Charlie White: Ultimate Tag winner and USA Beach Handball Athlete
Earlier this week, Charlie White, won the Men’s competition on the premiere episode of Fox TV’s, Ultimate Tag. He joins the podcast to talk about that experience, how he got started with beach handball, how he and his teammates are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and since he’s a game developer, whether handball will ever get a cool video game.
Ulimate Tag can be seen Wednesday’s on Fox and past episodes (including Charlie’s win) can be seen on Hulu or FoxNow.
Video
Charlie getting caught in the dome competition: Link
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Yes, that’s the actual title that was given to this mysterious plan. The full details have not been revealed, but the outline of what is hoped to be accomplished is, indeed, truly, big, hairy and audacious.
Parts 1-4, covered USA Team Handball’s Strategic Plan which was developed and approved by the Board of Directors. Part 5 identifies what’s known about CEO Barry Siff’s audacious plans for handball in the U.S.
USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff, has been on the job now for 13 months and to many, myself included (to some extent), has been a breath of fresh air. Enthusiastic, energetic with a positive, “can do” attitude. Those are attributes that folks can get behind.
However, positivity, can only take an organization so far. You’ve got to have solid plans moving forward. And, while a strategic plan was awaiting the new CEO, he came into the job with some plans of his own. To date, not much has been revealed in terms of details, but over the past year some bits and pieces have trickled out.
The Big, Hairy, Audacious Project (Bits and Pieces)
Here’s a compilation of interview quotes and articles that contain the basic elements of the “Big, Hairy, Audacious Project.” And, yes, that’s the actual title that was given to this effort.
Board of Director Meeting Minutes (26 Apr 19): Link
“Sarah Gascon: Is there a plan to recruit athletes leading to a residency program in the future? Barry Siff: current model is athletes living and training and competing in Europe but didn’t rule out a residency program in the USA. SG: A development plan for USA athletes in needed. BD: The IHF wants a USA Handball Academy in the future, there is current interest in France about a residency program for NT – women in 2020 and men possibly in 2021. Regional geographies are envisioned to feed athletes to Europe and to have pipeline extend to regionally targeted high schools related to a vertical pipeline. BS: Opening the eyes of top athletes is one path and exposure of the sport through multiple levels will grow the sport.”
(32:45) “I’m not even getting into talent transfer. I’m not even getting into going after water polo players and basketball players, but those communications are already happening. I have already met with the Women’s Water Polo team. I’ve talked to the USA Water Polo directors. There are ways to grow the sport quickly. To get athletes in.”
(43:00) In response to a question regarding the starting of a new residency program. “I don’t know. I doubt it. … Probably, not in the cards.” Follow on question: Then how we are going to develop national team caliber players? “That’s what we’re going to do. I don’t know if it’s a residency program. I don’t know if it’s a series of training camps. I don’t know if it’s going out and recruiting people and giving them two months of training in the United States and then sending over a 100 of them to Europe. I will tell you that’s something I’ve been talking about for two years in my prep for this job is maybe a program where we somehow develop people to a base level and then send them over to Europe and get them onto clubs.”
(29:05) “We’re going to be in Paris… My goal. I think our organization goal… The U.S. with our athletes’ talent; with the number of athletes we have and the support that we are getting from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Handball Federation there is no reason our women and men won’t be represented in Paris.”
(31:00) “To develop a pro league we need 12 to 16 teams, so we need a couple hundred players. That’s the plan. We have a strategic plan to get those few hundred players. Get them trained up. Get those football players; those basketball, water polo players and youngsters college players playing right now…”
(31:57) “and our intention is to get 100 collegiate clubs by the end of 2020 for sure”
(34:45) “The concept that I had in 2016 was to have a kind of Netflix, 30 for 30, whatever it is documentary building the next great America sport. What we were going to do was track going out and having tryouts in New York, in LA, San Francisco and Chicago. Having tryouts; bringing these athletes…”
KWMR Radio “Off-Center Sports” Show (21 Sep 2019): (audio no longer available)
(22:15) “And, then ultimately the goal in 3 years is to have a professional league here in the United States. And, we’re working on that today.”
(47:10) “Then ultimately, like I mentioned, we’ve got to plan to develop a professional league, but at the same time. I think it’s going to be easy, and I really do mean this. I think it’s going to be easy to get a league, in concept, together. We just got to have a couple hundred high level players here in the U.S. And, that’s what Staffan Olsson’s major objective is as a High Performance Director is to figure out how we can develop a couple hundred great players, here in the United States to play professionally on television, on social media, on OTT networks, etc.”
(57:00) “Staffan and I are talking about doing tryouts for our national team. Open tryouts. This will be both a marketing campaign, a media campaign, but also finding our amazing athletes out there and probably doing it, in I’m going to guess, probably southern California and New York. I don’t know when. Maybe it’s 3 months. Maybe it’s 6 months. But, find those diamonds in the rough who are amazing athletes. Who we might be able to fine tune and give them the proper training, techniques, etc. And, who knows they could be the next Olympian.”
(6:10) “The title of our project was USA Team Handball: Big, Hairy, Audacious Project”
(39:15) “I know we’re going to have over 100 colleges, collegiate clubs. Playing, I think by the end of 2020; certainly in early 2021″
(39:23) “I guarantee we’re going to have 10s of thousands of youth playing handball in the next couple of years. We already do, we don’t know about it.”
Sport Business Journal Article: Verizon Steps into Rings, Sponsors Team Handball by Terry Lefton (20 Jan 2020): Link
Article passage: “With few people playing team handball in the U.S., Siff knows the sports must be nurtured at all levels, from grassroots — where he says there is a growing club scene in major U.S. cities — to the formation of an American professional team handball league, a project now under R&D at IOA Sports in Orlando, where former Major Indoor Soccer League executive Paul Garofolo says it reminds him of his early days with that startup. While the new league is yet nameless, and has no completed logos, he expects to be pitching prospective owners before the year is out. Garofolo says it will require a minimum of 10 franchises to launch for a league that would begin play in 2023 with each franchise costing $3 million to $5 million to launch.
Likely prospects? “NBA or NHL owners in one-tenant arena situations,” Garofolo said. “Some of the big European sports brands like Barca or Paris Saint-Germain also have their own team handball teams.”
“When we do our tryouts later this year I think we’re going to shock some people in the type of athletes that we’re going bring onto handball and onto our team.”
“I know this is sacrilegious and I’m insulting a lot of people, but I don’t think it takes these 2, 3, 4, 5 years of learning all the nuances and techniques, etc…”
“I don’t think long term that well… I’m only going to be here through Paris, you know. This is like my last stint of full time stuff. And, you know, we got to get to Paris. Long term, we’ve got to be really competitive in L.A., but, my personal goal is to have a team or two in Paris for sure. And, the way to do that is through getting some of these athletes that we’re talking about. These high, high caliber athletes starting to play right now.”
The Big, Hairy, Audacious Project (Rough Outline)
So taking all of these quotes into account it’s possible to form a rough outline of this plan. Here it is in a nutshell:
Find 100-200 athletes from other sports
Mode of finding: Tryouts, communication with other sport NGBs.
