I’ve been running a little campaign against the (don’t call it the Super Globe) IHF Club World Championships Roster Rules (of lack, thereof). I know it’s a bit of hopeless cause, but I like to think if you point out the very obvious problems with something change is bound to happen. Shine the light of day and some decision makers will look at the totality of it and ask themselves, “Is this really what we want to do?”
I won’t fully reiterate some previous commentaries (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3) but, I will again highlight the composition of the North American & Caribbean Handball Confederation (NACHC) representative at the ongoing IHF Club World Championships. Here is a compilation of the California Eagles roster based on data from the Official Final Roster, Provisional Roster, their first match report and some quick internet searches. (Again, you can’t believe everything you find on the internet; there might be a few errors, but this provides a pretty accurate snapshot)
Here’s what’s problematic with this roster:
Nationality: With the exception of Ty Reed all of the key players on the roster aren’t American. This is not to say that expats aren’t important to the development of the sport in the U.S. or that clubs shouldn’t have any expats playing for them. But, it does point out some underlying problems with the organizational structure of the sport in the U.S. That organizational structure inhibits the development of American athletes and the Super Globe “carrot” has further exacerbated the problem.
Residency… where the club is actually located: There are only 2 athletes on the roster that actually live anywhere near where the club is located. This is very problematic if you think a “club” is a collection of athletes that regularly practice and play games together.
Residency… in the country where the club is actually located. Over half the roster doesn’t even live in the United States. I do not have to explain how silly and absurd that is.
New Citizenship Requirement
It was brought to my attention that the IHF quietly installed a new citizenship requirement for the this year’s competition. Each club participating in the tournament is required to have six athletes with the same citizenship as the club’s location. (I don’t know if I should get any credit for this rule being added, but I’ll take a little.)
Best that I can tell this rule impacted three clubs: The California Eagles, Sydney Uni and Veszprem. With the California Eagles it appears they went on a little bit of an expedition to find American citizens that could be called up to meet the 6 athlete requirement. If you look at their preliminary roster its a mix of dual citizens and former national team athletes not playing club ball in Europe. Not surprisingly… the minimum 6 Americans were added to the roster. And, it appears that the the same thing happened with Sydney Uni and Veszprem. Yes, Veszprem, which has a roster jampacked with non Hungarians had to dip into it’s Academy roster to meet the requirement. And, amusingly this has resulted in a 7th American, Benjamin Edwards, getting to play at the Super Globe.
This is not a bad rule to have and, I think the U.S. should consider a similar requirement for it’s club teams. We probably should even consider a higher number or percentage to incentivize American athlete development.
Residency Requirements Next?
Similarily, the IHF, NACHC and USA Team Handball should take a long, hard look at adding some residency requirements. Obviously, it makes sense for clubs to consist of athletes who live in the same town. In fact, some Europeans reading this are probably shaking their heads and having a hard time contemplating how it would be otherwise. But, the reality is the U.S. is a very big country with a very small number of players. Not everyone has a nearby club to join and sometimes that nearby club is at a lower level then that athlete might want to play at.
But, again our existing structures and the Super Globe “carrot” are impeding the establishment of more clubs nationwide. Clubs have zero incentive to split off and create more clubs… because that would make the resultant clubs weaker. Athletes might prefer to play locally, but know they can only compete for a title if they join a bigger club in a bigger city that’s further away. This inevitably results in a few “super teams” loosely connected to a geographic area supplemented by Europeans flying in to further improve the team. A comical arms race to attend the Super Globe. This is not development.
To change the status quo… will require some new “carrots” and probably a few “sticks” to incentivize growth. That is… if we think we should take steps to incentivize growth and the development of American athletes.
Super Globe Future
While nationality and residency rules would crack down on some of the silliness with the current rosters it would create another problem. It would result in even weaker teams that simply can’t compete against professional teams. Or, to put it another way: The IHF can continue the charade of allowing fake teams so the matches are somewhat closer… or the IHF could recognize that the IHF Club World Championships should only be contested with professional sides.
I’m in favor of the latter. Let’s have four European clubs take on four non European pro teams. That’s a worthwhile measuring stick to see if the rest of the world is catching up. But, amateur sides? I just don’t see the point.
*TV and “streaming” are now pretty much the same thing. And, that reality could and should be a game changer for the development of handball in the U.S.
TV and Streaming: The Silver Bullet Game Changer
Long time readers to this website will know that I’ve long espoused the importance of getting more handball on TV in the U.S. Anecdotally, the number of people choosing to get involved with handball after seeing the sport on TV during the Olympics is off the charts. And, I’m pretty sure if an analytical study was ever conducted to quantify the impact of TV it would simply confirm all those anecdotes.
Nothing exposes more Americans to the sport. Nothing generates more interest nationwide. While short video clips on social play an ever increasing role in the zeitgist… those video clips are typically content pulled from TV/streaming broadcasts. Or, they are video clips that complement that TV/streaming broadcasts.
The Rugby 7s example
This isn’t just true for handball. Look at the U.S. Women’s Rugby 7s team where Olympic TV broadcasts and social media posts from one athlete, Ilona Maher, generated interest. They both fed off each other, and when a full length of the field try resulted in an upset win over New Zealand and a bronze medal it garnered unprecedented exposure culminating in a $4M donation to the team.
