Pulling the goalie outside the last minute: Statistical nonsense?

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Perhaps you might have noticed that more clubs seem to be pulling their goalie earlier in matches. Traditionally, this risky tactic has been reserved for the very last minute of a match because the risk of an open net has been seen as too great. Lately, however, more and more clubs are using this tactic when they lose a player for two minutes. The logic apparently being that they are better off keeping an equal 6 on 6 balance while on offense. Typically, the extra court player plays backcourt for about 15 seconds and then substitutes out for the “real” goalie.

And sometimes the “real” goalie plays offense and as Constanta’s Mihai Popescu shows they can even score. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSP9w83YJ0g

So does the possibility of an 12 meter cannonball strike by your pulled goalie justify the risk of your opposition getting an easy goal into an empty net? My intuitive reaction has been that this strategy is total nonsense. After all, if pulling your goalie was such a good idea why don’t teams do it for an entire game?

But, being that I’m an Engineer (in my day job) I decided to run some numbers to back up my intuition. In doing so I was surprised to find out that this strategy isn’t as foolhardy as I thought. In fact, depending on how likely you think different outcomes are it’s a sound strategy.

For the sake of argument let’s make the following assumptions:

Likelihood of Team A scoring when:
– Down a man (5 on 6): 15%
– Pulling a goalie (6 on 6): 30% (note: this is not the same as a regular 6 on 6 since the “6th man” often stays back a little in order to be ready for the substitution

Likelihood of different Team A readiness levels on their next defense as a result of their trying to score with a pulled goalie:
– Fully ready (Made goal): 30%
– Fully ready (no fastbreak opportunity for Team B ): 20%
– Partially ready (partial fastbreak; resulting in the goalie not being fully ready to defend): 30%
– Open goal (turnover or easily recovered missed shot results in an open net): 20%

Likelihood of Team B scoring:
– When Team A is fully ready: 60%
– When Team A is partially ready: 80%
– When there is an open net: 98%

Using these percentages it can then be calculated that the pulled goalie strategy is marginally superior. (For those so inclined the math is in the in the extended text.) With the pulled goalie strategy a team can expect to be up a goal 12% of the time; tied 33%; and down 1 goal 55%. The traditional strategy results in being up a goal 6% of the time, tied 43%, and down 1 goal 51%. Or to think of it in terms of expected value, pulling a goalie results in a -.436 deficit vs. -.45 for the traditional strategy. A razor thin margin for sure, but still a slight nod to the pulling the goalie strategy.

Now we can argue if the percentages chosen are “representative”. Truth be told, they will vary greatly depending on the teams playing. Accordingly, so should the decision on what strategy should be taken. In general, if your defense is not very good under normal circumstances, the more sense it makes to pull your goalie. In other words, if they are going to score against you anyway, you might as well improve your chances to score against them. Conversely, if Thierry Omeyer is in the goal it would be foolish not to keep him in the goal where even an uncontested fast break is no sure thing. This is why I question former Norway National Team coach, Marit Breivik’s use of this tactic. With one of the best teams in the world and a more than competent goalie the odds suggests that this might have been a suspect strategy.

Another question worth contemplating is whether certain clubs might even want to consider playing 7 on 6 full time. And indeed some of the weaker Champions League clubs have done exactly this against the elite clubs for significant stretches of a match. Such a move is very disruptive, but it usually doesn’t take too long for the top clubs to adjust and punish the tactic. Reportedly, the Argentine women have been using this tactic at the World Championships in China, but based on results it hasn’t been too successful.

For more on the math involved see the extended text

For a traditional defense where the goalie stay put it’s relatively simple
Percent Team A scores (5 on 6) – Percent Team B scores (when Team A is fully ready on defense) or simply .15 -.60 = -.45

Or to think of it another way if this situation happens 100 times the resultant outcomes would be
9% Team A: 1; Team B:1
6% Team A: 1; Team B:0
51% Team A:0; Team B:1
34% Team A:0 Team B:0

The calculation for pulling the goalie is a little more complex due to the varying states of defensive readiness and the varying times they face that particular state of readiness:

Percent Team A scores (6 on 6) –
[(% Team B scores against fully ready Team A x % time Team A scores) +
(% Team B scores against fully ready Team A x % time Team B has no fastbreak opportunity) +
(% Team B scores against partially ready Team A x % time Team A is only partially ready) +
(% Team B scores against empty net x % time there is a an empty net)]

.30 – [(.60 x .3) + (.60 x .2) + (.80 x .3) + (.98 x .2)] = -.436

18% Team A: 1; Team B:1
12% Team A: 1; Team B:0
55% Team A:0; Team B:1
15% Team A:0 Team B:0

Egypt reverses decision: Will host African Championships after all

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According to the Egyptian website, Yallakora.com, the Egyptian Handball Federation has reversed their earlier decision to withdraw as host for the African Championship next February. On Monday, the Egyptian Federation had notified the African Handball Federation (CAHB) that they would not host the tournament due to lingering safety concerns due to heightened tensions following the controversial Egypt-Algeria World Cup soccer qualifying matches in November.

