Rio 2016: Looking for a silver lining

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Chicago’s first round exit in its bid to host the 2016 Olympics was a major blow to USA Team Handball. Gone is the automatic qualification that would have come with the bid as is the millions of dollars in sponsorship funding and other ancillary benefits. But, it is not the end of the line for USA Team Handball. Here is my attempt to find some silver lining in Rio’s selection and Chicago’s defeat.

1) Brazil, as host nation won’t factor into 2016 Olympic qualification for the PANAM region. Brazil has been the Men’s and Women’s PANAM region representative for every Olympiad since 1996. In recent years the number 2 and 3 teams, Argentina and Cuba, have been near peers of Brazil, but clearly if I had to choose one nation to avoid it would be Brazil. (Of course, this may be academic if a new North American Federation is created and given an Olympic berth.)

2) Olympic Channel back on track. The proposed US Olympic Network (USON) was put on hold at the request of the IOC. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.811 With the U.S. now on the outside looking in, don’t be surprised if it is soon pursued with more vigor. After all what’s the IOC going to do now to punish the USOC?

3) Loosening of USOC strings. While the Olympic connection is a financial and marketing boon, it also can be a crutch with strings attached and sometimes unrealistic expectations. The USOC will continue to support USA Team Handball, but their support is likely to be half-hearted. As such, there’s even more incentive to pursue non-Olympic related support from the IHF, HBL, Liga Asobal and others. In the long run if we can convince those entities to fully pursue Handball in the USA we could become like some other USA sports federations, who see the USOC and the Olympics as simply one element of their many pronged activities.

4) No freebie qualification for 2016 means more intense focus on earning a spot. We won’t have to worry about any complacency in terms of National Team preparation. Back in the 1993 time frame I had the distinct impression that USA Team Handball was in a bit of a holding pattern before they got re-energized with a full-fledged program move to Atlanta. Perhaps a year or two of preparation and focus was lost with the realization that there was no way we weren’t participating in the 96 games. That’s not to say that sort of thing was going to happen again, but any kind of holding back is simply a non-starter when qualifying is a matter of “do or die.” And sometimes that predicament is the little extra edge and motivation a team needs to take it to the next level.

5) Not hosting in 2016 means 2020 is now a possibility. I’ve been waiting patiently for a glimpse of USA Team Handball’s long range plans for National Team development. I can speculate as to what those plans are and I’m sure that fielding strong teams for 2016 were and still are a big part of it. But, while seven years may seem like a long time to prepare, it really isn’t if you’re starting a program from nearly scratch. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to think that the U.S. could put together a medal caliber team in 7 years time, but with 11 years to work with even a cynic will admit that it’s at least feasible. Project kids starting out with the sport at ages 13-17; in 2020 those kids will be 24-28 and theoretically in their prime. Now the scenario could be qualify in 2016, have that core group of athletes continue improving for another 4 years, then pull off a medal in 2020 on home soil.

So there’s my attempt at a silver lining and surely it’s a futile one. There’s no denying that I’d much rather be writing about how to capitalize on an American Olympics. But, there’s also no denying reality. It’s time to move on.

And the host city for the 2016 Olympics is…

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We'll know soon enough. Less than 24 hours to go.

The US is, of course, divided.
Chicago, the US' choice, is also divided.
Those pesky "betting odds" are too close to call.
There are sentimental favorites, infrastructure favorites, time zone favorites, rightful favorites, TV broadcast favorites and so on.
Experts too, are divided.

Presidents, world leaders and sports figures are campaigning for their respective cities and countries.
It's not their money! Naturally there is no regard for fiscal responsibility.
So what if the bid process alone cost Chicagoans $48 millions? (think about it folks!!!)
So what if the DOW dropped another 205 points today, while Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will retire at year's end to the tune of $53 millions in pension benefits?
What the US (or Brasil, Japan and Spain) needs is the 2016 Olympics!
Why?

For the same reason Americans everywhere spent more than they could afford,
Because, to a large extent, they played with other people's money.
And when things went sour, the American consumer's contribution to the US economy was a resounding sucking sound.
Of empty wallets. And of shattered dreams. Crooks notwhistanding!!!
At this point and time, hosting the Olympics is one big fat financial crisis waiting to happen.

I am not gonna lie.
I do want Chicago to win.
The city is more than a sentimental favorite for me.
Also, because I am a homer and, through my "rose-team-handball" galsses, it would benefit [b]my[/b] sport immensely.

Sure, there was 1984 and 1996 and team handball was DOA shortly thereafter.
But this will be 2016, damn it!
New crooks.
Different victims.
But who cares?

You see, as a businessman, when it comes to my wallet (and yours as well), I pray that Chicago loses.
Let Tokyo have it. Or, better yet, my original pick – Rio.
Let the Brazilians incur the hight cost of overrun projects and budget downfalls.
So what if London's original 2012 Olympics budget trippled?

