USA Team Handball (Year 1 Report Card)

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[color=#00ff00]Last September as missives criticizing the new USA Team Handball Federation ratcheted up in the Forum section on our website I commented that I thought folks were jumping the gun a bit too much on a brand new organization. Instead I laid out my expectations for the new Federation https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.595 in a number of areas along with what I considered some reasonable target dates for completion.

Six months later in March of this year, I handed out some Mid-Term grades https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.715 that chastised the new federation on a number of issues. A full year has now passed and I hand out some final grades. Several shortcomings have been corrected, but there’s still room for improvement. For ease of reading, I’ve left the original (Black) and six month report sections (Blue) in place. New text is in Green.[/color]

1) A clear and organized plan for USA club competition. (Target date: December 1, 2008). Successfully completing this goal would be to have a revamped competition rulebook that has been vetted, by and large, by the USA Handball community. This won’t mean that everybody will like everything in the competition rulebook, but it should mean that all the major clubs in the USA find it acceptable. As a minimum, every club should have a clear understanding as to what they need to do in order to participate in the 2009 National Championship Tournament.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: D
A competition rulebook was indeed provided by the target date, but the vetting process was less than satisfactory. An opportunity to comment was provided, but vetting was limited to the staff in the National office. Worse, the rulebook was modified in February and the residency requirement for foreign players were changed without any feedback from the membership. Faced with a protest on the last minute change, USA Team Handball backed down and reverted to the original wording. Finally, plans for teams to qualify were thrown out and teams were simply allowed to enter the National Championship tournament on a first come, first served basis.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: D
There’s no way to improve upon the mid-term grade for year 1. The good news though is that USA Team Handball appears to have learned from their mistakes as a committee was established and qualification has largely been turned over to the regions.[/color]
2) Announcement of the 2009 National Championship Tournament (Dates and Location) (Target Date: January 30, 2009). Sooner, of course, would be better, but this should allow enough time for teams to make airfare and lodging reservations.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: A
This requirement was clearly met. I should point out though, that the announcement for College Nationals was a little later than the subject date. Enough time to make plans, but I’m sure teams would prefer to have known sooner[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: A
Nothing new to add here.[/color]

3) A well organized and successful National Championship Tournament. There are many elements that go into running a well organized and successful tournament, to include, facilities, the scheduling of games, fan attendance and convenience (lodging and gym location).
[color=#0000ff]Grade: TBD[/color]
[color=#00ff00]As has been addressed previously, https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.745 the originally proposed format for the National Championship was very poorly designed. To the Federation’s credit, they modified the format and the feedback that I’ve received from those attending the tournament has been mostly positive. So an A- or B+ grade on the final execution is offset by a D grade in format/scheduling for an overall C result.[/color]

4) An improved website with the following content:
a) A club information page (Target Date: September 19, 2008). This page would include links to websites and Point of Contact information for all clubs in the U.S. You might notice that this target date is only a week away. This, however, should only take a couple of hours and quite frankly it should have been done a month ago.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: B
As I recall it took awhile for this page to get added to the website. http://www.usateamhandball.org/pages/6348 Additionally, this page could use some more graphics such as an interactive map and club logos (where applicable).[/color]

b) Guidance documentation page (Target Date: September 19, 2008). Any overarching documentation (e.g. the by-laws submitted in the UTHF bid; competition rulebook) that highlights how the Federation conducts business should be posted on this page.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: D
The competition rulebook has been posted, but other documentation is clearly lacking. There’s more commentary on this topic in items 12 and 13[/color]

c) Club Resources page (Target Date: October 17, 2008). A “best practices” section of the website that provides information on how to best organize a new club is needed. This section would include Points of Contact for club development and information on how to request funding grants from either USA Team Handball or the USA Team Handball Foundation.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: B
A club handbook has been developed and placed on the website. http://usateamhandball.org.ismmedia.com/ISM3/std-content/repos/Top/CLUB%20START%20UP%20GUIDE.pdf It’s a workable document with some good information in it. However, I’d prefer like to see an interactive page on the website to address club development. Clubs could ask questions like, “What kind of goals should I buy?” and the Q&A would be viewable in a forum like section for other clubs to see.[/color]