As a result of Egypt’s withdrawal the CAHB had offered other nations the opportunity to host the event. Morocco, Tunisia and Libya had expressed interest in hosting, but did not formally apply. Instead, it appears that Algeria was the lone bidder for the tournament. Faced with the possibility that the Egyptian team would have to travel to Algeria, the Egyptian Federation informed the CAHB that they would be able to host after all.

Yallakora.com: Egypt is declining in its decision and the governing African Cup of Nations Handball: http://www.yallakora.com/arabic/news/details.aspx?id=104459&Catid=5&region

Women’s World Championships Underway: No heat, No Skype, No Facebook

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Day 1 of the Women’s World Championships in China is in the books. The minor surprise of the day is Brazil knocking off France 22-20 in the so called “Group of Death”. The other “outsiders” all lost their matches, although Congo hung tough with Sweden, drawing with them 9-9 at halftime, before Sweden got their act together in the 2nd half.

Perhaps, Sweden’s poor performance can be tied to the lack of heat at the arena and the Chinese authorities blocking of access to Facebook. Both of these problems were noted in Swedish player, Isabelle Gulden’s blog for Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. Apparently, Chinese authorities did not heat during training sessions as a cost saving measure.

Sweden faces Brazil tomorrow in a key match up for both teams.

Isabelle Gulden Blog posts: http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/bellasvmblogg/2009/12/skype-och-facebook
http://blogg.aftonbladet.se/bellasvmblogg/2009/12/lucia-uttagning

Editor's note: The IHF website may not be the best source of information on a day to day basis, but they do a pretty good job of reporting on their World Championship events. For results, news stories and live ticker of matches: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=327

World Championship Fantasy Game

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The Handball123 forum is sponsoring a free online Fantasy Game for the upcoming Women's World Championship. For more information go to this website: http://sportensverden.dk/managergame/index.php?page=home

The rules are similar to fantasy contests in other sports except that you are locked into the players for the whole contest. Entry to the contest closes just prior to the first game on Saturday.

Self promotion through Video Blogging: Alberta Federation leads the way

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Promoting Team Handball in nations where the sport struggles for any media attention can be a challenge. In fact, in these nations any article in a mainstream news outlet about the sport is usually a cause of minor celebration. As a result of not being covered, national and regional federations, as well as clubs, usually do a fair amount of self promotion. I’ve written a few times about how important this is https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.540, and about how sometimes the self reporting has been a little bit misleading https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.787.

Recently, the Alberta Women’s team travelled to Chicago to participate in the Windy City tournament. As part of their self-reporting the team posted 5 video blogs on Youtube http://www.teamhandball.ab.ca/league.php?scriptName=LEAGUEINFO&leagueID=12092&leagueInfoID=47877 (Scroll to the bottom). For the uninitiated, a video blog can perhaps best be described as informal video containing information similar to what you might read in a written blog post. In Alberta’s case the video blogs were part travelogue, part “shout out” to the folks back home, and part recaps of the club’s matches. If I were in charge the content provided would have been more related to the matches, but I highly doubt that I was part of the targeted demographic.

So while I might have changed what was recorded, I am intrigued by the possibilities it presents for clubs and federations. As some theoretical examples of what could have been, consider the USA Women’s trip to Poland, the Canadian Men’s Team trip to the Dominican Republic or Australia’s upcoming participation in the World Championships. 5 minutes of recording, consisting of game footage, post game interviews, and sure, why not a little bit of travelogue would be greatly appreciated by the fans back home. And, if we’re thinking about targeted demographics these types of videos are bound to enhance recruiting as perspective players (ages 12-20) get a better glimpse of just what an opportunity these trips are.

Now some of you might say that players travelling on national team trips to important competitions don’t have time to be recording and editing video. Instead they should be resting or preparing for the next match. To which, I say, “Pullease, give me a break!” Maybe things have changed since I took a couple of overseas trips, but I still fondly remember never having more free time to read and play cards in my entire life. Amongst 12-15 players and support staff the workload to create video and web posts would not be overwhelming. More likely, there’s bound to be 1 or 2 tech savvy folks that probably would have to be pulled away from doing it. I contacted the primary creator of the Alberta postings, Sara Cyrankiewicz, and she indicated that she spent about 30 minutes or so editing each clip. Factor in that she’s done it a few times and we’re probably talking about 2-3 hours of “work” for a team before they get better at it through practice.