It is South America's turn, y'all.
Samba de Janeiro, baby!

42 Days and Counting: IHF misses the boat on self promotion and new media

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There are only so many hours in a day and with a full time job, family commitments and sleep requirements many, many worthy Handball related stories never make it to our website. Still with help from Bogdan and Christer we still manage to publish something newsworthy if not every day, almost every other day. Not bad for a bunch of volunteers who are paid nothing but do take gratification in the opportunity to share their passion for the sport.

Most official Handball websites also do a pretty good job of reporting on the sport. The European Handball, USA, British and Australian sites can be cited as good examples even if I did chastise some of those sites a while back for straying into areas that I don’t think they should cover or under reporting/ignoring negative news concerning their organizations. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.787

Then, there is the International Handball Federation (IHF) which has posted [b]nothing (nada, zippo, zilcho)[/b] on their website www.ihf.info since August 19. Yes, for 42 days straight days and the entire month of September there has been nothing happening in the Handball world worthy of mention. On its face, this is absolutely amazing and a shockingly vivid example of the incredible lack of vision the current IHF leadership has. Sure, there’s a lot more to running a Federation than updating a website, but you just have to wonder where the IHF is spending its money and channeling its resources if it can’t update its website for 42 straight days.

In the 21st century your company/federation website is the most visible and accessible window to the world. It’s your platform to spread your message and develop and broaden your customer base. All businesses now understand that reality and a quick survey indicates that most Federations do as well. Take a quick tour of these other International Federation websites and see for yourself:

Rugby: http://www.irb.com/
Basketball: http://www.fiba.com/
Ice Hockey: http://www.iihf.com/
Volleyball: http://www.fivb.org/

For a sport that bills itself as the worlds 2nd most popular in the world after soccer (inaccurately, in my opinion: http://teamhandball.blogspot.com/2005/07/just-how-popular-is-team-handball.html ), they clearly are behind these other team sports in terms of new media and marketing. I often point out rugby as an example of an example to follow and their website is yet another example of what could be done: Multiple stories, colorful graphics and audio and video content.

So how does this shortcoming get fixed? As I alluded, this problem starts at the top, but surely anyone in the hierarchical chain of the IHF should also take some responsibility. “Hey, I noticed we haven’t updated the website in a (week, 2 weeks, month) maybe we should post an article on ……” But as Christer Ahl rightly pointed out in a commentary this past August https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.812 the underlying problem is much deeper. The organization has no overarching guidance with clear objectives and goals. Here’s hoping that someone the IHF leadership chain recognizes this soon and perhaps an hour is spent at the next IHF council meeting discussing the website and new media options in the context of the IHF mission. Then clear guidance as to what should be done should filter down to the IHF staff.

Even better the IHF could engage a number of independent and official websites that cover handball for their input on what should be done. Working together as an informal team they could probably come up with a whole host of suggestions and possibilities. Just a thought. I’m not holding my breath.

1 on 1: Carving your own path! An interview with Mark Ortega.

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Hailing out of “Cristian Zaharia’s Miami Sharks handball factory”, arguably one of the most successful current US Team Handball players, member of the US MNT, at six foot and change, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome – Mark Ortega!!!

Alas, catching up with Jen Farrell was tough. It would have been impossible, if not for cyberspace.
Not so with Mark Ortega. Despite the many miles Mark traveled over the last several years while diligently carving a very successful professional career in Europe, Mark and I hooked up several time in that span. Most recently in Miami this past spring, where, like most every other US team handball fan, he was at the American Airlines Arena showing his support for the Frenchies. Mark and I talked about doing a story based on Mark’s experiences so far in his couple of years of European professional handball. Mark also wanted to give other aspiring US athletes and THN readers a different perspective of what is like to be USA Team Handball player.

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BP: Let’s jump right in, Mark… Why the sport of team handball? What was your motivation?

MO: My Dad was the President of a large Student Bible Ministry (Encounter with Christ). He selected groups of students for short-term mission service. Five of our mission trips were to Olympic Games. That is when I became passionate about becoming an athlete for the USA. We had six kids in our family so, instead of my Dad working a secular job in addition to running a full-time ministry, he would send my Mom and six kids to work. In this way he could put all of his effort into leading the ministry. So, at a very young age I learned to be a hustler. I sold everything to support my Dad's work. In doing so I not only learned how to sell, I got to travel on all of the Mission trips. I was able to visit over 20 countries before I was 20 years old. All four boys in our family were great athletes; our two sisters were not. My brothers and I all had opportunities to play football or basketball in college. My older brother Ruben was a QB at Ohio State University. I competed in Gymnastics from age six to sixteen. My Father died suddenly when I was sixteen; at that time I began playing every other sport: track, basketball, wrestling, football (any sport I could get my hands on). I ended up playing football at Kent State University and Malone College. After college I decided to pursue my passion: being an Olympian. First, I looked at all Olympic sports to see where I could best help Team USA. It came down to Handball, Boxing, Luge, and Bobsledding. I chose Handball, because it was the most team-oriented and combined all of the athletic movements I had developed through many sports.