Targeted sports: commonly mentioned are water polo, basketball and football
Ages: Not clear, but most likely post college
Train athletes to a “base level” in the U.S. for a period of time
What is “base level?”: Not defined, but presumably to a level at which a European based club will not have to teach basic fundamentals
Time required for stateside training?: Not clear, but 2 months has been mentioned
How trained?: Not clear, but it’s hard not to see athletes being trained in a residency program type framework. It could be called an “Academy”, but in function it would be similar to what has been done with residency programs, just for a shorter period of time. (Perhaps similar to this concept: Link)
Send athletes to European based clubs for further development
Level of club?: Not defined, but presumably clubs that train professionally on a daily basis (2nd teams for top clubs would be a likely target)
Time athletes would stay in Europe?: Not defined, but a 2023-24 USA pro season suggests 2-3 years
Start a USA based Pro League in 2023
# of clubs: 10 to 16
Athletes: Presumably, the athletes would be primarily Americans that had trained overseas; Also, it’s not explicitly stated, but it is probably just a Men’s Pro League
Franchise startup cost: $2M to $5M
Potential support envisioned from top European clubs; presumably “sister” franchises
Top Level Thoughts
This plan is not a strategic plan, but rather an action plan very focused on developing high level athletes for our national teams and a pro league. And, in a very short, ambitious time frame: A pro league in 2023 and 2024 Olympic Qualification.
It’s hard in some instances to sort out what parts of this concept applies to both the Men’s and Women’s programs and what parts are separate.
There is some discussion in regards to growing the college game, even with the ambitious target of 100 clubs in 2020, but for the most part collegiate club development is an afterthought for this concept. For sure, there are currently a very limited number of college athletes with the potential to quickly transition to top European clubs.
There was a brief mention in one interview of 10’s of thousands of youth playing handball in the next couple of years, but again this plan does not align very well with grass roots development. Obviously, however, if there is a pro league started youth development is very likely to follow.
If this plan is implemented successfully it would be a marketing bonanza that will surely get the word out big time. Even more so, if the original reality show were to be done in parallel.
Is it Possible?
A pro league populated with a couple hundred born and raised Americans playing handball at a high level. A couple hundred pro handball athletes battling for 16 coveted American National Team roster spots. Just like a European handball nation! As America’s self described #1 handball fan how could I, or any other handball fan in this country, not “want” that. It would be as if I had died and gone to heaven.
But, is it possible? Well, in theory, just about anything is possible… Given enough time and money. Is it probable? I’ve got my doubts. It would seem at a quick glance that it is just too much of a great leap forward from “what we have” today. And, that we have neither the necessary resources nor the time for this plan to have even a remote chance of success.
But, I don’t do quick glances. Even, if seems like it’s overkill, we need to follow the process. I’ve spent a lot of time mapping out “What We Have” and “What We Want”. It’s time to figure out if we can actually get there.
Marketing Handball in the U.S.: A Long Standing and Vexing Challenge
Virtually every newcomer to team handball in the U.S. has the same reaction, “This sport is awesome! How did I not even know this sport exists?” And, often the next conclusion is, “Wow. Whoever is responsible or behind this sport must be horrible marketers.” After all, what else could possibly explain why you’ve never heard or seen it before?
An understandable, if simplistic response, but if one does a little investigation it becomes clear that there are some underlying issues that make marketing handball in the U.S. is challenging. I first captured some of those issues in a series of commentaries I wrote to explain why the U.S. wasn’t at the 2012 Olympics. The marketing sections are below:
Part 5: A lack of awareness and marketing: One in a million? The 312 real fans of Team Handball in the U.S.: Link Part 6: A lack of awareness and marketing: The Catch 22 TV paradox: Link Part 7: A lack of awareness and marketing: The historic lack of European support: Link 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
While much of what I wrote 8 years ago still rings true there have been some positive developments:
Handball has been on TV more often. EHF Champions League matches have been on beIN Sports since 2013. The IHF World Championships have also been aired regularly, first with beIN Sports and then with the NBC Olympic Channel starting in 2019.
Social media has become more prevalent and has become another way to promote the sport.
Most importantly, the IHF and EHF have seen the light and are starting to more aggressively pursue development of the U.S. market.
USA Team Handball Strategic Plan Marketing Goals
The USA Team Handball Strategic Plan identifies marketing as one of its major goals. Here are the documented goals, objectives and targets related to marketing.
For the most part, I’ve got no problems with the identified objectives. They are all things that need to be done in terms of marketing. Objective C, with it’s Salesforce specific solution is perhaps the exception.
To varying degrees USA Team Handball also appears to be addressing most of these objectives. The organization’s first full time Communications Manager, Melissa Zhang has done a great job with the website, cleaning up athlete profiles and with regular stories on current and former athletes. And, USA Team Handball is also now more active on its social media channels and rarely misses an opportunity to engage with anyone or any outlet discussing or discovering handball.
In terms of targets the 2020 Facebook goal hasn’t been met, but arguably as Facebook has turned into the domain of old timers it’s of less importance than youth focused Instagram and TikTok. I’ve no idea whether the web hits target has been met, but one would suspect that more frequent posting has resulted in greater web traffic.
Feeding the Fan Base vs Expanding the Fan Base
While running a handball website for 14 years I’ve come to grips with a marketing dichotomy which can best be described as “feeding the fan base” vs “expanding the fan base”. I’ll say with some authority that the handball fan base in the U.S. is very, very small. Depending on how generous one wants to be in terms of definition it’s somewhere between 300 and 2,000 people. And, that’s including non U.S. citizens. As someone who’s really passionate about handball and has a website devoted to the sport I’ll just say that reality is downright depressing sometimes.
Does the resigned saying, “It is, what it is” apply? Or, is that self defeatism? Can effective steps be taken to methodically expand that fan base? Perhaps, but I would suggest that it’s very difficult to organically grow a fan base for a narrowly defined topic like team handball. To essentially create new fans of the sport via well written articles and social media engagement. For sure, such efforts are greatly appreciated, but unfortunately only by the “already converted.” Don’t get me wrong: Feeding the fan base is important… just arguably of less importance when your base is so small.
Expanding the Base Hinges Almost Entirely On More and Better TV Exposure
So what can be done to really expand the base? Answer: Regular TV broadcasts of matches and, critically important, on networks with the greatest reach into American homes. I know this sounds, “old school”, but, it’s still the reality. Anecdotally, the percentage of Americans that have first discovered the sport via TV is off the charts. And, I suspect a structured survey would simply confirm that suspicion. Analytically, Google trend data directly correlates to TV broadcasts and I can assure you that internal website metrics do as well.
It’s really simple: Nothing reaches more Americans than TV and nothing reaches more young Americans than the social media engagement that directly or indirectly stems from the video content that major TV outlets can post online to their millions of followers.
I’ve said it a thousand times. If handball were to be broadcast on a regular basis on network like ESPN, virtually every statement discussing handball’s progress in the U.S. would from that point on 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
The point of this discussion is to emphasize that one marketing objective: getting handball on TV more often trumps all others… because it’s a true force multiplier that greatly improves the likelihood of better results in all other areas. In other words, anything and everything that can be done to make that happen should be a very high priority.