I’m not saying Handball will generate the same level of good fortune. But, good things will eventually happen when you put more handball in front of more eyeballs in the U.S. Our sport kicks ass. People see it… they like it. And, that leads to more players, fans and yes, eventually sponsors and donors.
Streaming: The Future has Finally Arrived… Maybe?
I’ve been such a big proponent of getting more handball on TV because I think regular broadcasts would be the inflection points of all inflection points. The point where every discussion about handball would begin with “After handball was regularly broadcast on TV….” And, when ESPN agree to broadcast the Handball World Championships in 2021 on its streaming service, ESPN+ I thought it would be that inflection point. But, that never materialized. In fact, the ESPN+ broadcasts barely moved the needle.
There were two main reasons for this. Streaming was making a lot of progress, but while it had become commonplace for TV shows and movies it still hadn’t “arrived” yet for sports. And, inexplicably, ESPN provided almost no promotion whatsoever for the sport. Seriously, it was as if they were trying to hide handball.
But, that was then. This is now. With Peacock averaging 4-6M viewers for any given minute, some are calling the 2024 Olympics, streaming’s Magnum Opus. In other words, the point in time where streaming was no longer the reluctant 2nd option for sports fans, but instead the go to 1st option. And, we’re not talking about niche loving handball fans, accustomed to streaming because it was their only option. We’re talking about the generalist sports fan, who more often than not was happy with tradtional TV view options.
Handball on TV (or Streaming): Still the Silver Bullet
I’ve been writing about the importance of Handball TV broadcasts for a long time. This commentary has a good summary and makes the argument that regular handball broadcasts are the closest thing we have to a silver bullet solution to all our problems. This is because our sport has “a lack of awareness” problem that hamstrings anything and everything we need to do. And, nothing. I REPEAT NOTHING addresses that problem more than getting Rodger and others hyped up on handball and screaming (IN ALL CAPs) for more.
NBC Peacock: The Future Home of Handball?
I’ve been following the different potential options for broadcasting handball for over a decade. And, while I was really strong advocate for getting handball on ESPN and played a behind the scenes role in it actually coming to fruition I now think it’s time to turn our eyes towards Peacock. Here’s why:
NBC Peacock is now a great streaming platform. What was once a somewhat clunky user interface is now simple to use. Every match in one place and easy to navigate and find.
NBC Peacock has been a great steward and promoter for handball at the 2024 Olympics. Handball is the only sport with no U.S. participation at the Olympics, but NBC hasn’t been keeping it a secret. Whether it’s Mike Tirico gushing about handball at the opening ceremonies, or Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson adopting the Egyptian National Team or the the Gold Zone hyping handball the affection and support are genuine.
NBC Peacock needs content to help minimize subscription churn. The Olympics have been a real boon to NBC Peacock. They currently have 33M subscribers, some portion of which just signed up for the Olympics. And, some portion of which will think about leaving after the Olympics are over. Do I really think that there are a lot of Americans out there who will only stay with Peacock if handball is added to the library. No, I don’t. But, you know what… I think there are some now who will be more inclined to stay if handball is one of several things they can watch on Peacock.
NBC Peacock provides a logical lead in to the 2028 Olympics. The U.S. will be participating in handball at the 2028 Olympics for the first time since 1996. And, both the U.S. Men and Women will get wild cards for the 2025 and 2027 World Championships. It makes a lot of sense for those four events to also be broadcast on Peacock. And, while we’re add it, how about the North American & Caribbean Championships and the 2027 PANAM Games?
Why it Could Actually Happen: It’s a Very Rare Win-Win-Win-Win-Win
Yes, if you’re counting that’s 5 wins. I think that’s about the right number. Here are the 5 entities that would win:
International Handball Federation (IHF): The IHF owns the rights for the World Championships and sold them to ESPN for a very discounted price (perhaps free?) for the past 3 years. As discussed, Peacock is better option now
European Handball Federation (EHF): The EHF hasn’t had either their Club Champions League or the European Championships on USA TV for several years. The Champions League has a fully produced, English language Match of the Week. Most of the European Championships also have fully produced matches ready to broadcast. All of this content is available on ehfTV, but it deserve promotion and a boader audience.
Handball Bundesliga (HBL): The best professional club league in the world, now has a fully produced, English language match ever week. These featured matches along with every other match are available via subscription, but the feature match deserves broader exposure.
NBC Peacock. As discussed, NBC Peacock could use more content. And, here’s some good news NBC… I think you could get the above handball content (IHF, EHF, HBL) at a very attractive price. Maybe even free if the Handball entities can be convinced that the accompanying reach and promotion will lead to U.S. market growth. All you have to do is show what NBC has done with the English Premier League (EPL) and that should get everyone’s attention.
USA Team Handball. As discussed, more Americans watching handball is a very good thing. Something that could turn a once every four years phenomenon to a continuous stream of discovery would be an epic game changer. And, Peacock would also be a great location for U.S. handball content like our collegiate championships and a reality show.
Will it Happen?
Will it happen, though? I’d like to think that something with so much upside and so little downside is a no brainer just waiting to happen. However, I’m just some guy with a website and a good idea. That said, the campaign starts now. We’ll see if the dream can indeed, become reality.
This commentary is regarding the U.S. Women’s National team. For information regarding newcomer prospects for the U.S. Men’s National Team (which are dramatically different) check out this commentary.