BP: Had no idea you were such a polyvalent athlete. I mean, luge and bobsledding were on your list? WOW! So what happened next, after you picked team handball?

MO: I called the Olympic Training Center and met Mike Cavanaugh over the phone. He gave me the number of the Men's National Team coach in Miami (Christian Zaharia). My new coach and Handball mentor was starting a club in Miami. At the first practice for Florida International University Handball (now the Miami Sharks), there were three athletes and Coach Zaharia. Over the next five years, I was just like everyone else in the USA who was committed to playing handball: working full-time (I was a Real Estate agent selling properties in Miami), then driving to Handball practice — one hour each way, two or three times a week. After two years of Handball, I was selected to take my first trip with team USA — Santiago, Chile. My second trip was to Aracaju, Brazil. These two trips were great. However, a wake-up call came when Coach Zaharia sent me to the training camps of two teams. The first was with Dinamo Bucharest in Romania. This was the first time that I truly watched and played in a high level of Handball. The second trip Coach Zaharia arranged was for me to play in the highest league in France with Club Paris. The team was unbelievable. Six of their members at the time were playing with the French National Team. From that time on, I realized that every day I was not playing in Europe, I was slowing down the efforts to better Team USA. After returning from France, I trained twice as much while in the US. I started to do individual workouts with Coach Zaharia.

BP: Must be nice having a coach who can facilitate such unique international opportunities! What was your handball European experience like? When and how did you actually make “the jump”?

MO: My first connection in Europe was a random email from a kid who was playing handball in the Fourth League Club in20Spain. He was a fan of American sports and had been to the U.S. on vacation when he witnessed USA Handball first-hand. His email was seeking any USA Athletes who wanted to play Handball in Spain. Two months later I found myself on the way to Santander, Spain, playing in their Forth League. I was promised a place to live and a job. In order to play at a higher level, I had to start somewhere. So, I arrived in Santander and met my new friend Miguel. I know Miguel had the best intentions for me. The first day I was there I went to practice with my new team and stayed at Miguel's house with his parents and brother who also played on the team. The next day Miguel woke me up and said, “We are going to try out with another team”. So, we proceeded to the tryout with a team about 40 miles away. This team offered me about $800 a month and really wanted me to play for them. I ended up telling them, "no", because I had made a promise to the coach from Nuevo, where I was promised a job and place to live. However, two weeks passed; Miguel decided to tell me that they are not going to give me a place to live, after all. So, I found myself with a team that was not keeping its promise, and having turned down another team who wanted to give me money. I signed with Nueva Montana, but with an open contract so I could leave to another team. The team supplied a job for 50 Euros a week working at a club bartending (too bad I did not speak Spanish and have never bartended).

BP: That’s admirable. I mean that! How did you adjust to your new lifestyle?
MO: There is nothing funnier then telling Spaniards who are drunk that you cannot speak very much Spanish and you are an American. They just kept talking, and I kept nodding my head. It was truly comical. After going to the local University and looking for an apartment on the bulletin board, I ended up living with two random Spanish guys who just needed another roommate. I paid 150 Euros a month. Let’s just say that I sacrificed that year for the love of Handball! I can make a lot of meals from potatoes and eggs. As far as my handball regimen went, I was lifting and practicing six or seven times a week and had games every weekend. I averaged from six to ten goals a game. My coach was a very nice guy but because he didn't like speaking English, he left the entire play calling to me. My coach's friend (who would show up for one or two practices a week) taught me a lot of handball. He is now a coach in the highest league in Spain. Overall, I think the New York team from this year's U.S. Nationals (2009), would beat our Spanish team. Santander, Spain was a beautiful city, and I made some great friends from all around the world. I would give my overall experience in Spain about a six-and-a-half out of ten. It was a building block. I had to look ahead to the next season, and I needed to be able to tell a team in a higher level that I had played handball in Spain for one year.

BP: Come to think of it, you were living the dream. Playing handball and living abroad. Just like Jen Farrell, Kathy Darling and others – you had certainly sacrificed a lot for the good of the sport you embraced. I think it is important to mention how difficult life can be – even when, in hindsight, it may look like a fun affair. I assume that your next project was to find a team in a higher, more competitive level?