So the question for Federations out there shouldn’t be, “Can we do it?” Instead, the question should be, “Why aren’t we?”

THN (Jul 2008): Australian Junior Women In Macedonia: Getting Beat on the Court, but Reporting on it in Style: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.540
THN (Jul 2009): Real news from official Handball websites?: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.787
Alberta Sr Women page with link to Youtube videos: http://www.teamhandball.ab.ca/league.php?scriptName=LEAGUEINFO&leagueID=12092&leagueInfoID=47877

Alex Gavrilovic: a true fighter for the global progress of handball (Part 2 of 3)

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This is a continuation from an earlier installment. Here the focus is mostly on the current situation in Australia and Oceania.

It is then an interesting coincidence that the Australian women’s team is right now going through their final preparations for the women’s world championship in China. So before we get into today’s interview segment, you may want to try this link to an article on the Australian federation’s web site: http://www.handballaustralia.org.au/National%20Womens%20Team.html#Team Naturally, we wish our Aussie friends the very best of luck in this tough competition!

[i]CA: Having continued to play a key role both in your country and in the region, you took over as President of the Australian Handball Federation in 2006. You recently had to resign from that post, due to your upcoming engagement in London. From that perspective, how would you describe overall the current status of handball in Australia? [/i]

AG: As I noted earlier, the overall status of handball in Australia is still that of a “minor” sport. Participation levels have increased overall, particularly in schools, however, this is not translating into significant junior numbers outside the school system. Handball clubs around Australia remain small and composed of dedicated but under-resourced athletes. The State and National teams are remaining competitive but struggle to get financial support, therefore, athlete “burn-out” occurs, particularly in financial terms, with athletes being asked to contribute too much of their own money in support of their national and international competition

[i]CA: What are the stronger aspects and what are the ones that need particular attention?[/i]

AG: Our strongest aspect is that we have a small but dedicated AHF Board, which, although amateur, provides effective leadership for the sport. As a result, local club and State competition tends to be well run although it is low-budget and low profile. We have some excellent athletes competing but, again, the selection pool is small, therefore, it is difficult to send 16 high-quality athletes to international competition and therefore difficult to be truly competitive on the world scene.

Handball in Australia still needs to reach the “tipping point” to become an established broad participation sport. The link between school handball and club handball is still weak or missing. Proper funding of talent identification, elite athlete development, elite training facilities and access to sports science, “institute” programs, regular high level international competition, etc. are still elements that need attention. Australia organises regular international events which are well-run but remain low profile. In summary: more effort is required in broad participation development, elite athlete development and programs and achieving appropriate funding for the sport.

[i]CA: As in so many other sports, Australian handball is affected by its geographic isolation; are there any real ways of compensating for this handicap?[/i]

AG: Yes there is. Clearly the “major” sports of Rugby and Cricket, for example, are continuing to grow and attract teams from around the world. Their advantage is that they have the membership, profile and exposure which ensures sponsorship and funding levels that can sustain events for which the high cost of travel to and from Australia can be overcome. Ultimately, proper funding can compensate for the handicap.

In the meantime, attracting “major” handball nations to Australia for competition is still problematic due to the high cost of coming to Australia, related to our distance from the rest of the handball world. I don’t know that I can “blame” the IHF for that nor that we can expect the IHF to assist us to overcome this issue directly. However, I know that the IHF is keen for Australia to host a World Championship in due time, therefore, there will be another opportunity for the IHF to support the development of the sport in this way.

[i]CA: Also as in other sports, while struggling with its own development and resources, Australia tends to be needed as the ‘engine’ for other countries in Oceania; how do you see the overall development in recent time in Oceania and what can Australia do in this regard?[/i]

AG: I have already indicated that there has been a resurgence of international competition within Oceania and this has proven to be a real boost for us and the other nations in the region. However, issues related to the leadership of the Oceania Handball Federation have, in my opinion, held the development of the sport at a regional level back for many years. I am pleased to say that the Oceania Handball Federation has recently been restructured, new officials elected and a new Constitution adopted. The IHF have made an even stronger commitment to support international events as a result. The current AHF President, Paul Smith, has been elected to the Presidency of the Oceania Handball Federation, to use his words: “at the insistence of the other Oceania nations”, so you can see that Australia is seen very much in a leadership role.