Olympic Dreams Fueled by Possibilities
I’m sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of athletes watching the Paris Olympics, seeing handball for the first time and thinking, “What an awesome game! I would be great at this sport. Where can I play?”
And, as America’s #1 handball fan, I can tell you that such revelations are music to my ears. There’s nothing I like better than new athletes and fans following in my footsteps. And, no doubt, some of those athletes are probably thinking even grander thoughts, “Hey, the U.S. didn’t even qualify. Hardly anybody probably plays it in the U.S. Maybe I could be an Olympian. How would I go about becoming an Olympic handball player?
For over 25 years the prospects for any American handball player to become an Olympian haven’t been very good. The U.S. last qualified for an Olympics in 1996 as the host nation. And, since then we’ve never really even come close to securing a berth in qualfication events. But, now with Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics that’s about to change. As Charles Barkley would say, it’s Guaranteed that we’re fielding a team. Out there, many are probably thinking… Somebody’s got to make that team. Why not me?
Unique, Uncharted Circurmstances Means it’s Definitely Possible
First things first. Let me be clear. The following is my opinion and certainly not an official USA Team Handball position. That said, I’ve got a pretty good track record of assessing handball in this country. For what it’s worth, here’s my answer to your question…
Due to a very, very small talent pool consisting of around 150 athletes with modest athletic ability there’s a decent chance you could make the 2028 U.S. Olympic Women’s Handball Team. How good are you chances? That will depends on several variables to include how good of an athlete you are, how motivated you are and what, if anything, USA Team Handball eventually does to identify, recruit and train prospective national team athletes.
Let me explain further. When I say around “150 athletes” I am not referring to our national team talent pool. No… I’m talking about 150 female athletes with American citizenship currently playing handball at any level, anywhere in the world.
Our national team athletes for the past few years have mostly been comprised of of athletes trained at our last residency program at Auburn (which closed in 2018) and dual citizen athletes who compete in Europe. With the U.S. Men we’ve been blessed with a golden generation of talent that has essentially gifted us with the most competitive team we’ve had since the 1980s.
With the U.S. Women we have been less fortunate. While hard working and great representatives of our nation collectively the raw athletic talent is similar to what one might see on an NCAA Div 3 basketball team. Not surprisingly the results have been disappointing. We have not won a match since the 2019 PANAM Games. We’re 0-0-12 in official competition and those 12 losses are not to European sides, but to peer competition in our hemisphere. If our current team were to play the teams competing at the 2024 Olympics we would be 30+ goal underdogs in every match.
Demographics assessment from 2019 (It’s actually gotten worse)
And, an important side note: Our #1 GK, Sophie Fasold, is a clear exception. She plays in Germany’s top league and is, arguably, the best GK in U.S. history.
The Variables
So with that as context let’s take a look at some of the variables that will determine an athlete’s prospects for making the 2028 U.S. Women’s National Handball Team:
The raw talent of the athlete
The starting age of the athlete and amount of time the athlete has to train
The training environment the athlete will have
The commitment level of the athlete
The quality of the athletes also seeking to make the team
Here’s a closer look at each variable
The Raw Talent of the Athlete
With the current raw talent on the U.S. National Team roughly equivalent to an NCAA D3 basketball team an athlete that has played D1 or D2 sports in college should have an advantage against current players. This was even demonstrated at the 2023 North American & Caribbean Championships when a D2 basketball player, Katie Timmerman played significant minutes despite only a couple of training camps to learn the sport. Logically, in most cases a D1 athlete would even have better chances to make an impact.
I could also get into a lengthy discussion regarding the merits of different sports in terms of transitioning to handball. Athletes have come from many different sports, but the most common sport historically has been basketball. And, even athletes from other sports often have high school basketball in their resume.
The Starting Age of the Athlete and the Amount of Time that Athlete has to Train
Normally, I would argue that any athlete over 23 years of age is probably outside the desired range to start a training program. And, generally the younger the better. Given, however, the current cirumstances of a very small talent pool and a 4 year window, I could see a great athlete even in their 30s being a candidate. Obviously not ideal, but we’re talking a very unique situation.
The Training Environment the Athlete Would Have
For many years the U.S. had Residency Programs that were dedicated full time to developing new handball athletes. However, the U.S. hasn’t had a Residency Program since 2018 and as far as I know there are no plans to start one anytime soon.
This leaves a newcomer with very limited options. They could join a stateside club, but they typically just practice once a week and play in a few tournaments on the weekend. One could learn the basics and get their feet wet, but not much more. And, then they could also attend the periodic national team camps that are held. I’m sure any European reading this is just shaking their head in bewilderment, “Athletes who’ve never played before attending a National Team camp?.. That’s crazy.” But, that’s where we are currently at.
The other alternative would be to train with a handball club overseas, most likely in Europe. A handful of stateside based athletes have indeed done this. It’s not easy and it can be challenging to find a quality club with a good system willing to train a relative newcomer. But, again, given the state of the current program it would be your best option. Additionally, I suspect that a higher level athlete with potential would get some help from the national team staff in making such a move.
The Commitment Level of the Athlete
Having great raw talent is a significant advantage, but it’s not everything. An average athlete with modest talent, but knows how to play handball also has an advantage. Sometimes raw talent trumps handball skills, but often the reverse is true. With the necessary commitment to learn the sport, however, it’s only a matter of time before the contest changes from who knows how to play… to who’s the better athlete.
