athletes and coaches inspiration to keep pursuing their handball goals. Christine, Alex and I have a great situation in Volendam, and we proved that it’s possible. We hope we can continue to contribute to the development of the HV KRAS/Volendam program and our ideas about life and handball are really similar. Let’s keep this movement going.
We’ve also been busy contributing to the development of new handball players around the World via my personal YouTube channel. I try to cater to a specific demographic group of adults who have never played handball before but want to learn the sport. Of course, we use my players at HV KRAS/Volendam. Check out the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoeQucS7UvA
Abou Fofana and Angers take on Strasbourg today at 2000 (CET) / 1400 (US ET) Watch live on the Angers Facebook page
While the Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in several matches getting postponed this week, for the most part the European Leagues are marching on with a near full slate of matches. And, this has got to be a first: 3 Americans with 3 different club will be playing simultaneously later today.
American Athletes in Action
French Pro Ligue: Angers vs Strasbourg (Tuesday, 2000 CET): Link
Left back, Abou Fofana plays for Angers. Both Angers and Strasbourg are near the bottom of the table and could use a win. This video will be on Facebook and is the first opportunity we have this season to see Abou Fofana with his new club
EHF European League: Leon (-5.5) vs Metalurg (Tuesday, 2045 CET): Link
Leon lost to Logrono on Saturday and will look to bounce back vs Metalurg. It will be interesting to see how ready Metalurg after their 40 hour bus drive from North Macedonia to Spain.
EHF European League: USAM Nimes (-3.5) vs IFK Kristianstad (Tuesday, 2045 CET): Link
Goalkeeper, Rene Ingram, plays for Kristianstad. Ingram is Kristianstad’s 3rd keeper and is on the roster due to an injury to their top keeper.
HBL 2: TSV Bayer Dormagen vs. HSG Konstanz (Wednesday, 1930 CET): Link (may require VPN)
Hosts, Dormagen (Ian and Patrick Hueter) should be solid favorites over 17th place Konstanz
Other Matches this Week
EHF European League
10 matches on Tuesday at either 1845 or 2045 CET
Top Matches: Both of these matches are interesting in that they feature more well known top clubs as 3.5 goal favorites on the road
Nexe vs Montpellier (-3.5) (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
GOG vs Rhein-Neckar (-3.5) (Tuesday, 1845 CET)
EHF Champions League
Top Matches: It will really be very interesting to see how struggling Paris (only 1 win) does against Porto. Kiel vs Barca is the other standout match. No spoiler preview: Link
Aalborg vs Veszprem (-4.5) (Wednesday, 1845 CET)
Flensburg (-4.5) vs Meskov Brest (Wednesday, 1845 CET)
FC Porto vs Paris S-G (-2.5) (Wednesday, 1845 CET)
Zagreb vs HC Motor (-1.5) (Wednesday, 2045 CET)
Vardar vs Kielce(-2.5) (Thursday, 1845 CET)
Kiel vs Barca (-1.5) (Thursday, 1845 CET) <<English Commentary>>
The pandemic appears to be ramping up again, so you might want to catch some handball action online… while you still can. Thankfully, there are a plethora of options this weekend. Here’s some links to online streams with the goals handicap betting odds courtesy of Bet MGM.
EHF Women’s Champions League: Round 8 includes 3 matches on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.
The U.S. may have an outsider’s chance against Austria at the World Championships. Check out how well another outsider, Estonia, fares against them today.
Austria hosts Estonia today at 8:25 PM (CET) / 2:25 PM (US ET) in an European Championship Qualification match. The match can be seen on ehfTV. (Requires free registration). The oddsmakers have Austria as a 6.5 goal favorite. (Bet MGM)
The U.S. has drawn France, Norway and Austria and without a doubt that’s some stiff competition. It’s pretty hard to imagine the U.S. having any chance whatsoever vs France and Norway, but one can at least speculate on the possibility of the U.S. putting up a decent fight vs Austria.