[i]CA: In soccer, Australia decided to join Asia. (And now we have the effect that Australia has qualified for the 2010 World Cup as one of the Asian representatives, while New Zealand just qualified from Oceania.) Has the same idea ever come up in handball? [/i]

AG: Football in Australia is enjoying a great revival. (even to the common use of the name “football” rather than “soccer”!) It has for a long time been a major participation sports in Australia, but this was not reflected in the sport’s profile or international performance. The recent changes, including better structure at the peak, more funding, a new national competition, commitment to elite level performance etc., have been reflected in the national team’s improved results. This of course has re-invigorated public interest. It is still behind Rugby but getting stronger every year. The national team’s exposure to the Asian competition has significantly lifted performance.

There was an idea to emulate Australian football by having Australian handball join the Asian handball zone. This proposal was rejected by the Asian Handball Federation. I sense a fear that Australian handball will eventually improve like it has in many sports and result in a dominant Australia at the cost of other Asian teams in qualifiers for World Championships and so on. The advantage of not being a member of Asia is that there is a direct Oceania handball spot for World Championships which Australia can fill due to its dominance in the region. Whilst I understand the benefits of more competition via the Asian zone, the reality is that Australia would struggle to qualify for World and Olympic Championships via this zone and therefore, having an Oceania place remains very important and valuable to Australia at this time.

Egypt withdraws as African Championships host: Potential 2 year ban as penalty

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The Egyptian Handball Federation announced earlier this week that it was withdrawing from its responsibility to host the African Championships next February 10-21. The stated reason for the withdrawal is Egypt’s security concerns with hosting Algeria so soon after the controversial world cup soccer qualifying matches between the two nations. The two matches, one played in Egypt and the follow on tiebreaker in Sudan have heightened tensions and resulted in violence against Egyptians living in Algeria and vice versa.

The Egyptian Federation had first sought to delay the event until later in 2010, but this request was denied by the African Handball Federation, known by its French acronym (CAHB). With the CAHB refusing to delay the event, Egypt then withdrew as host. The CAHB is now reportedly considering Morocco as a new host for the event, and some sources are either calling for Egypt to be banned from competing for two years citing that CAHB’s own regulations require this punishment.

Reports in the Algerian daily, La Tribune, allege that Egypt’s decision not to host are not related to security concerns, but instead are related to insufficient funds to stage the event. Additionally, La Tribune also reported that the Egyptian team was not prepared and that delaying the event was simply a ploy to allow more time to get their team in order.

The African Nations Championship is the premier handball event in Africa and serves as the qualifier for the Men’s and Women’s 2011 World Championship. As the event serves as a World Championship qualifier the International Handball Federation (IHF) could potentially intervene in this dispute. Notably, the President of the IHF, Dr Hassan Moustafa is also a former President of the Egyptian Federation.

AFP: Egypt not to host handball tournament in Algeria spat: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iF7mx4nDAv4qFGnS_5SzZCStt3mg
Reuters Africa: Egypt opts out as handball host over Algeria tension: http://af.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idAFJOE5AT0BF20091130
La Tribune (Algeria) (26 Nov 09): Egyptian Maneuvers: http://www.latribune-online.com/evenement/26043.html
La Tribune (Algeria) (29 Nov 09): Egypt, up against the wall: http://www.latribune-online.com/suplements/sportsup/26071.html
DZ Blog (Algeria) (2 Dec 09): Morocco: Egypt must be sanctioned: http://www.dzhand.net/index.php?post/2009/12/02/Le-Maroc-exige-de-sanctionner-l%E2%80%99Egypte

More about ‘handball’ in football and about what football can learn from handball

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In the last couple of weeks, both John Ryan and I wrote about some twists to the unfortunate story where France appeared to qualify for the football World Cup at the expense of Ireland, following an undetected ‘handball’ in a critical moment. We noted the connections to some issues regarding handball, such as the usage of technology. Find our articles here: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.886 https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.885

Now this issue and another one from the football qualifying have blossomed and have gained a direct to connection to handball. First, it is a bit laughable but not surprising, that suddenly FIFA President Blaetter has become a great friend of the UEFA idea to use extra ‘goal line judges’, something that he had previously ridiculed. Now this idea will suddenly be discussed for the 2010 World Cup. See one of the news stories on this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1230290/Sepp-Blatter-calls-extraordinary-meeting-FIFA-chief-probes-fallout-Irelands-World-Cup-play-defeat.html

But some of you may also have observed that the qualifying fight (literally) between Egypt and Algeria, in the end won by the Algerians, had led to something close to a state of war between the two countries. And lo and behold: rather than letting sports serve as a way of patching things up, sports events are now being used as a weapon in the fight. As recently announced, see posting on the IHF web site, http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=2196 the draw was made for the men’s and women’s African Championship to be held precisely in Egypt in February. Now the Egyptians wanted at least a postponement, especially as Algeria is one of the participating countries, but the African Confederation refused this request and instead ordered that the event be held elsewhere! See news reports: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/091129/world/sports_egypt_algeria_diplomacy

John, and other self-proclaimed football haters, stop reading here! Going back to football rules and regulations while I am at it, I cannot refrain, as an old football referee, to make fun of two areas where old-fashioned thinking in football has left them with rules that fail to pick up on simple and successful ideas in handball!