The huge unknown here, however, isn’t necessarily the “attitude” of the athlete. Commitment is a 2 way street. The athlete commits to work hard and get better. And, USA Team Handball commits to provide that athlete with the tools and opportunities to get better. Unfortunately, right now as an organization USA can’t provide athletes very much in return for their commitment. In fact, national team athletes are actually paying thousands of dollars out of their own pocket to represent their nation. And, not surprisingly… quite a few athletes don’t want to commit to that.
The Quality of the Athletes also Seeking to Make the Team
For the most part I’ve framed this discussion as what would it take for a decent athlete to develop into a handball player that given the current talent pool could make the U.S. National Team. That’s a fairly straightforward comparison.
But, what’s really hard to assess is the number and quality of new athletes that might take steps to earn a roster spot. Right now there’s not much in place to entice a relative newcomer to make such an effort. That translates to fewer athletes competing for slots and lower quality athletes making the team. If a more structured program is put in place more and better quality athletes will start showing up.
The Great Unknown: What Steps will USA Team Handball Take… and When Will they Take them
You might have noticed that one variable I listed was:
What, if anything, USA Team Handball eventually does to identify, recruit and train prospective national team athletes
Right now USA Team Handball’s recruitment is very limited. Emails are sent out to college coaches and open tryouts are held, but there’s really no training program in place. I have a hard time believing that won’t change at some point, but I don’t know what it will entail or when it will be implemented.
And, this results in the strange cirumstances that while I can say with a high degree of confidence that total newcomers to handball are likely to make our 2028 Olympic Team I don’t know exactly how they’re going to do it.
JD and John discuss the Paris 2024 Olympics Promotion Working Group, the results and statisics from the Jr Womens World Championship, how the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary style might work for the U.S. Women’s Team and the upcoming NACHC Club championships.
Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:
DEFCON 5 means normal conditions and DEFCON 1 means war is imminent: Link (So a lower number DEFCON is worse, not better, and this sometimes results in confusion.)
John and JD discussed their participation on a Paris 2024 Olympics Promotion Working Group. A link with more information on how others can volunteer will be provided when it’s available.
2020 Jr Women’s World Championships Information page: Link
JD and John discuss the US Handball Union Vegas tourney, the Men’s and Women’s World Beach Handball Championships, the U20 Women’s Championships and the recent resignation of two USA Team Handball Board of Directors.
Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:
John’s commentary on USA Handball “National” Championships: Link
2024 World Beach Handball Championship Information Page: Link
Ebiye Udo-Udoma, the Handball Ninja, commented on the episode’s YouTube page, that sets is the most common terminology used for beach handball. Additionally, the first two sets are sometimes informally referred to as “halves.”
The 22 shots (11 round shootout) at the 2017 U17 EHF Men’s final (queued up to the mentioned saves): Link
Side note: JD and John thought the 55.5 goals Over/Under for the USA-UZB was off. It was, but not in the direction we thought. The final score was UZB 42, USA 25
The USA Jr Women’s National Team is competing in the 2024 Women’s Junior World Handball Championship. Here are the team roster, schedule, results, and links to streaming and other information pages
The USA Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball National Teams are competing in the 2024 IHF Beach Handball World Championships. Here are the team rosters, schedule, results, and links to streaming and other information pages
The U.S. Jr Women’s National Team will be participating in the 2024 IHF Jr World Handball Championships from 19-30 June, in Skopje, North Macedonia. Some team members recently participated in a Sr Women’s camp in Montpellier, France and the Jr Team will be holding a pre-tournanment training camp in Leonberg, Germany.
Team Promotion on Social Media
If you want to know more about the team roster and their preparation just follow them on their social media channels where they regular post content like athlete profiles and training camp updates
On the latest episode of their Red, White and Glue podcast some of the funding challenges the team faces were discussed. It’s not clear what parts of their training camp and the World Championships competition is funded by USA Team Handball, but it is very clear that much of the trip will be self funded by the athletes and their families.
If you would like to assist the team and their efforts there are multiple ways to contribute and help defray some of their costs:
John’s commentary on the 2024 National Champions, California Eagles roster: Link
The 1990 CalHeat National Championship team which was mostly Americans with a few expats; over time club teams have become the reverse: mostly expats with a few Americans
1990 USA National Champions (San Francisco CalHeat)
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The draw for the 2025 Men’s World Championships will take place tomorrow, 29 May at 1:30 PM (US ET) / 7:30 PM (CET). It will probably be streamed live and I will place the link here when it’s available.
The USA Men are in pot 4 and here’s some best and worst case analysis for who might be drawn into their group
Pot 1: It doesn’t matter for pot 1. The USA will be a huge underdog no matter which of these 8 teams they end up playing in Group Play.
Pot 2: The best outcome here would clearly be Italy. The Italians won their qualification play-off match vs Montenegro in convincing fashion, but it’s still their first WC in 18 years. The U.S. would be underdogs against Italy, but an upset victory would certainly be possible. The Czech Republic is probably the next weakest side, but a victory over them or any of the other teams in pot 2 is still unlikely.
Pot 3: This will be the key draw for the U.S. as the group match vs this opponent will likely determine who moves on to the main round and who goes to the President’s Cup. Here’s my take (in order) as to who the U.S. preferred options are
Cuba: The best option is clearly Cuba. The U.S. Men lost to Cuba at the 2024 NORCA Championships, but that was mostly a B side. The U.S. Men’s top side has beaten Cuba the last two times they played each other (2023 PANAM Games and and 2022 NORCA).