Austria’s Roster
Austria is a 2nd tier European handball nation that sometimes challenges 1st tier European nations. Case in point: hard fought matches vs Croatia and Spain on home soil this past January at the European Championships. And, at the other end, they are a nation that has slipped up against lesser opponents. Case in point: A 32-24 loss to Chile at the 2019 World Championships.
Further, with their best player, Nikola Bilyk, out due to injury, the team participating in Egypt will be a notch down in quality from the side that participated in the most recent tournaments. Their roster features a handful of players playing in Germany, most notably Robert Weber, and other countries, but the bulk of their team plays in Austria. The Austrian League is a solid competition, but it’s not as strong as the leagues in other nations.
Estonia: A European Outsider
Austria’s opponent, Estonia, is a European outsider that’s never had any real success in handball. They’ve never qualified for the World Championships or European Championships and I don’t think they’ve ever come close. Their roster is mostly composed of athletes playing in Estonia or for 2nd tier foreign pro teams in other countries. The notable exception is Mat Patrail who currently plays for Rhein-Necker in the German Bundesliga.
An Estonia – USA Comparison
While Estonia has had no real success against Europe’s best teams, they’ve shown their better than Europe’s minnows. To get to this stage of qualification they easily beat Luxembourg 69-53 on aggregate. This same Luxembourg team easily defeated Great Britain, Bulgaria and Ireland and, those 3 nations were all at the 2019 Emerging Nations Championship which the U.S. also participated in. The U.S. beat Ireland 37-32 and lost to Bulgaria, 38-35, but the U.S. was missing some key players from their roster. I’m pretty certain a full strength U.S. roster would have won those matches and probably convincingly.
If one compares where the top U.S. players are currently playing club handball to Estonia you’ll see some similarities in terms of the level of play. The U.S. has the Hueter brothers (Ian and Patrick) playing in the German 2nd Division, Abou Fofana playing in the French 2nd Division and Drew Donlin playing a supporting role for Leon in the Spanish Liga Asobal. And, then several players playing in lower divisions throughout Europe, including 3 athletes (Ty Reed, Rene Ingram and Nico Robinson) that are also getting some practice time with Champions League Clubs.
Overall, based on these common foe comparisons and club assignments I would say that the current U.S. squad probably is somewhere between Estonia and Luxembourg in quality. Of course, that’s just a paper assessment based on limited information. It will be interesting to see how Estonia fares today and how the U.S. can do in January.
Yes, the IHF is a business and business concerns are rightly part of the decision making process
Yesterday, the IHF nominated the U.S. to participate in the 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship as the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC). It didn’t take long for a firestorm of protest to emerge pointing out that this wasn’t deserved and that Greenland should have been selected instead. It was very predictable and on the surface it seems pretty unfair. If one digs deeper, however, one can also conclude that it was clearly the right decision.
Establishing some Bonafides
For the record, I’m an American and former U.S. National Team player. I bleed red, white & blue and, of course, one could consider me as ridiculously biased. How could I possibly be objective here?
Well, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the 2006-2007 timeframe when Greenland was unceremoniously removed from the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) for essentially being too good. (And, yes, I regret to say that my own nation was part of those machinations.) Why, on two occasions (2002, 2006) Greenland beat the U.S. to secure World Championship spots. The 2006 defeat was a real bummer because I was living in Europe and looking forward to covering the U.S. at the 2007 World Championships in Germany.
Instead, I got to watch Greenland play instead. As you can see and hear from this 2007 article/podcast I became a pretty big fan. For sure it was very obvious that the whining I had heard in the states that Greenland’s team was just a bunch of Danish mercenaries, was totally hogwash. This was a legit team with real fans that were proudly Greenlanders. That’s why I was outraged when Greenland was kicked out of PATHF and used my soap box to lobby for their reinstatement. Whether this little website played any role is debatable, but thankfully the IHF forced PATHF to reinstate Greenland.