I am talking about the well-known situation in football where a player’s injury causes the game to be stopped even though there was no foul or other reason for a stoppage. How does one then resume the game? Well, one ‘forces’ a team to kick the ball out-of-bounds, after which the opponents voluntarily, and accompanied by thunderous applauds, throw the ball in to the opponents to restore the order. Such eminent sportsmanship!? No, utter nonsense! Introduce the handball principle whereby the team that was in possession gets to restart with a free-throw. Of course, a direct free-kick in football can be somewhat more dangerous and advantageous in football, but an [u]indirect[/u] free-kick is surely a safe and innocent way of getting underway again. But, no, says, FIFA, ‘it is unconscionable’ to use a free-kick when there has been no rules violation. Does this ‘terrible breach of principles’ bother us in handball? Certainly not: the restart with a free-throw is perfectly natural and simple.

Another area where football can learn from us: when the referee whistles for a free-throw against the team with the ball, a handball player knows he has to drop the ball immediately and move away from it. Or else he is out for 2 minutes. There were some faint protests against this ‘bureaucratic’ rule when it was introduced many years ago, but now people are happy about the discipline that it has achieved, precisely the discipline that is so totally lacking in football in the corresponding situation. Players routinely kick or throw the ball away some distance, to get more time to set up before the opponents can take the free-kick. Of course it is a violation, but the established praxis is for the referees, also at the elite level, to close their eyes and accept this unsportsmanlike and irritating feature. So do not tell me that ‘little’ handball cannot be a forerunner in dealing with rules situation. And many football fans (and referees!) envy us for this firm rule. Too bad only that the mighty FIFA is too important to follow our good lead…

IHF By-Laws: Friends of handball, demand to know what is going on!

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As indicated earlier, in connection with my articles about the type of changes that are needed in the IHF By-Laws, https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.857 https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.868 https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.877 the IHF hastily put together a ‘working group’ http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=285&idart=2136to review and discuss all the relevant issues. The group already met, and it seems it miraculously managed to cover all aspects in a meeting during the course of a day. This gives a rather clear indication of how superficial the treatment of the issues was or, more likely, how narrow the focus of the discussions was. Clearly, there are a few, very few, issues that the current regime really finds interesting. One can guess that they involve primarily the Executive itself.

But these are merely assumptions, because transparency exists in IHF only when it is convenient. It is clear that proposals from the working group, which presumably now will quickly cease to exist, will go directly to the IHF Council members, without any opportunity for all the people around the handball world, who elected these Council members, to have a chance to know what is being proposed and to attempt to influence their representatives in the Council. This is likely to serve as a good illustration of what kind of By-Law changes could be anticipated…

Friends of handball in all the continental and national federations: surely you are not content with this kind of process, where you will not even know what the issues are, let alone what the proposals will be, until they are placed in front of you for the ‘extraordinary’ IHF Congress in Rome. Surely you will want all the time from now on to review and form your own opinions about what the working group has discussed and proposed, and perhaps even more important: what it has failed to discuss and propose. Everyone knows that, at the time of the Congress, there is little hope for an individual national federation to bring up successfully its own ideas and/or to resist the ideas that are presented as the opinion of the Council. Act now! Demand to know!

IHF By-Laws: Desirable Changes (Part 1): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.857
IHF By-Laws: Desirable Changes (Part 2): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.868
IHF By-Laws: Desirable Changes (Part 3): https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.877

IHF By-Laws: http://www.ihf.info/upload/Manual/IHF_STATUTS_CHAP_01_GB.pdf
IHF By-Law Working Group Members: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=285&idart=2136to
IHF: Meeting Days at the IHF Office: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=2308

New York City Team Handball to play Bundesliga All Star Team

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The defending U.S. National Club champions, New York City Team Handball will take on a Bundesliga All Star team featuring Stefan Lovgren, Ljubomir Vranjes, Peter Gentzel, Henning Fritz and others. The match will take place on 3 January, 2010 as part of the first ever Big Apple Handball Tournament. This match will be a one off event separate from the tournament itself which will take place from 2-3 January. Participating in the actual tournament will be NY City and 5 teams from Germany. The 6 teams will be divided into two pools of 3 teams. Round robin games will be played on the 2nd and semifinal/placement games, as well as the all star game, will be played on the 3rd.