Algeria: Algeria were the runners-up in African qualification, but usually they are the 3rd or 4th best team from Africa and are similar in quality to the Moroccan side the U.S. beat 28-27 at the 2023 WC
Japan: Japan had built up a pretty solid team for the 2020 Olympics, but they’ve slipped a bit since then.
Qatar: Qatar still has some naturalized citizens playing for them, but they aren’t as strong as they used to be
North Macedonia: North Macedonia or Italy are arguably the weakest European teams at this World Championship.
Poland: On paper Poland should be a better team, but results wise they have been a disappointment recently. If there ever was a European team that could slip up and lose against a team like the USA, its this Poland team.
Argentina: The U.S. led most of the 1st half vs Argentina last year at the PANAM Games only to end up losing 28-14. While it’s possible the U.S. could put two good halves together it would be tough to come out on top. Further, the Argentinians know what the U.S. is capable of, so a surprise victory is not possible.
Brazil: The U.S. has played Brazil close at times, but hasn’t come close to a win. And, again, just like Argentina, the U.S. can’t sneak up on Brazil.
Best and Worst Possible Draws
Here’s my take on the best and worse possible draws for the U.S.
Best Possible: Slovenia, Italy, Cuba
Worst Possible: France, Croatia, Brazil
What If… the USA had won the 2024 NORCA and had Potential Opponents from Pot 4?
The U.S. chose to send essentially a B side to the North American & Caribbean Championship while an A side played Norway and France in two friendly matches. The U.S. could afford to do this as they had already been awarded a wild card for the World Championships. This resulted in Cuba (the NORCA Champions) being placed in Pot 3 and the U.S. being placed in Pot 4 as a wild card. If, the U.S. had sent their A team to NORCA and had won the Championship the U.S. would have been placed in Pot 3 and the Pot 4 wild card would have likely been assigned to a European side like Serbia.
Here’s some top level “What if?” analysis of who the USA would have potentially played under that scenario. The USA would have been big underdogs to Switzerland and Serbia, moderate underdogs to Bahrain and Tunisia, close to a pick em vs Chile and Cape Verde, and probably favorites over Kuwait and Guinea.
So overall, there would have been better opportunities to get to the Main Round from Pot 3 than Pot 4. Not guaranteed, of course. The U.S. could still draw Cuba or Algeria from Pot 3 and if they hadn’t gone the Wild Card route they could have ended up playing Switzerland or Serbia.
From a big picture viewpoint, however, I think the U.S. still made the right call to send a B team to the NORCA Championships. The experience gained playing France and Norway was worth more than having better odds to reach the Main Round. And, at the same time the U.S. was able to evaluate several athletes on the B team and assess their potential for future competitions.
This is part of a series of commentaries that address the future of handball in the U.S. In Part 1, I summarized the U.S. Women’s National Team poor results of the past 4 years. In Part 2, I addressed the need for USA Team Handball leadership to consider proactive steps to broaden the talent pool. This commentary highlights an Out of the Box possibility that just might work.
Introduction: Where’s the Funding Going to Come from?
When I talk to handball old timers (around my age and even older) perhaps the biggest disconnect they have with their experience and the struggles we have today is the lack of funding for our national teams. These old timers travelled the world and made a lot of sacrifices, but they never spent a dime on travel or training. In fact, they often received room, board and a small stipend. Contrast that to today’s environment with teams and athletes using gofundme pages to help defray some of their costs. (This commentary highlights USA Team Handball funding since 1993)
These costs not only impacts these athletes, but it also impacts the size and quality of our talent pool. If athletes have to pay to play… there are going to be fewer athletes to select from. And, without a structured training program for stateside crossover athletes this means relying for the most part on dual citizens and athletes moving to Europe to improve their game.
Given current budget limitations, it would seemingly be impossible to fund a credible training program to broaden the talent pool with crossover athletes. Seemingly, that is. Because I think the stars have aligned for an out of the box solution that could pay for itself.
Alignment 1: Women’s Sports are “Having a Moment”
As a native Iowan I’ve been following the Caitlin Clark phenomenon with a mixture of bemusement, incredulosity and annoyance. The latter is due to being a lifelong Iowa State University fan. Growing up I had two favorite teams: Iowa State and whoever the University of Iowa was playing against. Setting aside fierce in-state rivalries, though, I can’t deny the transformation that has taken place in regards to the newfound interest it has brought to women’s basketball.
This was perhaps most ably demonstrated to me when handball commentator, Chris O’Reilly contacted me to find out if I knew of any way that he could get access to CBS and ESPN to watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament. My response included this point. “ESPN is just for the women’s tournament… OMG, has Caitlin Clark mania reached Europe now?” Indeed, Chris informed me that it had and that she was all over his social media channels. When an Irish handball commentator living in Sweden is taking extra effort to figure out he can watch USA Women’s college basketball… that is the very definition of “Having a Moment.”
More than a Moment?
There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether this is, indeed, but a moment. Simply the impact of one transformational athlete injecting a bit more interest for a short period of time before things go back to normal. The jury is still out on that, but I think it’s definitely more than a moment and it’s more than just women’s basketball.