For sure it’s seen as important, but it’s not clear where it stacks in terms of priorities. I would make the case that empirically, it’s the #1 goal, and, if the Strategic Plan is updated I would argue that this priority should be clearly stated. Further, there are a number of supporting objectives that could be undertaken to facilitate achieving this goal to include attending TV rights conferences and the hiring of consultants to facilitate coordination between networks and handball content owners. It might even justify the use of limited funds and resources to produce USA based TV content. Or even… in some instances pay to have content aired.
One aspect that helps. Getting handball on TV in the U.S. isn’t just a USA Team Handball goal, but pretty much a goal of anyone who cares about the sport. In particular, content owners like the IHF and EHF would stand to benefit the most from making it happen. Further, developments like OTT web streaming are making it more feasible than it was in the past.
Is getting handball on TV a panacea? The silver bullet to all our problems? I, for one, am generally not prone to such profound, blanket statements, but… yeah it pretty much is. Without a doubt, it is the one thing that could overnight change everything.
That wraps up the review of what USA Team Handball’s future plans are. At least what has been officially documented. But, are there unofficial, undocumented plans as well? It seems that there may be and I will address what those plans are next.
As envisioned, this new competition would be similar in format to cup tournaments that are played in Europe and would be open to club teams from Canada and the U.S. that border the Great Lakes.
The discussion then segued to a broader discussion on handball competition in the U.S. and whether it might be time for some reform. Topics and questions addressed include:
The “weekend tournament”: Is it detrimental to handball’s growth in the U.S.?
Should steps be taken to encourage the splitting of clubs to foster more local competition? What combination of carrots and sticks could be used to facilitate that happening? Should club rosters have limitations on non U.S. citizens?
Should steps be taken to encourage league play over weekend tournaments?
Should the U.S. National Championship transition to a cup style tournament with a Final Four?
What can be done from an entrepreneurial stand point to encourage handball growth? Can handball copy the club growth of Volleyball? What about the opportunity of becoming a pro handball player as a selling point?
Should club rosters have tighter controls to prevent the perception/reality of mercenary players?
The challenges of starting a new club. Would the Detroit and Milwaukee clubs survive the “hit by a bus” question?
Also, at around 12:40 we get into a tangential discussion on the status of the 2020 National Championships originally scheduled for Detroit this May. Could the Championships be rescheduled for this summer? Assuming safety concerns can be met, could the championships even draw national attention thanks to an uncrowded sports calendar?
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And, be sure to check out the podcast archive with interviews and great handball discussion going all the way back to 2006: Link
Pretty much since its inception USA Team Handball has lacked sufficient funding to accomplish what it would like to in terms of National Team performance, grass roots development and anything else. So, it should come as no surprise that the Strategic Plan has some ambitious goals and targets. Page 4, Section 2) of the Strategic Plan covers fundraising:
Goal A focuses on near term hires and the establishment of retired executive volunteer and internship programs to support fundraising activity. To date, just the new CEO, Barry Siff, has been hired. There’s no data available yet as to how much new funding has come in, but Verizon has come on board as founding parner. It’s reportedly not a huge amount, but there is real potential for it to leading to more sponsors and sponsorship dollars.
Goal B discusses having a fundraising retreat and developing a fundraising plan. To my knowledge there has been no retreat or specific fundraising plan developed, although surely efforts to raise funds are ongoing.
Goal C discusses a long term strategic plan for fundraising. Again, I’m not aware of any strategic plan having been developed, but one can assume some sort of strategy is being developed. It has been noted that the Verizon deal provides credibility and can be a catalyst for future deals. Three of the sub-bullets refer to using Salesforce.com as a sponsorship platform, but if this platform has been acquired there’s been no announcement. For membership purposes the Sport:80 platform has now been adopted and it does have donation functionality, although not on the level of salesforce.
Goal D highlights focuses on membership and alumni as a source for annual giving. To date, I’m not aware of any new campaigns beyond the usual requests for donations.
Appendix A has several targets listed for specific time periods, but in many cases it’s not very clear what is actually attended.
Appendix A references “Finance” several times with a dollar value listed at the end of each quarter along with the amount of money the Board of Directors should raise in the preceding 2 fiscal quarters. It’s not clear to me what those end of Qtr dollar figures are supposed to mean. (Revenue? Cash on hand? Neither seem to make sense). The amount of money that the Board of Directors is supposed to have raised in the near term seem pretty ambitious and I suspect those targets haven’t been met.
End 4th Qtr 2018: $5,000
BOD raises $100K
End 2nd Qtr 2019: $100K
BOD raises $250K
End 4th Qtr 2019: $500K
BOD raises $250K
End 2nd Qtr 2020: $650K
BOD raises $500K
End 4th Qtr 2020: $750K
BOD raises $500K
End 4th Qtr 2024: $5M
“CEO raising money”
End 4th Qtr 2028: $10M
“CEO raising money”
Appendix A references membership several times with targets for the # of members and revenue from membership. No word as to whether these targets have been met. I suspect that membership hasn’t grown much and may have even gone down in 2020 due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
End 4th Qtr 2018: 816/$57K
End 2nd Qtr 2019: 850/$60K
End 4th Qtr 2019: 900/$63K
End 2nd Qtr 2020: 1,000/
End 4th Qtr 2020: 1,200/$84K
End 4th Qtr 2024: 5,000/$350K
End 4th Qtr 2028: 5,000/$350K
Appendix A references sponsors several times with targets for the # of sponsors and revenue from sponsorship. It’s not entirely clear what these numbers mean, but I think the first number refers to the # of sponsors and the 2nd number refers to the total amount of sponsorship dollars. I suspect that the 2018-2020 targets have not been met. At one time the USA website had a page that listed partners/sponsors, but it doesn’t appear that page exists now. To date there have been 2 sponsorship announcements with Verizon and Molten. One can also assume that the jersey sponsorship with Eldera is still in place. Again, I don’t think any of these near term targets have been met.
End 4th Qtr 2018: 9/$824K
End 2nd Qtr 2019: 10/$900K
End 4th Qtr 2019: 11/$1M
End 2nd Qtr 2020: 13/$1.5M
End 4th Qtr 2020: 15/$2M
End 4th Qtr 2024: 15/$5M
End 4th Qtr 2028: 15/$5M
Discussion
In my opinion, the Fundraising section of the Strategic Plan needs to be totally rewritten. Parts of it are overly solution specific while other parts are overly vague. The specific dollar value targets aren’t clearly defined and the targets in many cases are so ambitious that even far more established team sport NGBs would be unlikely to meet them. Add, the current economic reality of the Coronavirus Pandemic and it’s even more clear that it’s time to start over.
What should such a rewrite include? For starters, realistic targets based in part on the fundraising performance of similar team sport federations. I would also suggest that top level strategies be identified for the major revenue categories: Grants, Sponsorship, Membership and Events.
As a reference, take a look at comparable NGB performance for 2013-2016. (The last quadrennial for which public available financial data is available.)