As to why this New York City tournament will, with the exception of the host, essentially be a transplanted German event, Shkumbin Mustafa, President of New York City THC, indicated that the German travel company, TR Travel, was the principal sponsor of the event while NYCTH was responsible for organizing the tournament. Due to time constraints and the space limitations of the gym facility two additional German teams even had to be turned away. Mustafa also emphasized that the New York City THC focus for this event will be to expose Handball to their developing youth programs. He also noted that they have tentative plans to host a tournament for American and Canadian clubs later this year.

NYC Team Handball Big Apple: http://www.newyorkcityteamhandball.com/bigapple.php

Collaboration towards a good sportsmanship and a positive image

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One of the areas where I had hoped to be able to continue to work in the IHF towards further improvement is the collaboration between match officials and team officials in the pursuit of good sportsmanship and a positive image.

Here the [u]two aspects[/u] that come together, or sometimes clash, are the need for the [u]coaches and team officials to carry out their function without unnecessary constraints[/u] and the need for [u]our sport to project a favorable image[/u] at our major event. The coaches have a job to do, and this inevitable involves emotions, physical (re)actions, acts of self-interest, and even some ‘gamesmanship’.

[u]The match officials[/u], both the referees and those ‘at the table’, have the job of contributing to a [u]good atmosphere[/u], enabling the players to display their skills, reducing the risks to the players, providing a ‘level playing field’ by [u]applying the rules in an even-handed manner[/u], and generally helping create a [i]positive image[/i] of our sport. I think it is fair to say that problems, when they do arise, are generally [u]initiated by the teams and the coaches[/u], while the match officials tend to have more of a preventive and enforcing role. But it still makes sense to me look at the issue from both perspectives.

If one listens to the [u]coaches[/u], they attach a lot of importance to seeing the match officials do their job in a pragmatic, common-sense fashion, [u]without undue bureaucracy[/u], and without hiding behind rules and regulations. They want to see real reasons for any constraints placed on them when they are trying to do their job in a tough situation.

A [u]coach[/u] will also, quite reasonably, expect that the match officials have a good deal of [u]understanding for the circumstances[/u] under which the coaches work. The coach expects appreciation for the fact that it is not a like a desk job where one calmly tackles one task after another. In the match, the coach is under great pressure, gets many reasons to react strongly, and finds it natural and inevitable to express the emotions in a verbal or physical manner. The match officials must be able to [u]distinguish[/u] what is natural and spontaneous from what is calculated and unsportsmanlike.

From the standpoint of the [u]coaches[/u], it is also vital that the match officials are absolutely [u]consistent[/u] in their dealings with the ‘benches’, just as they expect consistency in the referee decisions on the court. Credibility and respect will quickly be lost, if one team is admonished or punished for its bench behavior, while the other team is allowed to ‘get away with’ things that are just as conspicuous. This is compounded, if the clamp-down is on ‘bureaucratic’ aspects, while unsportsmanlike actions are ignored.

The [u]match officials[/u] also tend to have their ‘pet peeves’. Nothing becomes more irritating than a coach or team official who is constantly acting in a [u]provocative[/u] manner, for instance trying to ‘help’ the referees discover an offensive foul or a passive play. These [u]calculated[/u] ways of influencing are resented more than a spontaneous reaction after a referee decision. Coaches somehow do not want to appreciate that and, conversely, match officials are often [u]letting it go too far[/u]. Somehow it does not seem so easy to deal with it…

A major dilemma arises for the [u]match officials[/u], when an otherwise well-behaved coach [u]ignores or loses control of the behavior of his/her players[/u] on the bench. Perhaps it is understandable if the ‘head coach’ gets too caught up in what happens on the court; and this may be why some coaches delegate the ‘letter A’ (the designation for the ‘responsible team official’ under the rules) to someone else. But there can be no excuse if [u]none[/u] of the officials realizes that things have gotten out of hand, so that instead the match officials have to step in with punishments, a situation that is guaranteed to cause further irritation. But the fact is that one [u]cannot ignore[/u] a bench with players who do not just spontaneously celebrate a goal but constantly jump up and down, protesting referee decisions with words and gestures, or even ’egging on’ the spectators.

A third cause for friction is when the [u]table officials[/u] encounter a coach who thinks so highly of himself/herself that [u]arrogance[/u] becomes the main attitude displayed towards the ‘lowly’ table officials. There are many gimmicks involved, such as ‘playing games’ with the ‘green card’, constantly and knowingly blocking the view of the ‘table’ despite reminders, ignoring requests for common courtesies, such as attending to some minor but important formality. Dismissive gestures also tend to part of the ‘arsenal’. Again, ‘strange’ behavior caused by stress and emotions is understandable, but deliberate disrespect has no place in the game.