MO: Exactly. My last eight games in Spain were filmed. From those, I compiled a highlight video, which was [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBavwls288]posted on YouTube[/link]. I proceeded to send the link to every relevant handball-related email I could get my hands on; Denmark, Norway, Germany, Finland, Sweden and any other country I could find. I browsed every Federation’s website along with European club websites to find email addresses. I sent over 300 emails to teams and coaches. I received only three responses from the emails and my YouTube posting. Let’s just say I was not happy with the result! Coach Zaharia forwarded to me an email that a European handball agent sent to the European Handball Federation. I contacted the agent (John M – who was looking to represent international athletes) who said he would look for a team for me. I was in the U.S. for the summer. I knew that no team would fly me over overseas just to go to a tryout. So I convinced John that I should buy a ticket to Denmark, and that once I was there he could send me wherever the “wind blew”. Luckily, the wind started blowing right away. I got to Denmark and John wanted to see the level I should be playing at, so I practiced with a team in the highest Danish league. I was not ready for that level, so I practiced with a team in the second highest league in Denmark. While John felt that the second league level was a good fit for me, the team unfortunately did not need any players. John and his family had invited me to stay in their home the whole week without even knowing me. From the beginning of my handball quest until Denmark, this was the most help I had received from anyone other than my coach. I was grateful that someone like John went out of his way to help a USA MNT member advance his handball career. John put me in a sport college for the weekend and came back to me on a Sunday at 10 at night. He said there were teams in Iceland and in Germany that needed players, and he would know more on Monday. One hour later he walked back in my room with an Atlas in his hand and said, "There is a team which is really interested; it's in the second best league in Norway." I said, "I know where Norway is." He replied, "But, do you know where Alta, Norway is?" Now, if you don’t know where Alta, Norway is, go Google it. I am serious; go look it up. GO. The team told me that if I’d buy the plane ticket, they’d reimburse. I bought a one-way ticket that night.

BP: I did look ALTA up. It is pretty darn north. Can’t believe that anyone would play handball over there. This of course brings us full circle to one of my posts right here on THN. Almost a year to date, Mark signed the contract with Alta IF.

MO: As you can see, Alta is just below the highest latitude line. When I arrived, I met with the team Manager (Bengt). After about an hour of talking he asked me when my ticket back home was. I told him I bought a one-way ticket. He looked at me with a smile. I stayed for the entire season. During the first practice I was interviewed by both of the local newspapers and they were very excited to have an American handball player in Alta (Altaif.no). In Alta, I experienced two months of darkness; rode a snow mobile; touched a reindeer; ate a reindeer; rode a snow mobile; drove a van through ice-covered mountains; witnessed the Northern Lights; made a lot of great friends; and I slayed a dragon. Alta is also home to the largest dog sled race in Europe. Between these amazing adventures I also played a lot of handball in the second-best league in Norway. All of our games required flights within Norway. I played in all of the second team games as well – a total of about 35 games. I was able to get a key to the gym and I would show up there sometimes in the middle of the night just to get in extra work. I became more of a gym rat than anything. The team paid for my apartment, gave me a little money and got me a part-time job at the only gym in town. We practiced five days a week. I lifted two or three times weekly and had my own workouts. I got a lot better in Norway. The city of Alta had a soccer team as well, also in the second division. I lived in Dorm Hall with a lot of these soccer guys. There was one other American in the town that played soccer (Jay Needem). Jay is now playing in his second season there. By comparison, the Alta IF handball team where I played was better than any U.S. team. I loved Alta. The biggest challenge I had in Norway was with my coaches. I had three in one season. The first coach was also a player. He played the center back position, which was the same position I played at. Thus, I had the opportunity to play at every other position during that season. I felt I learned a lot of handball in Norway as I got to play everywhere both on offense and defense. Mid-season, Alta hired another coach, who could only come to about half the practices. I never had an open line of communication with him. Although I had some issues with coaching, I was very satisfied with the amount of playing time I got in Alta.

BP: You mention coaching issues. What type of issues?
MO: My first coach was also a player. By the end of week nine of the season he had decided that he could not handle being a coach and a player. He just decided to be a player. So from that point on, the Assistant Coach, who did not want to accept the role of full time coach, reluctantly did as much as he could. Alta then decided to hire a coach with more experience. He lived in Oslo so he would only come to practice on Fridays, before games. This setup worked against me as I had no time to show the new coach what kind of player I was. That is why for the remainder of the season I played at all positions. The lack of consistency was what I had an issue with.

BP: So many miles apart and engulfed in lots of darkness, it sounds to me like Alta IF was the light at the end of the tunnel for you.
MO: It certainly was. I would also like to mention that the city of Alta was always very supportive of the local handball team. Every game was packed. I would compare the fans in Europe to the fans of US college football; very committed to their town and teams. I would have never dreamt of living in Alta, Norway. But it is one of those towns that I will take my kids to some day. I loved Alta. Unfortunately, Alta was relegated to a lower division.

BP: So now you are back in the US, recharging your batteries. Can we all assume that your handball career will take you back to Europe yet again?
MO: You bet! I get to do this all over again. At this point, I plan to play handball for the next five to seven years. I have my own personal goals, all detailed out – but I prefer to keep them to myself for now. This season I am in Germany. Of course there will still be bumps on the road and for me at least, is very normal. I would also like to say that I am very happy that there is a sudden rise of USA team handball players playing in Europe. Jordan Fithian, Gary Hines, Patrick Oliver, Keith Fine, Adam Elzoghby and a couple more coming over in February, are an added motivational factor for me to do better.