d) An online store with discounts for members (Target Date: December 1, 2008). This service would be a welcome addition, especially for new clubs that need to purchase balls and goals.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: C
A bare bones online store has been up on the site for several months. There aren’t very many items available, however, and the functionality isn’t the best. For instance, I was confused as to how to purchase a yearly membership. Expecting to see a discount (price/year) for signing up for more than 1 year, I actually learned through email correspondence that it was actually more expensive to buy a multiple year member membership.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: A-
Well, it took awhile longer than I would have liked for the website to get up to speed, but it’s really taken shape in the past few months. It’s colorful and loaded with content. There’s still plenty of room for improvement though. I’d like to see a better online store, video content and more frequent postings from teams on trips. The bar will be raised for year 2.[/color]

5) National Board of Directors Fully Identified (Target Date: November 1, 2008): Another hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is 7 independent Board of Directors with business skills who would contribute $50,000 each to USA Team Handball. The website currently lists only 2 members, Dieter Esch and his business partner, Brad Krassner. Additionally, the new Federation should make clear how it will identify/select other members of the Board, who are not part of the $50,000 club.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: F
The website currently identifies only 3 of the 7 independent members. A Mr. John West has been added in the intervening 6 months since I first wrote this. There is also still no indication as to how these Board Members were or will be selected. The By-Laws that were submitted when the Utah Team Handball Federation (UTHF) indicated that a nomination committee would be formed and that a Board would be selected prior to January 1, 2009. As far as I know there is no actual nomination committee and I would speculate that Pastorino, Esch and Krassner are the individuals actively seeking potential members. The Active Athlete members of the board have been selected via vote, but that is the only positive development that has taken place so far. The Federation website does indicate that the rest of the board members will be named soon. This is good news, but it has taken too long and with no transparency in the process. Hence the failing grade.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]See comments in 6) below[/color]

6) First National Board of Directors Meeting (Target Date: January 5, 2009).
[color=#0000ff]Grade: F
The first Board Meeting has now been called for 31 March, but it’s way overdue and it’s simply not appropriate for a Sports Federation to have operated this long without a Board of Directors (BoD) meeting. The BoD is supposed to provide direction and guidance for the management staff. Without that direction, the Federation may or may not be headed in the right direction. Bottom line: without an active BoD, the Federation has not been following its own by-laws and the spirit of its own proposal bid to bring in independent directors with business acumen.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]My stated criteria for 5) and 6) were very time specific and if I were to solely focus on meeting the dates (which were not made) the grades would continued to be failing. Instead I will provide an overall performance grade.
Grade: C
This overall grade is a tale of two semesters with the first semester being a rather slow start and the 2nd semester coming on pretty strong. There are a lot of initiatives that have been started by the Board, and in particular, the Chairman, Dieter Esch, who has been very active with his efforts to engage multiple handball entities in other countries. My biggest issue which I will address later in this assessment, however, is the lack of information being provided in terms of overall plan/vision.[/color]

7) Senior Men’s National Team Program Plan (Target Date: March 1, 2009). A well thought out plan on how the U.S. will organize and prepare the Men’s National Team needs to be clearly articulated. Such a plan should clearly identify strategies for player identification and development, training and competition schedules. A key element of this plan will also be a decision on whether to develop players in the U.S. or whether to foster opportunities for players to be placed on European club rosters.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: C
For all I know a plan has been developed. Certainly, there have been a number of tryouts and athlete identification camps. It has not been articulated, however, how those athletes will be trained and how Team USA will prepare for international competition. Several of the athletes identified at these camps also appear to be college graduates. Past experience has shown that molding inexperienced handball newcomers in the 22-26 age range into world class players is problematic in that those athletes tend to leave the program prior to fully developing as players. The Men’s team will travel to Puerto Rico in 8 months for the PATHF Div 1 Championships. What’s the plan, Stan?[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: D
A year out now, there’s a fair amount of activity with player tryouts and player pools being announced. One can make inferences from these events as to what the overall plan is, but without actually seeing it’s hard to put all the pieces together. Maybe there is an actual plan with clearly defined objectives and metrics to track progress, but if there is one, it hasn’t been provided to the membership. Keep in mind this grade is not reflective of the programs that have been rolled out in the last few months. They look like good programs. This failing grade is simply reflective of the fact that there is no plan being shared with the dues paying members of USA Team Handball. The PATHF Div 1 Championships are now only a month away. How is that team going to be picked? What kind of training camp are they going to have? What’s the plan for 2012 qualification and development through 2016? Etc, etc. [/color]