In particular, women’s professional soccer has been showing real signs of life with the valuation of team franchises seeing exponential growth in terms of valuation. Nebraska women’s volleyball played a match in their football stadium with a world record 92,000 fans. There’s even a pro volleyball league now that judging by this match replay gets decent crowds. Women’s collegiate softball also is drawing more fans.
Now, I don’t think we’re going to ever hit parity with men’s sports in terms of overall interest. But, I do think we’re starting to see real interest that means something. And, this is a sharp contrast to the next to nothing interest women’s sports have received in the past. From my own personal anecdotal experience I’ve certainly even watching women’s sports more even if it is to watch Caitlan Clark get technical fouls for the struggling Indiana Fever. Welcome to the pros, rook!
Alignment 2: The Rise of the Sports Documentary/Reality Show
Sport’s reality shows are also having a moment. Fostered in part by the COVID pandemic, shows like Netflix’s Drive to Survive are finding new fans. Even getting some Americans to actually care about Formula 1. This documentary format has also been adopted for golf (Full Swing) and tennis (Match Point). ESPN even got into the act with a new show callled “Tryouts” on ESPN+. Two episodes even feature the lesser known sports of Ultimate and Curling.
The Handball Reality Show: Retooled for a U.S. Women’s National Team
So, why not team handball? The concept of a handball reality show has been around in different forms for over 20 years. I first saw it proposed in an online forum not long after the NFL reality show, Hard Knocks debuted. Essentially, the basic concept is to follow the ups and downs of the U.S. National Team as it trains to take on the world.
In 2017 there was a serious proposal that was pitched to NBC. The proposed show’s producer even attended the 2017 Men’s World Championship as a guest of the IHF. This proposal would have seen former pros from American football, basketball and other sports learn the game and even travel to Europe for competion. Alas, the show was not selected for production, but the fact that it got that far suggests that the concept has real potential.
Generally left unsaid is that these proposals have been exclusively focused on the men’s team and conceptualized how famous male athletes would excel at handball if given the chance. This is not too surprising. After all, until very recently way more attention across the board has gone to men’s sports. Why would it have been any different for reality sports TV shows?
And, while I could argue there might well be still greater interest in a show focused on finding great athletes for our Men’s National Team it would be a fool’s errand. That’s because we already have a pretty good team. Athletes who already know how to play the game and who are also fairly high up in there terms of raw athletic ability. As we discussed on the USA Handball Talk podcast the current Men’s National Team has athletes one would find on a low NCAA D1 or high D2 Basketball team. We could find better athletes… but, not a whole lot better and it would take them at least two years (if not more) of regular handball training to realistically compete for positions on the national team.
Whereas with our Women’s National Team the raw talent is more similar to an NCAA D3 basketball team The evidence to support this includes an 0-0-12 record since the 2019 PANAM Games and the novelty of a D2 NCAA hoopster (Katie Timmerman) with very little handball experience playing significant minutes at the 2023 North American & Caribbean Championships. Her success suggests that even better athletes would fare well with an organized training program. (Side note: Current #1 GK Sophie Fasold is D1 quality and might well be the best GK in USA history)
Documentary/Reality Show Framework
So what would this would be TV show look like? For discussion purposes, here’s a possible framework for Season 1:
Athlete identification and recruitment: Introductory episodes could cover what types of athletes they are looking for and how they are recruited
Athlete tryouts: Structured tryouts would be held and athletes would be evaluated and then selected for further training
Initial training: Athletes would be taught the basics of handball in a structured setting over several weeks
Initial competition matches: The athletes could play a match vs current national team athletes and/or European clubs
Follow on seasons would continue to follow the athletes as they integrate with the national team and continue training, potentially in Europe
Multiple Variables to Consider
How the show would actually look would also depend on several variables to include:
Funding Level: It goes without saying the more funding this would be show has… the more that can be done across the board to pay for facilities, coaching, athlete expenses, travel, etc. In fact, from a selfish handball standpoint that’s the appeal of this concept. This show would pay for a real training program that USA Team Handball can’t afford right now, even at an austere level.
TV Partner Role: Would the TV partner be content to just document what happens or would they want to control the narrative as much as possible? In standard reality fare, drama is what draws interest and this could be a major distraction. Roles for everyone involved in the effort would need to be defined. And, if we’re really thinking out of the box… there is nothing that would prohibit no partnership whatsoever. Yes, some entity could seek to manufacture a team and develop athletes with no connection to USA Team Handball at all.
Timing: The Olympics are just four years away. On the one hand, it would seem that we’re already behind the curve in terms of the time it will take great athletes to learn handball. But, on the other hand, great athletes might be reluctant to commit to four years of training. Commitment concerns, however, could be assuaged with a salary and other opportunities.
Two “Moments” and a Big Opportunity
So we essentially have a alignment of two moments and a big opportunity
People genuinely care more about women’s sports now
Sports docudramas have garnered unprecedented interest
The U.S. Women’s national team is currently low performing, but will play in the Olympics just four years from now.
So some smart entity could jump on both the women’s sports bandwagon and the sports documentary bandwagon to help a down trodden team that hasn’t won a game in over four years acheive greatness at the 2028 Olympics. It also doesn’t hurt that we’re talking about a pretty cool, ridiculously under exposed sport…
Yes, the stars have aligned to make this pipe dream, out of the box solution seem more than plausible. Honestly, if a reality show almost made it in 2017, it seems that one one focused on the U.S. Women in 2024 is a no brainer. Just a pitch that has to be made to the right people.