BP: What is your ultimate goal? What will make you look back one day and say to yourself: “I made it!”
MO: Hard to say. I can tell you that my biggest goal right now is to make it to the Olympic Games with the US MNT. So, I will continue to pursue my Olympic goal and nothing would make me happier than Chicago receiving the nod for the 2016 Olympic Games. Of course there is always 2012.

BP: Well said. You should get involved in politics! Any closing comments?
MO: If you fail to plan you plan to fail.

Story on Mark Ortega, translated from Norwegian local newspaper: https://teamhandballnews.com/news590.html.9

Yet another reminder – is handball really prepared?

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During the last several years, there have been several indications about the increasing prevalence of match fixing in European soccer, and UEFA has made statements about its efforts to be on top of the situation. In the Asian continent, several countries have had to close down their soccer leagues and clean up the mess created by the effects of illegal gambling. With increasing frequency, we hear about suspicions and investigations of tennis matches in ATP tournaments. Again, gambling is the root cause.

A couple of days ago, UEFA indicated openly to the media that the number of matches under investigation had skyrocketed, and that there is now an aggregate of more than 40 matches being scrutinized. UEFA collaborates with the European Sports Security Association (ESSA), an organization founded by major betting companies that maintains an ‘early warning system’ to detect game manipulation, and UEFA is now also working with Interpol and the police in several individual countries. It appears that a number of countries in Eastern Europe are particularly affected. But the impression is that the operators of the illegal gambling entities remain one step ahead!

In UEFA competitions, the focus has been especially on the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and the Europa League. Here several participating teams are quite well aware that they are really without any hope of advancing very far in the competition. So as they are going to lose anyway, they can as well make a lot of money off it. This is where gambling on one’s own matches and then manipulating the results fit in. There are many ways of making money, some of which are relatively obscure and do not draw so much attention. In addition to the final results, one can bet on half-time results, the number of goals scored and several other aspects. Moreover, the shenanigans are helped by the fact that the matches involved are in the early rounds and between teams that are not so much in the public eye.

Clearly, the EHF has in its numerous competitions the direct equivalent of this kind of matches. Many of them are played in locations and circumstances where the supervision is poor and the attention of the media is limited, and it is also clear that betting on handball is becoming increasingly common in Europe. The EHF has made some visible efforts to draw more attention and offer more training regarding match fixing, bribery and corruption in general. A recent pre-season symposium for all the top referees was an important step in this regard, and external expertise has also been contracted. However, these indications of taking the issue seriously are, until now, greatly undermined by the very feeble handling of those cases of manipulation that have already been discovered. As has been noted by John Ryan and myself, the reluctance to take serious action against the individuals involved, and the absurdly soft treatment of the clubs and federations involved, create an impression that the temptations to manipulate are worth the risk.

The IHF is more fortunate, in the sense that it does not directly arrange the type of matches just described, and IHF events are taking place more in the spotlight. However, we all know what can happen in continental events which are under the overall responsibility of the IHF and, moreover, the IOC is not exactly prepared to agree with a notion that IHF does not have any responsibility and culpability if things go wrong in EHF competitions. On the contrary, IHF is being held overall responsible for all such events and for those problems that damage the image of handball and sports in general. So the question is, do IHF and EHF take the issue seriously enough and do they dedicate enough resources to the prevention and eradication of this critical problem!?

VIDEO: BBC Reports on Great Britain’s 2nd leg victory over Finland

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BBC Sport has a 7 minute report on Great Britain’s 24-23 victory over Finland on Saturday. Coupled with their earlier victory in Helsinki, Great Britain has moved onto Group Qualification play. The video contains several minutes of match footage along with post game interviews from a clearly elated British squad. Also, noteworthy is that it appears that a respectable crowd was on hand at the Echo Arena in Liverpool to witness the match. Great Britain will have their hands full taking on France, Austria in Iceland in the next round, but they’ve certainly come a long way in a short amount of time.

BBC Sport: Success for GB women's handball team: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/handball/8277090.stm

Other Reports:
Inside the Games: British Handball enjoys biggest night in its history with victory over Finland: http://insidethegames.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7185%3Abritish-handball-enjoys-biggest-night-in-its-history-with-historic-victory&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=73
British Handball: GB Women beat Finland 24-23: http://britishhandball.worldhandball.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?menuid=1093&itemid=2335

U.S. Professional Handball League in development: Google and Facebook reportedly interested

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Ralf Uhding, who is a Board of Director for both USA Team Handball and the German Bundesliga (HBL) has been quoted in the German Financial Newspaper, Handelsblatt that bold plans to establish a professional league in the U.S is in development. Working with Dieter Esch, USA Team Handball President, they have gotten interest from both Google and Facebook and are still searching for more investors. Further talks will wait till October after the Olympic vote. Chicago being selected is seen as a key aspect of the project, but it is not explicitly stated that the entire effort hinges upon its selection.