It only takes a glance to quickly ascertain that the desired fundraising targets are out of whack, particularly in terms of sponsorship. I guess it’s theoretically possible that Team Handball can develop some fundraising strategies that would leave these more established sports in the dust. Possible… But, really unlikely.
And, while aspirational goals can be OK sometimes, they’re not OK for realistic strategic planning. This is because plans have to match reality as to what can actually be done. And, this is really true in regards to funding because it is pointless to have grand plans if the funding to implement them won’t be available.
World University Championships: This biennial event might be a great way to further develop our collegiate programs and track how well those programs are doing in terms of developing handball athletes.
Collegiate handball has been identified as a key focus area for developing handball in the U.S. As such, several goals and objectives to move the college game forward have been identified both in the broader USA Team Handball Strategic Plan (drafted in 2018) and in a College Specific Strategic Plan (Feb 2018).
USA Team Handball
Strategic Plan
A college and university
initiative is identified on page 6.
D. Launch collegiate and
university initiative.
i. Cultivate a competitive university club system across the United States.
ii. Target four geographies utilize the well-established collegiate club sports model.
iii. Create regional league competition.
iv. Host season ending Final Four event.
Target Outcome
Increase university club programs to 40 (4th Qtr
2020)
Appendix A
Appendix A references “Univ Teams” several times with targets for the number of teams
There are several references to the selection and identification of new regions (Accomplished: 5 “hubs” (New York City, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles) have been selected.
There are several references to the establishment of regional leagues in the 2018-2020 time frame. (Not Accomplished: There are currently no regional collegiate leagues.)
A Final Four tournament for top collegiate programs was identified for the 4th Qtr of 2019 (Not Accomplished)
Collegiate Strategic
Plan (Feb 1st, 2020)
The Collegiate Strategic Plan was developed by a Collegiate
Working Group and provides more detail on collegiate goals and objectives. However, in my opinion, (similar to the more
broad USATH Strategic Plan) it strays in some instances into what might more
accurately be described as near term action plans. Here is an over of the plan’s contents:
2050 Vision
Team Handball is a sanctioned NCAA Sport
Scholarship sport that competes for the best
athletes
Widespread media presence
Handball is a recognizable, established major
sport in America
2019-2022 College Strategic Plan Goals
1) Create a comprehensive and streamlined starter pack to allow a college student to create a college handball program in a semester and supply a resource person.
2) Have sustainable clubs playing 15 games per season in 72 colleges, including 36 women’s teams.
3) Have the structures and systems in place to grow participation of college club players by 400%.
4) Assemble the necessary capacity to achieve the goals of this plan.
5) Raise sufficient funds to achieve the goals of this plan.
In my opinion goals 1 and 4 are near term actions that will be implemented to support goals 2 and 3. Goal 5 is probably more suited for a broader discussion on fundraising. As I think they are more “strategic”, here’s a closer look at goals 2 and 3:
Goal 2: Have
sustainable clubs playing 15 games per season in 72 colleges, including 36
women’s teams.
2.1 Recruit colleges proximal to existing clubs
2.2 Establish new clubs in locations with a
concentration of colleges based on receptivity and leadership
2.2.1 Achieve
40 colleges by end of 2020
2.3 Provide competition structure leading toward
a National Championship in order to enable the best teams in the country play
each other
2.3.1 Consider two-season structure to enable
cross-regional competition
2.3.2 Publish competition structure well in
advance to enable maximum participation
2.4 Develop and implement a path to ensure club
succession and continuation of administration
2.5 Provide support from USATH ambassador
Goal 3: Grow participation of college club players
by 400 percent
3.1 Raise the profile of team handball
3.1.1 In concert with USATH, develop and
implement a comprehensive promotion plan to have handball recognized across the
country
3.1.2 Offer resources for parents, coaches,
athletes
3.1.3 Focus on benefits of participation
3.2 In concert with USATH, ensure a pipeline of
athletes to join college clubs using the Athlete Development Model
3.3 Support established clubs
3.4 Provide pathway for athletes post college,
e.g. national team, city clubs, coach, referee, volunteering
Discussion
In broad terms, I would assess that the overall goal of collegiate development is to:
Increase the number collegiate athletes, clubs and leagues (Increase participation)
Improve the level of collegiate play
Increase Participation
In terms of increasing the numbers of athletes, clubs and leagues several targets have been presented, but they could use further definition. Here are some clear targets that I emphasized in bold face in the text above:
Have sustainable clubs playing 15 games per
season in 72 colleges, including 36 women’s teams.
Grow participation of college club players by
400 percent
Of particular note, the text highlighting “playing 15 games per season”, seems to provide a benchmark for a club program. Essentially, making the point that there’s a significance difference between a club that plays 15 matches and a club that holds a couple of practices and plays in one weekend tournament. If that is the definition of a collegiate club it also decreases the # of clubs. Using the 15 match requirement for the last two seasons, there would have been this many clubs
2018-19 (9 Men/2 Women)
2019-20 (7/3) (I used 10 matches as the season has
been shortened)
Participation growth is not defined, but it would logically
have a strong correlation with the growth of the # of the clubs. Depending on the “start date” and the number
of existing clubs at that point in time one can then project the number of
clubs needed to obtain 400% growth. As
an example, the U.S. had 15 men’s collegiate clubs and 3 women’s collegiate
clubs during the 2018-19 season for a total of 18 clubs. 400% growth would then be 90 clubs. If one uses an average of 15 athletes per
club, the total number of collegiate athletes for the 2018-19 season would be
18 clubs x 15 athletes for a total of 270 collegiate athletes. 400% growth would equate to 1,350 athletes by
the end of 2022. And, of course,
participation could also be simply assessed by totaling up the annual number of
collegiate USA Team Handball memberships from year to year.
Improving the Level
of Play
In terms of improving the level of play I would assess that
both documents could use more specific targets related to accomplishing this
goal. The USA Team Handball Strategic
Plan mentions “Athletes identified out of University Programs” in a few places
and references “pipeline development”, but there is not much “meat on the
bones.” The Collegiate Strategic Plan included
several bullet points that point to improving collegiate competition, but lacks
measureable targets.
Here, though are some potential candidates:
USA Performance in World University Handball Competitions: Link (Actually participating would also be good. It’s doubtful that the 2020 Championship will take place, but 2022 could be a possibility.)
Numbers of collegiate athletes (Current/Former) on Youth (U19), Junior (U21) and Senior national teams
Numbers of collegiate athletes being identified for further development by International Clubs
Numbers of collegiate athletes transitioning to U.S. Clubs
I haven’t identified the actual numbers (and dates) that should go with these targets, but would suggest that the Board of Directors consider adding these targets (with dates/numbers) for future updates to the Strategic Plans.
That wraps up “What we want” for College development. Part 3 will take a closer look at Fundraising and Marketing
Former NFL Player and newly converted handball fan, Gary Barnidge.
Earlier this month when the Coronavirus was just some issue China was dealing with a group of American NFL players (current and former) had a joint training session with Hungarian Club, FTC Budapest. Video of the match went viral as it seemed to provide what every handball fan wanted after the infamous, Jay Cutler, interview on Pardon My Take: Namely, a match between cocky, over confident NFL players and experienced handball players.