8 ) Senior Women’s National Team Program Plan (Target Date: March 1, 2009). As with the Men, a well defined plan is needed. Additionally, if the Women, participate in the PATHF Div 1 Championships later this year a near term interim plan should also be developed.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: C
Again, for all I know a plan has been developed and the same concerns in regards to training athletes and preparing for international competition needs to be addressed. To the Federation’s credit, they did field a team at the PATHF Div 1 Championships. Some have criticized that move as a waste of resources and feel vindicated by the very poor showing of the women’s team. I was disappointed and surprised by the results, but support the concept of Team USA ALWAYS fielding a team for WC or Olympic qualification. Say what you want about the poor results, they should help inform USA Team Handball on where the program currently stands and how far it needs to go.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: D (See the comments regarding the Men’s plan as to why)[/color]

9) Youth and Junior Team Program Plans (Target Date: March 1, 2009). These plans will need to mesh with the Senior Team Plans. They will also require a substantial amount of thought as the U.S. has very few players in these age categories and limited resources to support their rapid development.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: C
Again, many of the same issues discussed with the men’s and women’s teams also apply. In addition, the youth and junior team program plans will require some “outside the box” thinking to be successful. Some player identification camps have been identified, but the overall plan has not been articulated. Additionally, resources are being spent on an under 23 team. While this may align with our collegiate programs international competitions are focused on under 21 and under 19 programs.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: C
Again, the problem here is simply the lack of a plan being shared with the membership. With youth teams actually touring clearly a lot has been accomplished in a short period of time. We’ve even got U18s training in Iceland for an extended time. I wouldn’t have thought that possible in less than a year.[/color]

10) Fully Staffed Regions (Target Date: January 5, 2009). A hallmark of the new Federation organizational structure is their plan to have a dedicated Regional Director and Coach for each of the 5 regions. I would expect that personnel will actually start to be hired and identified in the near future. And I would expect the regional staffs to have a very active and hands on role in helping new clubs to get on their feet and in organizing regional competition.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: C
The regions have not been 100% staffed, but a lot of people have been hired. From website reports they appear to be getting involved with their region’s development and organization. Could they be doing more? Sure, but there are some inherent challenges with the geographic size of the United States and the limited resources of USA Team Handball. I was never convinced that this organizational structure made sense with the current Handball demographics of the U.S. I also won’t be surprised if there is a significant reorganization at some point in the future.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]See comments in 11) below [/color]

11) Regional Board or Directors Fully Identified (Target Date: September 1, 2009). As with the National Boards, I would expect Directors to be identified in the coming months. As the Regional staffs have not been identified yet, however, this will take some time. Additionally, it may be challenging to come up with Regional Board Members due to the financial requirements.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: TBD[/color]
[color=#00ff00]I won’t give a grade on Regional Directors but will provide a few observations. Quite frankly, it’s hard to grade regional performance for many of the same reasons it’s hard to quantify successful grassroots efforts. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.797
There are some metrics that could be tracked, though, like numbers of clubs, new members, new clinics conducted, etc. Anecdotally, there are signs that things are taking shape, but it’s tough to fully assess. As I mentioned before, I’m somewhat of a skeptic in terms of the regional concept due to the geographical challenges and limited resources. It also hasn’t been fully implemented as the Midwest and Northeast regions are without Regional directors and coaches, the Southeast has no coach, and there has been very little news in regards to regional boards. Resource wise, somehow the new Federation is employing what appears to be 10 full time staffers and 3 volunteers. This might seem like a small staff for an established sport federation, but it is practically a miracle to Handball veterans that remember a much leaner 3 man staff covering the whole country. Either these folks are working for peanuts or the Federation has quietly done an incredible job in the fundraising department.[/color]

12) Interim Over Arching Guidance Documentation (Target Date: September 19, 2008). To the casual observer, the new Federation appears to be currently operating with no formal written by-laws. By-laws were submitted during the certification process, but I suspect that these by-laws are not being followed to the letter. It should be clear to the USA Handball Community what “rules of the road” are being used to guide the new Federation. Simply posting the UTHF Bid by-laws would be a start, along with a general statement of accountability. Right now my assumption (in the absence of a Board of Directors) is that Dieter Esch is calling the shots, but that GM Steve Pastorino has been given a significant amount of latitude to do what he thinks best. This is to be expected in a start-up situation, but that construct should transition as soon as possible to a more formalized structure.