13 years later I still am a big proponent of Greenland handball. In 2018, I watched Greenland almost pull off a big upset over Chile on home soil to secure a 2019 WC slot. What a match and atmosphere! Check out this interview with Minik Dahl Hoegh regarding that match and handball in Greenland.
Anyway… If all this doesn’t convince you I can be objective… Nothing will. Moving on.
The IHF Role: They Decide and There’s No Established Criteria
So, why is the IHF making this decision? Well, due to the COVID-19 and probably the limited budgets of the nations involved it became impossible to hold a NACHC Championship. And, let’s be absolutely clear here:
No one. I repeat no one. Is happy that no championship could be held to decide a winner on the court. No one.
So no championship. How is this resolved? Does one turn to the NACHC regulations to see what it says under force majeure? No… not even if such regulations exist. As the IHF announcement points out, the applicable regulation is IHF Competitions, Section 2.8, World Championships: Non Appearance which states in part:
“If a Continental Confederation does not use its performance or compulsory places, the IHF Executive Committee shall decide on the reallocation of such places.”
So, with no championship being held, technically, the IHF didn’t even have to give this World Championship slot to a NACHC nation. They could have decided (as some have suggested in social media) given this slot to North Macedonia.
IHF Rationale for Selecting the U.S.
So, basically this was a free ticket for the IHF with no actual requirements dictating a solution. The IHF, however, provided some rationale, which I mostly agree with. That rationale is listed below:
USA are a very important handball nation for the worldwide handball development;
In view of the size of the population, a specific strategy was developed to accelerate the progress of handball in USA, aiming to grow the IHF’s TV audience worldwide and increase the social network impact of handball, which will help to maintain the status of handball in the Olympic system and ensure the future of handball at the Olympic Games;
The former Pan American continent was split in order to increase the number of handball activities and offer the countries in NACHC better chances to reach IHF major events. A special focus was placed from the very beginning on the USA being a major market.
An agreement with major TV broadcasters in the USA has been made to show handball matches.
As Los Angeles, USA is hosting the 2028 Olympic Games, having strong host teams should be an overall target;
From those teams that have registered for the planned qualification event and showed interest in playing the qualification (Canada, Greenland, Puerto Rico, USA), USA are the best-ranked team at the last official competition, namely the 2019 Pan American Games.
The first five sets of rationale listed all relate to U.S. development and growing the U.S. market. Strictly from a business standpoint it’s hard to find fault with this rationale. And, make no mistake, the IHF is a business. Honestly, after years of shaking my fist in frustration at the lack of effort to develop a U.S. market, it’s refreshing to see criteria I’ve championed before being listed as reasons to give the U.S. an opportunity on the world stage. To promote the sport in this country.
A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats
It’s also worth noting that what’s good for USA Team Handball is also good for handball, in general, both in North America and the World. I get how the other nations of the NACHC might be resentful of the economic weight of the U.S. dictating this decision. Even if it is a unique, one off decision that’s only be made due to a global pandemic it still can leave a bad taste in one’s mouth.
But, make no mistake if the U.S. becomes a handball nation it will help everybody, much the same way the U.S. development as a soccer nation has helped the development of the CONCACAF. Yes, the CONCACAF isn’t UEFA, but make no mistake the U.S. caring about soccer now means some big paychecks for that organization. Big paychecks that have trickled down to all the CONCACAF nations.
Could the same thing happen with the NACHC? Yes, it could. Nicer competitions with a crowd and a TV contract. The U.S., Cuba, Canada, Greenland and others battling on the court for a WC slot in a nice arena in front of cheering fans.
So that’s the business case, but there’s actually a pretty solid case to be made that the U.S. is also the better team on the court. In Part 2, I’ll take a deep dive to explain why I think that is also true.