The reality, however, was significantly different. The NFL Players were part of the American Football Without Barriers, a non-profit group that uses sports as a tool to help disadvantaged children live healthy and fit lifestyles through the core values of physical fitness, wellness, and education. And, as the name implies part of that mission is conducting camps and spreading the gospel of American Football in places like Hungary.
Gary Barnidge, played eight seasons as a Tight End for the Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns and is one of the founding members of American Football Without Barriers. He joins the podcast to discuss their trip to Hungary, the growing popularity of American Football and what handball might learn from it, and, of course, their handball training with FTC Budapest.
What’s clear: Handball is harder than it looks and the sport has picked up some new and genuine fans from American Football.
Complete video of the entire training session: Link Shorter video with match footage: Link
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
The podcast was sponsored by Aspire Products, EMST150 Training Device. Check it out and don’t forget to use the promo code THN30 for a 30% discount.
A Bit of History (Sometimes Tilting at Windmills Actually Works)
Long time readers will know that I’ve linked to one
particular commentary on several occasions.
U.S. National Team Plans (Part 6): Federation Planning: Right Idea, Flawed Execution, Time to Right the Ship: Link
Way back in 2012, the USOPC sponsored a Strategic Planning
meeting in Salt Lake City and the outcome of that meeting was… well, it was pretty much nothing. Lots of fine discussion, but unfortunately no
follow through. No strategic plan was
ever developed. Not that I didn’t
valiantly try to engage leadership, but such pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead short term plans went forward without
much thought in terms of the long term direction of USA Team Handball. Or, if there was such “thought” it went
totally undocumented.
I kept hammering away at this discrepancy every chance I could and eventually in 2018 USA Team Handball decided to draft a Strategic Plan. I really don’t know whether my hammering actually contributed to that happening, but I like to think that it did. Regardless that document exists and is available here: Link
I even participated briefly in the plan’s development. Not as much as I would have liked, but at least I got to attend one meeting and influence its development. Here’s a commentary on the plan that I wrote back in 2018: Link
Note: The Board of Directors met in October 2019 to review and update the 2018 document and I was informed in February that the Board is currently review the final edits on that update
In addition to this strategic plan a separate College Strategic Plan has also been developed: Link
Background on
Strategic Planning
When it comes to strategic planning there are often misconceptions as to what it is intended to accomplish. First and foremost, strategic plans are intended to be… well, strategic. They are not tactical. This means that they look at the big picture and attempt to define what are the mid to long term goals and objectives and some top level actions that should be taken to achieve those goals and objectives. It’s not a detailed plan of action but the guiding document used to develop such plans. So, one shouldn’t complain if a strategic plan lacks the detail needed to go out in take specific actions. In fact, it’s more appropriate to complain if a strategic plan is too detailed and solution specific.
The USA Team Handball
Strategic Plan (An Overview)
As I alluded to in my commentary that was written shortly after it was released I have some issues with its structure and content. It’s too detailed (solution specific) in some instances and in some cases (youth development, beach handball) its discussion is too sparse. Parts of the document also seem a bit misplaced in that some very near term actions (e.g. staff hires) are spelled out, making the document more of a plan of action, rather than strategic guidance. As such, I’ve decided to distill the more strategic aspects of the document into some broad areas for further analysis. Those areas are 1) National Team Performance; 2) College Development; 3) Marketing and 4) Fundraising
1) National Team Performance
National team performance is referenced in several areas of the document and is most closely associated with the fourth focus area, “Organizational and Competitive Excellence”. Two items (C and E) are closely related to National Team Plans
C. Develop national team training and competition plan for Olympic, Pan American and World Championship Qualifications.
i. Set competition goals and objectives.
ii. Establish talent acquisition pipeline.
iii. Develop national team training schedule.
iv. Develop national team competition plan.
v. Determine national team training site
On the surface these items seem fairly straight forward, but the “devil is in the details”. In particular, the U.S. has struggled in the past to simply define what a “talent acquisition pipeline” is, let alone establish one. The brief mention of a “national team training site” also needs to be fully defined as the simple item is wide open to interpretation. On one extreme it could be a full blown residency program and on the other extreme it could simply be a location for the national team to train for a week or two prior to major competitions.
E. Initiate Project France
i. A project of USA Team Handball, International Handball Federation, and the France Handball Federation.
ii. The project places USA Team Handball athletes (together as a team) into the French Handball League for regular competition.
iii. The French Handball Federation has made an initial invitation for the team to begin competition in September of 2019.
iv. National team athletes benefit through increased playing experience and competition.
v. The national team program gains opportunity to develop as a unit and compete against international teams during national team weeks that are set aside in the European club system.
vi. Project France is seen as a recruitment tool for university level athletes interested in advancing their athletic careers.
I personally see a lot of potential with an overseas effort like this. Indeed, back in 2014 I outlined a similar concept. However, this is a very solution specific concept and it is very misplaced to include it as part of a strategic document. For certain, it needs to be further assessed and compared with other possible actions before it is implemented.
Target Outcomes:
On the right hand side of page 6 there are several very specific target outcomes related to National Team Performance.
Qualify for the 2019 PANAM Games (Accomplished: Men and Women)
Top 4 Finish at 2019 PANAM Games (Partially Accomplished: Women: 4th; Men: 6th)
Hire Technical Director (3rd Qtr 2019) (Accomplished: Stefan Olsson)
Begin “Project France” (3rd Qtr 2019) (an effort that would see a U.S. team playing as a unit in a French league)
Qualify for the IHF World Championships by 2024
Top 12 Finish at IHF World Championships by 2024
Top 2 finish at 2023 PANAM Games
Qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games
Top 2 finish at 2027 PANAM Games
Top 6 finish at 2028 Olympic Games
I won’t go into detail as regards to the feasibility of these targets, but suffice to say some very realistic expectations were set for 2019, but the targets for the outer years are very ambitious.
Elite Athlete (Appendix A)
Appendix A provides additional detail and targets for select topics from year to year. One target block is entitled “Elite Athletes” and it’s envisioned that both the Men’s and Women’s programs will have 40 athletes identified as elite and that the definition of elite athlete will continue to evolve, which I presume to mean that the elite will become more elite. Additionally it’s desired to have a greater percentage of these athletes coming from our improving college programs.
That’s a top level review of USA Team Handball’s Strategic plan and a closer look at what’s desired in terms on National Team Performance. Part 2 will take a closer look at “College Development”
De Oliveira did get a mention though for having “laid the
foundation for the program” and indeed that’s the case as he took the helm of a
pretty much non-existent, dormant program in 2016 and under his helm it has
been established as North America’s best Women’s Beach Handball side and one
that is now respected on the world stage.
Here’s a review of what the U.S. Women’s team has
accomplished in the four major tournaments they have participated in under his
watch.