[color=#0000ff]Grade: F
Six months later this documentation and/or guidance has still not been developed. The UTHF Bid by-laws -link- have not been posted on the Federation website nor is there any other statement of accountability. A precursory look at several other Federation websites shows that most of them post their By-Laws for everyone to see. (For more on this topic see #13 below)[/color]
[color=#00ff00]See comments in 13) below [/color]

13) Finalized Over Arching Guidance (Target Date: February 2, 2009). Step 1 for the new board should be to approve new bylaws for the Federation. It should be clear to everyone what the roles and responsibilities are for Board Directors, Committee Members and Staff. Additionally, members at all levels should understand how they can influence and participate in the process.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: F
As far as I know there are no new bylaws being developed. And if by some chance they were being developed, it clearly isn’t being done with any transparency as I and other members of the USA Handball community are unaware of it. In essence, USA Team Handball is currently being run independently without any formal input or accountability to its members. Say what you want about the previous incarnation of USA Team Handball and its dysfunctionality, but there were committees and board members that were accountable to the membership. It was also often messy and in the end self-destructing. Because of that self-destruction, I thought that it made sense to give the new regime considerable leeway to clean up the ashes and rebuild the Federation with minimal interference. That time has now past in my opinion. It’s high time for more transparency and a clear understanding of how the outside business people are going to work with the USA Handball Community at large. And the key words are “work with”. USA Team Handball is a non-profit, amateur sports federation. It is not a for profit sports franchise (Real Salt Lake) or a modeling company (Wilhelmina) and that means there is accountability to that nebulous Handball Community. I am not calling for a return to the old way of doing business as clearly that was not working. All I’m saying is that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]The original criteria were date specific, so there’s no way the Federation can improve upon the failing mid-term grade. The new by-laws were published not long after the mid-term report. http://www.usateamhandball.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/11807/USATH_Bylaws_Ratified_3-31-09.pdf
Unfortunately, they did not clear up the concept of “at-large” members. These members have no “independent” requirement and depending on how you read the old by-laws and even some parts of the new by-laws it was strongly implied that there would be a membership vote to select these two “at large” members. As currently structured the Board is very independent and top heavy with newcomers to USA Team Handball or even to the sport of Team Handball. Of course, a strong case can be made that this is a good thing based on the dysfunctional board that was previously voted in by the membership. I would argue, though, that 2 members elected by the membership with a good understanding of the past would have had a useful minority role on this new board.

Additionally, the Board should consider the establishment of a Congress or some other entity composed largely of members from the “Handball Community” that could wield some level of influence with the Board. The Board would still maintain ultimate authority, but a Congress would give them a venue to get constructive input to their plans, as well as an opportunity to sell the community on their activities. Right now, my perception is that everything is pretty much being dictated to the membership and even if everything is 100% in the right direction, it’s somewhat human nature to react against a one way flow over which you have no influence. A Congress or some other entity would mitigate that and who knows they might even have some good ideas.[/color]

14) Strategic Plan (Target Date: March 20, 2009). The strategic plan would be a top to bottom plan that identifies the goals for USA Team Handball and how it plans to achieves those goals. This is something that should be developed with at large membership input, but may very well also require outside the box thinking.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: F
As far as I know, such a Strategic Plan has already been developed. But, if it has been developed it’s been done in-house without much membership input. So the negative grade is for 1) either not having a plan or 2) not sharing it with anyone.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Christer Ahl wrote a commentary a while back taking the IHF to task for a lack of strategic direction. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.812 The thrust of this was the need to clearly define the overall goals and objectives before tackling what programs and processes need to be put in place to meet them. I maintain that the same is true for USA Team Handball. Perhaps the Board of Director’s and staff at USA Team Handball has already crafted and approved a plan. If so, it’s time to share that plan with the members. Even better, it would be wise to seek input from its dues paying members, some of whom have devoted large chunks of their life to the sport, on what should be in that plan. For a model as to how membership could provide input we could look to USA Table Tennis, which recently posted this notice in regards to their strategic planning: http://www.usatt.org/ceo/0909.shtml[/color]