The article goes on to say that Uhding and Esch realize that it is an enormous and difficult project and that they hope not to repeat the mistake of soccer in the 70’s when a pro league, absent a parallel grassroots effort, ended in failure. One model under consideration is working with universities to establish scholarships for handball to develop more athletes.

Handelsblatt: Handball aims at the U.S. market: http://www.handelsblatt.com/journal/sonstiges/handballer-zielen-auf-den-us-markt;2460717

Congratulations, President Moustafa!

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Some of you will be surprised to see this heading, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I have heard the good news from three totally different sources now so I assume it must be true: following the most recent experimentation at a junior world championship, the IHF President has come to realize that further pursuits of the idea of ‘mixed couples’ in the IHF level refereeing should be stopped. This of course requires an explanation and some background for those who are not ‘insiders’ and experts on this topic.

In the late 1960s, IHF and other handball authorities had come to realize that our sport had developed to the point that, at least at the top level, it was no longer adequate to try to make do with [u]one[/u] referee in a game, even if supplemented by ‘goal judges’ (and, for the international games, also ‘line judges’!). The game had become too fast-moving and too complex, so the observation and decision-making demands had become too much for one lonely referee to handle.

When moving to referee ‘couples’, the IHF and the national federations concluded from the outset that the best approach would be to use ‘fixed’ couples as much as possible, at least at the higher levels. The notion was, and has remained, that the internal consistency and the teamwork would be enhanced if the two referees knew each other quite well, had the opportunity to refine their collaboration on the basis of accumulated experience, and furthermore at the personal level felt like a couple with a sense of mutual support on and off the court. The preparations from one game to the next would of course also be facilitated.

In basketball, things have developed differently. Here, from the lower levels to the top, the focus has been on recruiting and training individual referees, who are then put together in constantly changing couples (and these days, especially at the professional level, in trios). The notion is that the referees should achieve such consistency that they can quickly adjust to different partners every time. Another argument has been that it is easier to avoid ‘getting into a rut,’ if one constantly faces the challenge of working with a new partner.

In handball, at the international level, there have been arguments that ‘fixed’ couples may lead to a situation where some couples tend to consist of one stronger and one weaker member, so that less talented referees can move to the top undeservedly ‘on the coattails’ of a strong partner, while other more talented referees never get their chance. At the IHF level, however, this should not be an issue, as couples with a distinctly weaker member can be detected and either changed or dropped. Conversely, the IHF recruiting policies clearly state that a strong talent from a country where one finds only 1 (or 3 or 5) talented referees, will still be given a chance, so that a talent is not lost just because they cannot conveniently be fit into even pairs from the same country. In other words, individual referees can be nominated and approved, and the IHF will then make the effort to find a suitable partner from another country if need be.

I have to admit that [b]I strongly favor the traditional approach with ‘fixed’ couples[/b], as I find the advantages of this approach to be clearly dominant, and as I see no reason to believe that it is causing us real problems. And I am certainly not ready to believe that the ‘basketball approach’ would serve us better. However, as I have always noted, [b]the debate about the pros and cons of the two systems is perfectly legitimate[/b]! But the reality is that [b]a change of systems would be major and absolutely dramatic undertaking[/b], as it would mean that all handball nations would need to gradually change its approach from bottom to top. Such a decision could not be taken lightly, but [b]only if there was clear evidence that the current system is ‘broken’ and if there were very strong reasons to believe that the opposite system is better [/b]and worth the effort of undertaking the change. No such evidence has been presented!

The IHF President and some of his supporters have insisted in recent years on an experimentation that partly might have been intended to gather such evidence. However, the method used is totally unrealistic or even absurd, as it provides no evidence at all and only runs the risk of causing disasters that are damaging and insulting to the teams affected. I believe most people will easily realize that it makes absolutely no sense, as long as the ‘fixed’ approach is maintained world-wide and the IHF invites referees to its events in the form of well-synchronized couples, when one then proceeds to split up these ‘fixed’ couples into new permutations precisely when they come to show their best at the very highest level, at a World Championship.

So I am very happy if these meaningless experiments have been stopped, and if the focus instead will be on working harder with both the existing IHF top couples and the new recruits, first to strengthen the recruitment criteria and the subsequent performance evaluations for the individuals, and second to take an increasingly tougher line in ensuring that couples do not rise to the top if they contain a distinctly weaker link. But I also keep encouraging the IHF regime, as I have in fact done during many years, to use its clout to convince at least a few major handball countries to be willing to undertake a real experiment with the ‘basketball’ approach, from bottom to top during a period of several years. Then perhaps, enough evidence would emerge for a definitive conclusion to be drawn!