Juliano De Oliveira
Coaching Record
2018 Pan American
Championships
– Match Record: 2-4
– Games Record: Not Available
– Final Ranking: 6th out of 8 Teams
2018 World Championships – Match Record: 1-8 – Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 2-16 – Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-0 – Points Differential (Non Shoot Out Matches): 213-338 (-125) – Final Ranking: 14th out of 16 Teams
2019 North American
and Caribbean Championships
– Match Record: 6-0
– Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 12-0
– Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-0
– Final Ranking: 1st out of 8 Teams
2019 World Beach Games – Match Record: 2-5 – Games Record (Non Shoot Out Matches): 6-8 – Games Record (Shoot Out Matches): 0-2 – Points Differential (Non Shoot Out Matches): 224-240 (-16) – Final Ranking: 10th out of 12 Teams
A review of these results makes it pretty clear there’s been
some solid progress. A team that wasn’t
very competitive in 2018 turned it around in 2019. A clear sign of progress was their dominating
performance at the 2019 North American Championships. A weaker field than the Pan American
Championships the year before, but they left no doubt that they were the best
team in the new Confederation.
Arguably, more telling was the better performance on the
world stage. In two similar events (2018
World Championships and 2019 World Beach Games) the Final Ranking wasn’t much
different (10th out of 12 vs 14th out of 16), but a
closer look at the results reveals significant improvement.
In 2018, the women were 2-16 (Win Percentage of .111) in non-shootout games with an average point differential of -7/game. Translation: most of the games were noncompetitive and essentially over in the first few minutes. In 2019, they were 6-8 (.429) and the average point differential was 1/game. Games were typically much closer and the U.S. had a shoot out loss to 6th place Argentina and they battled 3rd place and perennial power Brazil to a golden goal in one match. In consolation play they actually blew out some teams.
To be clear, playing teams closer is still not winning, but
make no mistake, it’s progress.
A Question of Need (Management Expectations)
Perhaps, however, management expectations were higher for
U.S. performance. For sure, it would
have been nice to get out the consolation bracket and place higher, but it’s debatable
as to whether that was a reasonable expectation for such a new program with
some key players getting their first experience at a high level tournament.
Additionally, while results in competition are important, there
surely were other goals and objectives for the program. I don’t know what was expected, but one can
only assume those expectations weren’t being met. Otherwise, if the team is making progress why
make a change?
A Question of Timing (Why Now?)
The timing of the move also suggests that more was at play than just team results. Otherwise such a change would logically have occurred right after the tournament in October rather than 5 months later. Coaches everywhere know the drill. If your team performs poorly and the season/tournament has ended they know that the “phone call” could well be coming. The Monday after week 17 in the NFL is known as Black Monday for a reason. Ask French Men’s Coach, Didier Dinart, what happens when you have one bad game (vs Portugal) at the European Championships. You’re often shown the door. That’s just how it works. Results matter, but, Coach De Oliveira was not shown the door until several months later suggesting that the move was not directly related to competition performance.
A Question of Process
Personnel changes can be accomplished in a number of different ways, but a more open and transparent process might have been warranted. In 2018, the U.S, advertised for the “court” Men’s Head Coach position and received dozens of applications and this process resulted in the eventual hiring of Robert Hedin. A beach head coaching job is certainly less sought after, but a more open process would probably stifle any concerns that personnel changes were being quietly orchestrated behind the scenes.
Practicality for Practice
A majority of the athletes likely to make the U.S. roster currently live in Southern California. Having a coach co-located with those athletes facilitates instruction during practice. There, of course, can be training camps in other parts of the country, but such traveling can be expensive.
A Tough Coaching
Change
Making a coaching change is rarely easy and with the U.S.
beach handball community being so small it’s even tougher. Everybody knows everybody really well and everyone
knows that Coach De Oliveira has been there from the start, first as Assistant
Coach for the Men’s Program and then as the first coach of the Women’s
Program. This past summer I saw
firsthand the effort involved in setting up the Southern California Beach
Handball Tournament. It takes a village
to stage such an event, but De Oliveira is a really big part of that
village. I can only assume that he’s
also been a big part of everything else that’s taken place the last several
years. With all of that work done as an
unpaid volunteer coach/organizer.
To make the determination that all that work plus steady progress in International competition just wasn’t good enough couldn’t have been easy. To say thanks, but sorry your assistant coaches are better equipped to take the team to the next level, that’s got to be a very tough call.
The Road Ahead (Near
and Far Term)
In the near term it’s all about the Beach World Championships,
currently scheduled for 30 June – July 5 in Pescara, Italy. (One can at least hope that the Coronavirus
Pandemic will have subsided by then). With
likely a very similar, but now more experienced roster, I would have expected a
better performance regardless as to who was coach. In my opinion a great result would be top 8,
9th-12th would be OK, while 13th-16th
would be a disappointment. From a few
social media postings it appears the athletes are motivated and they have
recently met in Atlanta and San Antonio for training. Even were planning to train in Southern
California this weekend, but it has since been cancelled due to Coronavirus
concerns. I wouldn’t bet against
dedication like that. This side will rally
around who’s ever coaching and come together for the best performance possible.
Beyond the World Championships this summer, however, some
serious thought is needed as to what the long term strategy should be for Beach
Handball. The big inflection point will
be the IOC’s decision on whether to include Beach Handball at the 2024
Olympics. I think the odds are against
it due to athlete quotas, but if does happen, we could have a seismic change in
terms of the resources and focus that will be placed on Beach Handball. One can even envision a residency program (perhaps
at Chula Vista, CA) and an influx of talent that would make the U.S. a strong
medal contender.
But, even if that doesn’t happen a strategy’s still needed. In particular, there will be a need to consider steps to develop beach clubs, grow the elite talent pool and whether one geographic area should be selected for focused development.
(Note: I reached out to USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff, for more information regarding the coaching change, but he declined to comment.)
This weekend 8 Spanish Club teams will meet in Madrid for the finals of the Copa Del Rey Cup. Of special interest to American handball fans will be the 2nd quarterfinal between Ademar Leon and Logrono La Rioja which will have one current U.S. National Team player (Drew Donlin) playing against a possible future U.S. National Team Player (Jr. Scott).
Leon and Logrono will play tomorrow (Friday) at 1615 CET / 1015 US ET. And, the match can probably be seen here in the U.S., but it might take a little planning/effort. (How to watch in the U.S.: Link)
During this past weekend’s Air Force Invitational I conducted several interviews and they are all featured on the latest podcast for download.
Interview 1) William Kennedy of Texas A&M and Moshe Mukori of Concordia College talk about playing for Dallas THC at this tournament and their efforts with their respective college programs. – Video: Link – Subscribe to the Team Handball News YouTube channel: Link (so, you don’t miss videos like the exciting end to the Championship Match: Link)
Interview 2) North Carolina’s Alex Laws discusses the Air Force – North Carolina match, the current state of collegiate handball and the challenges of recruiting athletes for the collegiate game. I also ask him a variation of the Jay Cutler challenge: Could a select group of UNC football and basketball players beat the Carolina Handball team?
Interview 3) Tournament MVP, Air Force Nate Luther after the Championship game, Air Force’s defense strategy and his evolution as a player over four years. And, also whether a group of AF football and basketball players could beat the AF Handball team
Interview 4) Air Force coach, Mike Cavanaugh, reflects on the tournament, the waning days of stickum, some of the challenges with roster integrity and the last time Air Force beat West Point. (Note: I was a bit confused regarding Air Force’s planned trip to the Netherlands over Spring Break; Their spring break is a different week from Ohio State, so it’s a separate trip.)