In other words, there are [u]aspects that need and can be improved from both sides[/u]. Part of the problem is that the overall issue of collaboration, sportsmanship and image tends to be ignored. Contacts between federations and teams/coaches rarely focus on such matters in anticipation of a major event. It seems that [u]much could be achieved by simply starting and maintaining a dialog [/u]about the importance and benefits of avoiding irritation and controversy during matches and instead keeping the need for a positive image in mind.

Clearly it would be of great help if [u]coaches[/u] came to accept that their job is not just to lead their team in a determined and partisan manner towards victory. They are key representatives for our sport and highly visible. They must realize and accept that they do [u]have a responsibility for the image[/u] and the future success of our sport.

The same goes for those who nominate [u]‘table officials’ [/u]and those who serve in that capacity. These functions should not be filled on a ‘political’ basis, as rewards, or on the basis of positions held in a federation’s hierarchy. Instead, these are positions which require suitability, training and experience. I suspect that federations tend to make the double mistake of not establishing a specialized group of officials and, moreover, of finding it awkward to question the competence and the need for training on the part of those whom they do nominate. This is not fair to the teams, and it is not good for [u]our image[/u].

Views on this issue would be appreciated!

Another PATHF Tournament in Costa Rica: Where are the Americans?

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The Pan American Team Handball Federation’s (PATHF) Junior Women’s Division 1 Championship are currently taking place in San Jose, Costa Rica. Through 2 match days, Mexico and the Dominican Republic look to be the class of this (Under 20) competition, while relative newcomers Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala appear to be at least one step down in class. Barring a major change in performance Mexico and the Dominican Republic should advance to the PATHF Junior Championship next year where they will take on Brazil, Argentina, Greenland, Uruguay, Puerto Rico and Chile. The top 3 teams from that tournament will then advance to the Junior World Championships next summer in South Korea.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Women’s team consisting of players ranging in ages from 14-25 traveled to Poland where they took on the Polish Women’s National Team and participated in an under 21 tournament against Norway, the Czech Republic and Poland. Predictably, for a very inexperienced team taking on quality competition, the scores ranged from ugly (33-12 against the Poland Jrs) to downright brutal (59-11 to Norway). While, some might argue that those scores indicate that the trip was a waste of time, I don’t fall into that camp. As I wrote back in 2006 https://teamhandballnews.com/news142.html, even the worst blowout is a valuable learning experience for the players of the losing team and nations also get a very clear benchmark of where they stand and how far they need to go.

That being said, however, when the gap becomes too great there are diminishing returns for the losing side. Ideally, a trip will include a match or two against top sides, as well as matches against comparative foes. This is why I’m a big fan of the current World Championships format which gives sides like Australia a “lesson” during group play, but then gives them an opportunity to compete on a more equal footing in the President’s Cup.

Arguably, the ongoing PATHF tournament in Costa Rica would have been just such a tournament for the U.S. In all likelihood, the U.S. would have been smoked by Mexico and the Dominican Republic, but they would have been competitive against the other 3 sides. These tournaments would also have given the U.S. players a taste of what competition is like in Latin America. On down the line as the U.S. improves one can also hope that the U.S. will qualify for World Junior and Youth championships where players get great exposure to scouts for professional clubs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty well documented that I’m not a big fan of PATHF. But, I still have the same questions that I raised last month when the U.S. didn’t participate in the Men’s senior Div 1 Championships. Except in this case an even stronger argument could be made that the ongoing “youth movement” would have been served pretty well by this tournament.

USA Team Handball is expected to release some of its planning documentation in the near future. Here’s hoping it clearly explains what the grand strategy is in terms of which teams will play where and why?

Canadian side note: According to the Canadian Federation Facebook page, Canada didn’t even get an invite to this tournament. It should also be noted, though, that they probably wouldn’t have participated anyway due to their current focus on the Sr. Programs.

USA Team Handball: Dipping Toes in International Waters: http://usateamhandball.org/news/2009/11/22/dipping-toes-in-international-waters/29259
THN (Sep 2006): Is it Better to Get Blown Out or to Just Stay Home?: https://teamhandballnews.com/news142.html
THN (Oct 2008): Analyzing the US decision to not participate in PATHF: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.854
PATHF Div 1 Juniors Results: http://www.panamhandball.org/index.php?option=com_joomleague&func=showResultsRank&p=8&Itemid=26
Canadian Federation Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Canadian-Team-Handball-Federation/165918018883

Alex Gavrilovic: a true fighter for the global progress of handball (Part 1)

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Alex Gavrilovic is not just well-known at home in Australia and Oceania. Many persons around the globe know Alex as the guy who made the handball event in the Sydney Olympics so successful through all his skills and determination, and they are now likely to feel reassured that he will have the same responsibilities in London 2012.