Jennifer Farrell interview on “The Story”

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American National Team player Jennifer Farrell’s interview with American Public Media’s, “The Story” is now available online. The interview recounts how she got involved in handball, the U.S. quest to qualify for the 2008 Olympics and her hope that Chicago will be selected to host the Olympics in 2016.

Link to MP3 Audio: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_867_Enslaved_In_LA.mp3 (Jennifer's interview starts at 31:00)
American Public Media: The Story: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_867_Enslaved_In_LA.mp3/view
Duke Magazine Article (Feb 2008): http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/010208/depmini-farrell.html

British Handball notches first ever Euro qualification match win

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Earlier today the British Handball women defeated Finland 17-14 in Helsinki in the first leg of a two leg series to decide which nation will advance to the next round of qualification for the Women’s Euro 2010 Championships. The second leg will be played this Saturday in the UK with the winner on aggregate goals advancing to group play. Great Britain should feel pretty good about winning a qualification match on foreign soil, but the low scoring match rightly gave head coach, Jesper Holmris, cause for concern. As a physically talented, but inexperienced team it appears they won the match on defense with a strong goalie performance. Perhaps they can hold the more experienced Finns to just 14 goals again, but it’s not something they should count on.

Commentary: I would assess that this match should probably go down as Britain’s first “real” match win. By my definition a “friendly” match win is nice, but since there is nothing really on the line it doesn’t really count for much. In my book, the only matches that really count are matches that directly relate to World Championship or Continental Championship qualification. I could be wrong, but to the best of my knowledge Great Britain has never previously won a match that fits that definition. Sure, Finland is not a European handball power, but I’d wager that the least experienced player on the Finnish squad has probably been playing handball longer than every single British player. On top of that the Brits won on the road. It’s a long road to actually qualifying for the European Championships. The Brits first need to take care of business this week at home, and then they will need to win matches against much tougher European squads (France, Austria and Iceland) this winter. But, the bottom line is they’ve started out on the right foot by getting revenge on a side that easily beat them by 13 a year ago.

British Handball Website: Great Britain beat Finland 17-14 in Helsinki: http://britishhandball.worldhandball.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?menuid=1093&itemid=2333

USA Team Handball and LNH explore possibility of French Final Four in New York

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A recent article at Handball-World chronicled the French Ligue Nationale de Handball’s (LNH) decision to not play their Coupe de la Ligue Final Four again in Florida next year. As had been reported by several outlets, the French League has decided to unilaterally break their 3 year contract with the Miami organizers. The Handball-World article, though, has an interesting twist in that it also reports that USA Team Handball and the LNH are now discussing the possibility of hosting the event in New York City as early as next spring.

In email correspondence, USA Team Handball General Manager, Steve Pastorino, confirmed that preliminary discussions between the two organizations have taken place. As the translation of the Handball-World text is somewhat garbled he also provided a copy of his correspondence:

“The event in Miami was a disaster as the promoter misrepresented himself to the LNH and did not have the backing of USA Team Handball or any recognized entity in the USA. Less than 500 people per game attended, and there was no USA television distribution. It was handball played in an empty arena. We have met with Alain Smadja and LNH and are moving towards a partnership to play the Final Four in New York in 2010, with the full support of USA Handball. More details to come. We think events like this can be very exciting if promoted correctly. We have an agreement to host German National Team and Polish National team for a match in Chicago in 2010 that we will announce soon.”

As a final note, USA Team Handball President, Dieter Esch, indicated in a brief note that he will be meeting with LNH President, Alain Smadja next week in Paris to further discuss U.S. – French cooperation.

Handball-World: No American Dream – French LNH next Final Four will not deal with them in U.S.: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=22029

German Bundesliga blocks internet Handball broadcasts to rest of world

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In what I consider to be one of the most short-sighted moves in the history of sports marketing the German Bundesliga and their TV/internet marketer DSF have decided to limit the sale of internet Bundesliga matches to only the German speaking countries of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. Below is the text of the letter that I sent Sunday night to the HBL (Bundesliga), DSF and the USA Federation:

TO:
HBL: Mr Frank Bohman, Mark Schober
DSF: Mr Sascha Jungbluth
USA Team Handball: Mr Steve Pastorino, Mr Dieter Esch, Mr Ralf Uhding, Mr Steve Krassner

Subject: Internet TV restrictions for German Bundesliga broadcasts

This past Friday night after putting my two young daughters to bed, I opened a beer and sat down in front of my computer eager to see a key Bundesliga matchup between Rhein-Neckar Lowen and Hamburg. Having seen R-NL get trounced by Kiel on DSF www.tv.dsf.de in week 1, I was curious to see how they would bounce back. Instead, I got the following message on my computer monitor:

“Leider ist Ihre Netzwerkadresse (IP) nicht für die Nutzung unseres Angebots freigegeben. Aus lizenzrechtlichen Gründen müssen wir uns auf Zuschauer aus Deutschland, Schweiz, Österreich, Luxemburg und Liechtenstein beschränken.