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
The podcast was sponsored by Aspire Products, EMST150 Training Device. Check it out and don’t forget to use the promo code THN30 for a 30% discount.
During the 2020 Men’s European Handball Championships this past January I conducted a little betting experiment with “Samo”, a professional handball bettor from Slovenia. We each started the tournament with 1000 Euros and made a variety of wagers almost every day. My imaginary bank roll of 1,000 Euros took a 115 Euro hit, leaving me with just 885 Euros. Meanwhile, Samo fared considerably better, netting a profit of 860 Euros. That’s a solid return on investment.
Overall, most of our wagers were around 100 Euros. My W-L-D record was 7-8-1 (46.7%) and Samo’s was 12-4-1 (75%). Because we each had several bets that weren’t 50-50 point spreads these percentage don’t tell the whole story, but they tell a story. 50% is about one would get by throwing darts. 75% is doing pretty damn well. Historically, professional bettors are very happy with 55-60 %.
Side Note on My Personal Sports Betting History
Back in the day I was a much more active sports bettor. Frequent trips to Vegas and parents living there accommodated this hobby. For the most part I bet American Football and basketball and bet on the teams I liked when I thought they had a good line. I learned the hard way to never bet on my teams when I thought they would lose. Why? Well, it sucks to root for your team to lose. (I guess if I was more serious about my “hobby” I wouldn’t care.) Anyway, after awhile I decided to meticulously track my wins and losses. And, what did I find out? Well, I found I was right almost exactly half the time. Yes, there was a diminishing sine wave that would start at 60% to 40% and then over time dampen from 55% to 45% and so on.
So, I couldn’t stay above the magical 52.38% (The break even % with the Vegas house cut), but proved to myself that if the wager size didn’t get out of hand, it was pretty decent entertainment that wouldn’t break my bank. And, if you’ve ever been to Vegas during the NCAA basketball tourney with 16 games on Thursday and Friday for 12 hours of non-stop action and hundreds of people cheering, it can be phenomenal entertainment. (Trust me, if that experience is not your bucket list it should be.)
Anyway, the point of this personal history is to make it clear. Done right, there is nothing morally bankrupt about sports betting.
Wrong Handball Betting
Of course, handball betting can also be done wrong… very wrong. And, there can be no more troubling example than the 2012 Montpellier scandal. As new people in the U.S. are always discovering handball they may not be aware that one of the greatest handball players of all time, Nikola Karabatic and his brother Luka were found guilty of being a part of a match fixing scheme. I’m always a bit amazed at how handball can somehow sweep history like this under the rug, but swept it has been for the most part. Even more amazed that the penalties were so minor. Seriously, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose would both be in the Hall of Fame if baseball adopted handball’s penalty structures.
Evolving Views on Sports Betting and a Way to Help Popularize Handball
For some perspective on the evolving situation check out my commentary from 2008 on sports betting. Yes, 12 years later the times are a changing big time. U.S. leagues are now talking to sports books. They are even signing data partnerships to ensure the integrity of the game. The Las Vegas Knights play in the NHL and the Las Vegas Raiders are joining the NFL. The NBA even wants a cut on sports bets made on NBA games! These moves were almost unthinkable 12 years ago.
Even more dramatic: Sports betting is legal now in 13 states. Christ, there are sports books in Iowa now for crying out loud. And, more and more states are allowing mobile betting from the comfort of your own home.
Further, there are now more interesting ways to bet sports now. The proposition bets on individual players used to be a Super Bowl only opportunity. Now it’s every game… And, even for handball. If you think a certain player is going to struggle to get his goals because the defense a team plays you can bet that. There are a ridiculous number of possibilities.
And, the possibility that handball betting could help popularize the sport in the U.S. shouldn’t be loss on anyone trying to grow the game in this country. During the Xavier O’Callaghan interview with Barstool Sports the subject of gambling on handball came up briefly. And, why wouldn’t they ask that question. The popular sports website is selling a 36% stake in the company ($163M) to sports betting company, Penn National Gaming, with an option to take that stake to 50%. Yes Barstool Sports is well on its way to becoming a gambling company with a website and podcasts.
In the not too distant future could we see the Barstool guys debating the line on Paris SG – Kiel? Or whether Mikkel Hansen will score more than 6.5 goals? Could be. And, make no mistake that could help popularize the game, big time.
My Favorite Handball Bad Beat
ESPN does Sports Center segment where they review the bad beats of the week. The bets you thought you had won only to lose in the end.
Well, watch the closing minutes of the Spain – Croatia match where I had Spain at -2.5 Link (at around 2:00:00 on the efhTV clock)
Two easy chances for Spain to win by 3 and one of those chances foiled by sportsmanship! Well, you know what they say… Losing a close bet is as almost as much entertaining as winning it.
USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff, on Play Sqorr TV: Is he really taking Jay Cutler’s side in the ongoing controversy? It sure sound like it and why that’s a bit concerning.
The recent remarks by Jay Cutler and others regarding handball being a sport that American athletes from other sports could easily learn and quickly dominate have stirred up a lot of controversy. On one side is virtually the entire handball world, collectively scoffing at American arrogance and ignorance of the sport they love. On the other side are Americans who’ve been watching American athletes dominate and perform so well in so many sports. Let’s take a look at these two viewpoints with some quotes from the past few weeks.
Americans Just Dominate Viewpoint
Here’s a summary of quotes from the “Americans Just Dominate” side:
Jay Cutler, Former NFL QB (28 January on Pardon My Take: Link)
“I do want to get a team together for the Olympics… I think it’s handball, but it’s basically like a little ball that you throw around and throw into a goal, so it’s like indoor soccer with a ball that you throw. There’s a U.S. team, but I want to go and do that. Just throwing missiles…. I guarantee it that we can put a team together to win gold.”
Domonique Foxworth, Former NFL CB (30 January on ESPN’s Highly Questionable: Link)
“I’m sorry if this is disrespectable to handballers everywhere, but I’ve watched that game before… It’s not like this is soccer and it’s just not a big deal here. I’m sure handball is a big deal somewhere…. You know who plays handball. The people who couldn’t make it in soccer, couldn’t make it in football, couldn’t make it in basketball… So, I know it’s completely disrespectful to all handballers out there, but I don’t care… Me, Jay Cutler and Lebron will go win a handball championship”
Dan “Big Cat” Katz, Pardon My Take Host (7 February on Pardon My Take: Link)
“I mean it’s 100% true. No offense to Handballists. I’m sure you’re very nice people, but you play a sport that if we decided to stop playing all the other sports that that there would be a lot of guys better than what you’re doing.”
“Handball is not easy… It would take 3 months for U.S. pros to train and get acclimated.”
Handball World Viewpoint
And, here are some quotes from the “Handball world” side:
Ty Reed, USA Men’s National Team, Right Wing (1 Feb on PlaySqorr TV: Link)
“They’re very misinformed about the sport and kind of what the possibilities for American athletes are.”