And, there are several candidates for just such a pitch. Entities that have even expressed love for handball before. I may not ever get in an elevator with these different entities to make that pitch, but I’ll be making my case nonetheless in the coming weeks.
JD and John discuss USA National Teams in action on three continent: The USA Men friendly matches in Europe, the USA Men at the NORCA Championships and both Men’s and Women’s Beach National Teams in Brazil.
Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:
Note: Next week’s music segment will continue to discuss the Athens alternative music scene of the 1980’s and will feature R.E.M. as John has their entire discography
The Savanna Bananas: Link (Yes, they’ve transitioned to a travelling road show)
Ichthyosaur: John’s proposed nickname for the Las Vegas Handball Club he helped start: Link (His suggestion did not gain traction and Scorpions was selected. He still has the DC Diplomats, though to claim)
The originations of the Wild Card: Germany was eliminated in 2015 World Championship qualification and it became very apparent that this would be very detrimental to the value of the TV rights in the largest handball market. Australia was removed on shaky grounds: Link
When Abou Fofana plays like that… ▶️I just wonder when he's going to move up from the ProLigue to the StarLigue ▶️And, why he was just seen as a defensive specialist for several seasons ▶️What am I missing? @FXHoulet@TomVillechaizehttps://t.co/D3kkvToZ1V
In part 1 I addressed the low American participation rate at our National Championships. In part 2, I take a closer look at the eclectic California Eagles roster which won the National Title. It’s time for USA Team Handball to put a stop to this nonsense.
Correlation Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Causation…
When you write a lot of commentaries sometimes you wonder if anybody even reads them. For sure, quite a few people see the social media post, think, “just John Ryan complaining about something again” and swipe until they get to something more entertaining. Yes, in a TLDR world, it’s easy for my commentaries to get skipped.
But, sometimes they do get read and sometimes they can even be a catalyst for change… maybe? After the IHF Super Globe this past fall I wrote a commentary which criticized the composition of the San Francisco CalHeat roster which was composed mostly of athletes that weren’t American and/or didn’t live anywhere near San Francisco.
I’m not sure the exact timeline of events, but not too long afterwards, SF CalHeat and their long time coach, Danilo Rojevic, parted ways. (Keep in mind, SF Cal Heat had won the last 3 national championships.) Rojevic then became the head coach for the California Eagles which are (sort of) based in Southern California, even though, Rojevic, as far as I know still lives in the Bay Area. Probably, not coincidentally, several athletes, many with mercenary like attributes also transferred from SF CalHeat to the California Eagles
And, then as a contrast we have the rosters for SF CalHeat at the recent National Championships. Best I can tell, SF CalHeat’s 1st team roster is mostly composed of Bay Area residing athletes and their 2nd team had more Americans than any other team at nationals.
Maybe some folks at CalHeat took my commentary to heart? Maybe? It could be just a coincidence in timing. It could also very well be that they might have been thinking along the same lines and my commentary just distilled the full extent of the “problem.” Again, it’s all a big maybe.
A Closer Look at the California Eagles Roster
But, just in case my commentary from last November helped people make some decisions here’s another roster breakdown to perhaps again serve as a catalyst for a change in direction.
First a quick note on the methodology (or lack there of) used. The roster information comes from the USA Team Handball Sport 80 National Championship Page and the Results file. I then did Google searches and checked social media websites to assess nationality and place of residency. And, no, I didn’t contact anyone directly with these nosy questions. There could well be some errors as social media data could be old or inaccurate, but I think this summary is accurate enough to get a basic picture of the team’s composition.
Here are a few takeaways:
The California Eagles had more athletes from the 2023 SF CalHeat Super Globe roster on their team than the SF CalHeat team participating at the National Championships.
The bulk of the scoring came from athletes that didn’t play for the California Eagles prior to this season,
Best that I can tell nine of these athletes don’t live in Southern California and four of those nine athletes don’t even live in the U.S.
Two new additions (Bjorn Christensen Mathiassen and Marcus Rene Næss Soltvedt had just finished their season playing for Bergen in Norway’s top division. Mathiassen, in particular, appears to have played a pretty big role, leading the team with 25 goals, including 12 in the gold medal match
At first glance, one addition to the roster, former Montpellier Right Back, Maxime Bouschet, looks like an obvious mercenary. But, his LinkedIn profile makes it pretty clear he’s not. He’s living in Southern California and doing post doctoral work at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). That’s pretty cool and this is exactly the type of expat that helps grow the game.
“Powering Up” and the “Need to Make Compromises”
On a recent Red, White and Glue podcast, California Eagles Coach, Danilo Rojevic, reflected on the SF CalHeat Super Globe experience and its roster composition. The addition of athletes who were neither American nor living anywhere near San Francisco was euphemistically referred to as “powering up” and he indicated that it was pretty much necessary to be more competitive at a Super Globe.
And, of course, he’s correct. A North American club consisting of amateurs who live in the same geographic area is almost always going to be a weaker team than one that “powers up.” Case in point, the Mexican Club, Ministros, was the North American & Caribbean representative at the 2022 Super Globe. They went 0-4 with an average Goal Differential of -19 goals. Whereas, CalHeat went 1-3 with an average Goal Differential of -8.25.