We are sorry to inform you that your network address (IP) is not allowed to access our streaming content. Due to licensing restrictions, we can only accept viewers from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein.”

While, I welcome the first ever use of the English language on the HBL’s internet platform, I am disappointed and puzzled by the HBL’s decision to deny Handball fans around the world the opportunity to purchase Bundesliga matches for viewing. For the past two years I’ve enjoyed watching matches on my computer through the Sportdigital platform and haven’t been shy about promoting it as the absolutely best Handball product on the internet. I’ve also tried unsuccessfully to get the HBL to market this product, but have been told that the HBL is instead focused on securing traditional broadcast contracts and that they are concerned that actively promoting internet streaming will hamper their ability to sign those contracts. Hence, the German language only website which I can attest as a challenge (“Bestellen” means “order” for example) to this customer as I patiently struggled for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to send the HBL money. But, now with the geoblock in place even this is no longer an option.

At the risk of stating the obvious here are a few points to consider:

1) No handball fan in his right mind prefers internet streaming content on his computer over TV broadcasts. The quality of the picture is a dramatic step down and can’t compete with relaxing on your couch and watching on a larger TV screen. Maybe someday the quality of internet streaming will match TV quality, but that day has not yet arrived. Therefore, the argument that internet streaming will prevent a TV contract doesn’t make sense. In fact, I think that a strong case that the reverse is true in that a decently marketed internet streaming product could eventually result in viewer numbers that could entice TV stations to sign a contract.

2) Highly successful professional sports leagues such as the NBA, Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League (NFL) sell internet broadcasts of their matches to non-traditional markets. For instance, it’s possible for a German to pay and watch NFL and NBA matches. If it works for these highly successful leagues to market their product in Germany, one would think it would make sense for the HBL to do same in reverse. It’s also worth noting, that these leagues do have geoblocking blackout restrictions, but that their restrictions are only applied to countries that already have TV contracts. The reverse strategy of the HBL! And even in countries where they do have TV contracts, games are blocked only on case by case basis.

3) The opportunity for niche marketing in emerging markets is being missed. Rather than freezing out markets with geoblocking, why not skillfully cultivate them by offering discounted rates to watch matches over the internet. The vast majority of handball fans in many countries have a very limited knowledge and appreciation of club handball in Europe. Offering matches over the internet could rapidly change that and as the sport grows the HBL would have the benefit of being the early adopter. And I’ve read that the HBL and the U.S. now have a cooperative agreement. In the eyes of this observer a lot of nice words have been exchanged, without anything really tangible being provided. Certainly, offering web streaming to U.S. members at a discount would be something tangible and a clear win-win for both organizations.

I hope you will consider what I’ve suggested as an opportunity to pursue. At the very least I’d like an explanation on the geoblocking situation that I can share with my readers.

Yours sincerely,

John Ryan, Editor
Team Handball News

Previous Team Handball News articles on web streaming:
Oct 2007: Handball on TV in the USA? Yes!: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.392
Oct 2008: EHF Champions League TV Coverage (Great Job, but more Bits Please!): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.610
Jan 2009: World Championship Handball Web Streaming: Slow, but Steady Progress: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.673

As of this posting, I have not received a response from the HBL or DSF. Steve Pastorino, however, did send a short message indicating that USA Team Handball fully supports any effort to broadcast handball via internet, TV or cable and that they would make their position known to the HBL.

If you’ve ever wondered why this great sport hasn’t successfully expanded from its narrow European market here’s a little more evidence for you.

Update (23 Sep 09): I got a short message from the HBL Bundesliga General Manager, Frank Bohmann in response to my letter. Mr Bohmann emphasized the licensing rights prevented the offering of internet streaming and that the HBL is aggressively working toward TV broadcasts in other markets. While I like the fact that they are working towards TV broadcasts it's still puzzling to me that internet and TV licensing impact each other so strongly. Hopefully, a more satisfactory resolution will be reached in the near future.

WNT Farrell guest interviews on American Public Radio's "The Story"

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WNT player and the subject of my most recent [link=https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.820]interview[/link], emailed me to infrom me that she will be "doing a radio interview with American Public Radio "[link=http://thestory.org/]The Story[/link]" today!"

"I don't know what time it airs. They saw an article about me in the Duke magazine a little while ago and thought handball sounded interesting. So, I'm coming in to talk about handball, the national team and the upcoming Olympic bid in Chicago", Farrell wrote. "The radio show is broadcast nationally – but they should also post the interview online: http://thestory.org. Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up about it! Always good to have handball out on the airwaves. :)" Jennifer concluded.

Duke Magazine Article (Feb 2008): http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/010208/depmini-farrell.html

[b]Link to MP3 Audio:[/b] http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_867_Enslaved_In_LA.mp3 (Jennifer's interview starts at 31:00)
American Public Media: The Story: http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_867_Enslaved_In_LA.mp3/view