I first met Alex at the pre-Olympic handball event in Sydney in 1999, where my special task was to help train and select the timekeepers and scorekeepers for the Olympics, and from then on I have always liked his positive attitude, his pragmatism and his ability to get things done also in difficult circumstances. Alex was the Competition Manager in 2000, and he is now about to make the transition to a residency and full-time work in London in preparation for the same role in 2012. But he was still very nice about making himself available for a chat about Sydney, London and everything in between. In fact, Alex was so generous with his time that I have decided to divide my chat with him into three installments: first a segment on the experience related to the Sydney Olympics and the impact on the handball situation in Australia, then a broader view of the struggles of Australia and Oceania, and then finally his views on the 2012 Olympics.

[i]CA: I think it was obvious that the Sydney Olympics meant a major lift in terms of getting PR for handball, getting people involved and trained etc; but was it possible to maintain the momentum afterwards and did the Olympics turn out be of great help for handball for the longer term?[/i]

AG: There is no doubt that the one major thing the Sydney 2000 Olympics achieved (and subsequently the coverage provided of the handball event at both Athens and Beijing continued) was the general knowledge of the population about the sport. Before 2000 it would have been hard to meet someone who would immediately know what handball is and confusion with a tennis-ball game played in Australian schoolyards was common. After the Olympics, and to this day, people that I meet generally know the sport and I commonly get the response: “I saw it at the Olympics”, “what a great game” when I tell people that I am involved in handball. This general knowledge about the sport remains the greatest legacy from Sydney 2000 and subsequent Olympics. However, it has not led to dramatic increases in participation in the sport.

[i]CA: In all honesty, I think it is fair to say that the same frustrations were felt in the United States in the aftermath of both the 1984 and the 1996 Olympics; it is really a tough task to counter the lack of traditions and to make headway in the competition against all the established team sports![/i]

AG: Sadly, during the years 1997 – 2006, when handball in Australia received an enormous boost and enjoyed the interest of major sporting and government organisations in Australia, including TV, the Australian Olympic Committee, The Australian Sports Commission, etc, the then leadership of the Federation did not, in my opinion, take full advantage of the circumstances to set up the sport for the participation and development gains that would be achieved as a result of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Handball in Australia (similar to the experience in the USA and the UK) finds it hard to compete for athletes, government support, media exposure and sponsorship against the well-established (primarily non-Olympic sports) which are prevalent in English-speaking countries (e.g. Netball, Rugby [league and Union], AFL, Gridiron, cricket, etc).
[i]
(to see the remainder of this article, click on ‘read the rest’!)[/i]

[i]CA: What about the large number of volunteers in the Olympics, many with old handball background from other parts of the world, combined with a great deal of enthusiasm; were they not able to keep it going and also to recruit others?[/i]

AG: As a result of the Olympic experience, referee and official training is structured, however, numbers here remain low. Broad-based social and club handball competitions are still missing and therefore exposure to the greater population remains low. The sport enjoys interest surrounding major events like the Olympic Games but this “spike” does not translate into sustained growth. Also, in terms of our referees and officials, the great gains made leading up to Sydney 2000 were not sustained because the IHF did not commit to inviting our referees and officials to continue to be involved in major events such as World Championships. This was an opportunity lost and I still can’t understand why the IHF did not support it.

[i]CA: More generally, how do you view the assistance being provided by the IHF and other bodies, in connection with the Olympics and afterwards?[/i]

AG: The IHF provided great assistance to the sport in the lead up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, particularly in the preparation of our referees and technical officials. I enjoyed a great working relationship with many key persons in IHF, including some Competition Managers from previous Olympics, which ensured that the planning for and conduct of the Olympic event was smooth and effective. I felt supported and this helped me a lot in my efforts to do my job in a way that led to accolades from the IHF.

Since the 2000 Olympics, the IHF have offered Australia modest support in the way of development resources which has been gratefully received and effectively utilised. The greatest support has been in the support for Oceania international events. I believe that the recent proliferation of events in Oceania (organised by the French-speaking nations) has come as a result of the initiative shown by Australia (as supported by the IHF) since 2004 in particular. I think that the IHF have shown good support for the sport but have been somewhat held back by the situation related to the Oceania Handball Federation. Since this has now been resolved, I expect even more support will flow from the IHF. Australia and the IHF have continued to enjoy an excellent relationship and I know that the IHF sees Australia very much in a leadership role for the region.

to be continued