But, there’s no requirement to add ringers, jokers, mercenaries or whatever you want to call powering up your roster. Ministros has proven that. They didn’t get the highly coveted win over the Oceania entrant, but I don’t think they made any compromises. The reality is this: There is no NEED to compromise a club roster so that you can win a championship. But, sure a club might WANT to compromise their roster so they can win a championship. Bottom line: need and want are two very different things.
Two Key Points to Reiterate
I guess I should first reiterate two key points that I’ve made previously:
1) Nobody is breaking any rules: I highly doubt that the California Eagles broke any rules. The U.S. rule book has a requirement for athletes to participate in one other sanctioned tournament to qualify for “Elite,” but, since there was another enitity organizing domestic competition this year the championship was actually a Div 1 championship instead of an an Elite championship. And, then there are no residency requirements. Athletes can live anywhere and play for any club. And, “anywhere” literally means anywhere (Europe, Antartica, etc.)
2) Plenty of room for whataboutism: And, the Eagles aren’t the first team to power up. SF Cal Heat has done it before, but apparently has decided to change course. The New York City Team Handball Club has also added players including 2 athletes from Montpellier’s Academy last year. (Kylian Prat receiving the MVP award) NYAC, which is only loosely connected to New York City, has athletes from all over the U.S., so by default they are pretty much a mercenary squad that never even practices.
Multiple Issues of Concern- Let’s Recognize them and Avoid Conflating them
There are several issues related to club rosters in terms to both the nationality and locality of the athletes. And, while the nationality and locality of athletes are somewhat intertwined, we shouldn’t conflate them as all just one big issue. Below is an attempt to first describe the situation we have with club rosters without identifing the concerns we might have with each situation:
Some clubs have athletes on their rosters who don’t even live in the United States
Some clubs have athletes on their rosters who live nowhere near the club’s geographic location
Some clubs have no real geographic location and simply get together for competition
Many clubs have rosters which are almost exclusively expats
To varying degrees I have concerns with each of these issues. Here are some of those concerns:
Fairness: To varying degrees adding players skews the competition. Intrinsically I don’t think it’s “fair” for a club relying on local players to compete against clubs that are “powering up” with players from anywhere in the U.S. or even from Europe.
Arms Race: I guess one could say that all clubs are free to power up. But, this results in an arms race to secure players. Is this where we want clubs to focus their energy?
Lack of American participation: I think the current structure of adding players to rosters contributes to fewer Americans playing, particularly for clubs seeking to compete for a title. This is because with only a handful of exceptions adding an American means a weaker team Because of this USA Team Handball should consider the addition of citizenship quotas and/or age requirements to incentivize player development.
Player free agency and it’s detriment to regional growth: With athletes free to play for any club, anywhere they often seek the best deal for themselves. This has resulted in the somewhat strange situation of an athlete choosing to be a mercenary for a better club nowhere near where they live rather than play for the nearby weaker club.
Time for Decision Makers to Review this Situation… and Make Decisions
Depending on where you stand you may or may not be concerned with any or some of these issues. Or, perhaps you might be concerned, but believe that not much could or should be done about it. After all, these sort of roster manipulations have been taking place for quite awhile. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it…
Except I think it is pretty broken. Perhaps like the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot we’ve just slowly become adjusted to more and more manipulation to the point where it just seems perfectly normal to fly in pros from Norway or France to play in a U.S. National Championship.
Well, I say it’s time jump out of the boiling pot. It is not normal to fly in pros to win an amateur handball competition. It is silly and it should not be allowed. Full Stop.
Seriously, it just makes a total mockery out of our national championships and our would be club system. It accomplishes nothing and is detrimental to what should be the primary goal for handball in the U.S. Namely, growing the domestic game in the U.S.
At least it all seems pretty damn clear to me… But, then again, I’m just some guy with a website and a bunch of opinions. I don’t make the decisions… I just try to put the information out there for others that are empowerd to make decisions.
Individual clubs can decide to change direction, but doing the right thing will result in a decrease in performance. With a significantly weaker roster the 3 time defending champs, SF CalHeat finished in 4th place at this year’s nationals. Not every club is likely to make similar changes so creating a fair playing field across the board is clearly the purview of the USA Team Handball Board of Directors and it’s administrative staff. Perhaps some board members weren’t aware that several athletes fly in from overseas to play at the U.S. Championships. Or, maybe some were aware, but slowly boiling in the pot. Or, maybe they’ve thought about it and are perfectly Ok with that reality.
Regardless, the board should review that situation and decide if they are OK with it. And, if they aren’t OK… what they are going to do about it. Then, if they are going to take a look at that aspect it would also make sense to look at the other locality and nationality issues. And, whether any tweaks to roster requirements would make sense to help put a bit more of a U.S. stamp on the U.S. National Championships. And, to help grow the game domestically.
At least that’s what I think should happen. Ignorance should be no excuse and very importantly… doing nothing is also a decision. A decision to stick with the status quo.
What will happen, though? Well, a few months ago I would have thought nothing, per usual. But, then again maybe the SF CalHeat change of direction might just spur the USA Team Handball Board of Directors to also make some changes.
(Note: An earlier version of this commentary incorrectly identified the two players that played for NYC last years as professionals. They were actually members of Montpellier’s Academy program.)