“It’s a great foundation to have basketball, football, baseball; to have those skills, but, handball is a very unique game. The athleticism isn’t really the problem. It’s knowing the tactics of the game and making a positive result out of that.”
“You take Jay Cutler, Lebron, Patrick Mahomes, 3 other scrubs that don’t know how to play they’re going to lose by 30 to Argentina. It’s not even going to be close.”
“They’ve been playing handball since they’re six years old and they know more about the sport than anybody picking the game up in their mid 20’s will ever know, including myself. It sucks for me. I’ve been over here 2 years now and I’m a beginner compared to these kids because I just don’t have the knowledge and experience that they do. Athletically, Americans in general are very much superior to the general European players that are playing handball. The athleticism is not what’s in question. The tactics and the execution of the game and their knowledge of the game couldn’t be further apart.”
Robert Hedin, USA Men’s National Team Head Coach (12 February on the Team Handball News Podcast: Link)
“Funny to hear them talking about handball being so easy… It would be difficult for them to score many goals against a good team. No chance…”
“For them to score 5 goals in one half… It would be impossible. Maybe if they had 2 or 3 years of training they could score 5 goals… but 3 or 4 months, no chance.”
“Because it’s not so easy, if you have never played handball…They are looking at it and they see that they are big athletes and good trained guys, but it’s not enough. Talk about curling. It’s another sport and it looks easy, but it’s also, really, really difficult. Respect to every sports. It’s not just to train for 3 or 4 months and think you can win. It’s no chance.”
Xavier O’Callaghan, Former Player, Spain and FC Barcelona (13 February on the Pardon My Take Podcast: Link)
In response to a question about whether Jay Cutler’s take is insane or has a little truth to it.
“He is insane… He cannot win an Olympic medal in 2-3 months… You have the potential to be amazing athletes to play in a high level, but it takes time to be professional (a very good handball player). So, what I mean. In the short term it is impossible. Insane. In the long term… It takes years. For sure…”
But, in another world, if Cutler was born in Barcelona could he be a professional handball player?
“Of course, and probably one of the best… But, he needs to understand the game. He needs to train every day. So, it’s a matter of technique. It’s not just the physical condition. It’s the technique and the tactics. You need to read the game. To know when you have to move. When to pass the ball. When you have to shoot. Those kind of things; you have to learn them. It’s not a matter of 1, 2, 3 months.”
USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff, on the Controversy
Just when I thought the controversy was dying down a bit, USA Team Handball CEO, Barry Siff went on PlaySqorr TV and, to me, it sounded quite a bit like he is taking the side of Jay Cutler, Domonique Foxworth and Pardon My Take. (Minus, the overt arrogance, of course.) Review the quotes below and form your own opinion.
Barry Siff, USA Team Handball CEO (21 February on PlaySqorr TV: Link)
“When we do our tryouts later this year I think we’re going to shock some people in the type of athletes that we’re going bring onto handball and onto our team.”
“I know this is sacrilegious and I’m insulting a lot of people, but I don’t think it takes these 2, 3, 4, 5 years of learning all the nuances and techniques, etc…”
“I don’t think long term that well… I’m only going to be here through Paris, you know. This is like my last stint of full time stuff. And, you know, we got to get to Paris. Long term, we’ve got to be really competitive in L.A., but, my personal goal is to have a team or two in Paris for sure. And, the way to do that is through getting some of these athletes that we’re talking about. These high, high caliber athletes starting to play right now.”
Not convinced? Take a listen to this podcast back from last July
Barry Siff, USA Team Handball CEO (23 July 2019) Babbitville Radio Podcast: Link (at 34:45)
“The concept that I had in 2016 was to have a kind of Netflix, 30 for 30, whatever it is documentary building the next great America sport. What we were going to do was track going out and having tryouts in New York, in LA, San Francisco and Chicago. Having tryouts; bringing these athletes…”
“Our vision was let’s document building this team from scratch. We were going to go out and get football players, basketball players, water polo players. We were going to quietly build this team and then we were going to challenge USA Team Handball to a match. Winner take all. We win: We take over the federation. You win: We walk.”
“That was the idea. I thought it was a brilliant… We ran into political complications, you know, some other matters and we walked away from it. But, I still feel that way. I still feel like we can go out and we can make this media project that will bring interest to the sport. We’ve got to get eyeballs. We’ve got to get people to see the sport.”
To me, as described, this proposed “challenge match” sounds remarkably similar to the Pardon My Take challenge. Again, form your own opinion.
Side Note: The documentary concept also seems to be very similar to the Reality TV show concept that was discussed with USA Team Handball at around the same time in 2016.
Transfer Athletes to Handball?: It can be done… with caveats
It’s pretty hard for me to be an objective neutral in this debate. As someone who started playing handball at age 19 and only obtained a modest level of performance I’ve experienced firsthand how hard it is. And, I’ve also seen how hard it is for athletes way more physically gifted than me. Finally, I have spent an inordinate amount of time and energy assessing this very topic from virtually every possible angle. Link 1Link 2Link 3Link 4Link 5Link 6Link 7
In short, the right question is not, “Can it be done?” Actually, if you listen to the full interviews everyone on both sides thinks it can be done. They just disagree on how long such a transition would take. On one extreme is the viewpoint that it can done with a couple of months of training. On the other extreme is that is takes 10 years and pretty much has to be done starting at age 15 or so. And, the answer is further muddled by varying discussion as to what level of performance would be achieved. (e.g. winning a gold medal to just needing to be able to beat Argentina and Brazil in a few years.
No, the right question is “Should it be done?” And, that question can only be properly considered after asking and answering a lot of questions related to the specifics of the proposed talent transfer focused effort being planned. Such questions like:
How long will it take?
How much will it cost?
What raw talent level of athlete is being targeted?
What are the target ages for those athletes?
What are the overall goals of such a short term focused effort? (How many athletes? What level are those athletes expected to achieve?)
What is the likelihood that such goals will be achieved as a result of this effort?
What are the opportunity costs in terms of lost grass roots development?
Perhaps, all of these questions (and more) are indeed being asked and answered. All, I know is that if the plan is to take athletes from scratch to World Class in 3 years (i.e.; in time to meaningfully contribute to 2024 Olympic Qualification at the 2023 PANAM Games) it’s not going to being easy or cheap. My back of the envelope analysis is that probably the only way it could make sense would be for a reality TV show or a privately financed Pro League to pay for almost all or most of the costs.
Big Picture
If you’re like me, you are genuinely optimistic about USA Team Handball’s future thanks to recent developments like the Verizon Sponsorship, hiring of IPG 360 for additional promotion and the placement of U.S. players with top club teams in Europe. CEO Barry Siff has also sure brought some positive “can do” attitude to USA Team Handball.
But… positive “can do” attitude can only take you so far. Unless sponsorship will soon exceed my wildest dreams USA Team Handball is still very resource constrained. It just doesn’t seem practical at this point in time to start a major talent transfer effort. Not when there are so many other worthy needs competing for resources.
Then again, I could be wrong. I haven’t finished my assessment yet. For sure, I’ll be tackling these sorts of questions in more detail as I work on the “what we want” section of this series: Link