Yearly expenses for several sports programs at Ohio State University. Team Handball actually does have a bar, but at $3,376 it just doesn’t register at this scale.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has been a catalyst for several colleges and universities to reevaluate their collegiate sports programs. And, that reevaluation has resulted in 90 sports teams being dropped from the athletic departments of 26 schools. All told, around 1,500 athletes will no longer be competing at the Varsity level. (Source: NBC Sports: College sports cuts in the wake of Covid-19 are clouding the future of Olympics participation)
As you might expect a number of people are very upset with this development. This includes the 1,500 athletes who in many cases have lost a partial college scholarship, the college coaches who have lost jobs and the Sports National Governing Bodies (NGB) that have lost multiple sources for the development of potential future Olympic athletes. Not to mention the entrepreneurial $30 Billion dollar youth sports industry that has sprung up in part to develop athletes to get those scholarships.
Many articles and comments are along the lines of what a shame it is that this collegiate support for “Olympic” sports is being lost. And, that it will inevitably impact Team USA performance in future Olympics. My gut reaction to all this hand wringing is…
Hold on a second…You’re not talking about “all Olympic” sports here. Cry me a river and welcome to my world, fencing, shooting, etc.
This visceral feeling is well founded, both as a former college handball player and coach. I’ve seen first hand the disparity in terms of resources and support with what an Athletic Department “Varsity” sport receives and what a Club Activity sport receives. It’s night and day. Varsity sport athletes have scholarships, full time coaches, dedicated practice space and substantial travel budgets. Club sports typically have no scholarships, volunteer coaches, often compete for gym space and sometimes get a little funding to defray a portion of their travel costs.
As I started working on this commentary, however, I realized that I needed to go beyond the gut reaction and that it would be better to quantify just exactly what the financial disparity actually is. This resulted in a trip down the rabbit hole only to discover that it’s even worse than I had imagined.
Ohio State University Support to Sports Programs
There are many colleges and universities in the U.S., but only 19 collegiate handball clubs in the U.S. For my initial investigation I chose Ohio State University which has an extensive NCAA sports program and a team handball club.
It took a little digging and some reorganization of available data, but here is a table which lists the total expenses for every varsity sports program and the team handball club.
For me, this data was a real eye opener. I always knew that club sports were getting the short end of the stick, I just didn’t realize how short it was. Seriously, handball’s budget is over 1,000 times smaller than men’s ice hockey. Or, just 44 times smaller than women’s pistol. Pick your varsity sport. It doesn’t matter. It’s a big difference. A really big difference.
Does such a big difference make sense? Should there perhaps be some reimagining about how this funding is allocated?
Of course, there should be. And, I’m not alone when it comes to such thinking. Recently, the New York Times published an essay by Tom Farrey of the Aspen Institute, “Colleges Are Cutting Varsity Sports. That Could Be a Good Thing.” In the essay he make several great points about why indeed it could be a good thing. How such a shift could lead to fewer parents chasing scholarships for their kids and how club sports can often provide a better balance for students between athletics, academics and just being a college student.
Overall he concludes that:
“Reducing the number of varsity teams will mean fewer athletic scholarships, but also potentially less money spent pursuing them and more university support for other forms of campus sports.“
I’ve added the italics and boldface, because the words “potentially more university support for other forms of campus sports” are music to my ears… except for that pesky word, potentially. Because such a reallocation is easier said than done.
In Part 2, I’ll take I’ll examine what it might take for the word potentially to become reality. At the same time I’ll try and play devil’s advocate to justify why sports like Ohio State’s Synchronized Swimming program should continue to expend resources at a $1.1M/year clip.
Andreas Hertelt (on the right) with USA Men’s Head Coach, Robert Hedin (Photo: Markus Hausdorf)
Andreas Hertelt played 13 seasons in the German Bundesliga and represented his country in 10 international games. He has been a Team Leader for the U.S. Men’s National Team and he has been facilitating the placement of U.S. players with European clubs. On the podcast we discuss this program which is financially supported by the Forum Club Handball (FCH) and the U.S. players currently participating in it.
Don’t miss an episode: – Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: 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