15) Marketing Plan (Target Date: January 5, 2008). The new Federation has indicated that they will expend significant resources in this area. I don’t expect for them to provide the members at large a detailed copy of their marketing strategy, but I would like to see regular reports highlighting current ongoing efforts in this area. My metric for success in this area will be successfully getting Handball on TV in the U.S.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: B
The 2009 World Championships were on TV in the United States for the first time this past January. Granted, it was Web TV (ESPN360) and only available in a sliver of the American market, but this was still great news. The new Federation has also kept everyone informed of new sponsors such as Grundfos and SnapSports. Would I like to see more sponsors and ESPN prime time telecasts? Sure, but the trend is in the right direction.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: B
I’ll keep the grade the same for now. But, the bar will be raised for next year.[/color]

16) Fundraising. This is without a doubt the big kahuna, in that sustained success hinges on creating sufficient income to meet expenses. With the dramatic increase in paid staff (when compared to the previous Federation), as well as plans to field youth and junior teams there’s simply no way for the numbers to add up without significant new funding streams being developed. The metric for success in this area will be an Income side of the balance sheet showing significantly more $ than that of the $300,000 – 500,000 budgets common in the waning years of the previous Federation. I won’t expect the Federation to provide detailed information, but as a non-profit, top level budget numbers should be available for public review. Additionally, it will become readily apparent that there is a cash flow problem if there are staff cutbacks and/or the USA fails to send teams to International competitions.
[color=#0000ff]Grade: TBD/Unknown
Putting a grade on fundraising is difficult without seeing some budget numbers. Since this was written in September, the financial crisis also should temper everyone’s critique of this critical area. Finding sponsors to shell out money for an unknown sport is challenging enough in a flush economy. Getting them to fork over money at the same time they’re laying workers off might well be impossible. Additionally, some wealthy individuals with money to burn 6 months ago may have seen their net worth’s decline by 40%. Suddenly, a contribution to USA Team Handball is competing not only against other good causes, but against dwindling retirement and college education plans. So far the Federation appears to be weathering the financial storm as there have been no staff cutbacks and a team is still being sent on tour to Europe this summer.[/color]
[color=#00ff00]Grade: TBD/Unknown
I’m looking forward to seeing the first year financial statement for the Federation. They stopped hiring staff, but no one has been laid off. Additionally, the trips planned for the summer took place and more are planned, so it looks like the storm has been weathered pretty well. Much better than I would have thought. I also hope that the financial statements provided by the Federation clearly show where large chunks of income are coming from so that we can compare performance in this area from year to year.[/color]

[color=#0000ff]So, that’s it in a nutshell. Of course, the folks in Salt Lake City don’t take orders from me, so I’m not expecting them to jump all over my metrics. But hey, as soon as I send my $60 in for membership, there’s got to be some degree of accountability. And if my patience wears thin 6 months from now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Well, as you can see by this fairly negative review, my patience indeed is starting to wear thin, particularly in the areas of governance and planning. In my opinion, there’s been more than enough time to straighten up the Federation’s basic organization structure and to start articulating the Master Plan that will lead Team Handball in the USA out of the wilderness.

But, while my patience is wearing thin, I still have some left in the tank. The Federation is making progress in some areas, even if it’s not as much as I and others would like to see. Next week, the Board of Directors will also be meeting for the first time, and in all likelihood, these and other issues will be discussed in detail. If the Board of Directors functions like it’s supposed to, they could very well jump start the Federation with some good top level guidance and direction.

So, I’ve said my piece for now and I’ll be waiting to see how the Board of Directors takes charge. My hunch (hope) is that there could very well be a flurry of activity and increased levels of transparency in the next few months. Stay tuned[/color].

[color=#00ff00]Six months later, I’m pleased to state, unequivocally, that there truly has been a flurry of activity. Things are clearly headed in the right direction even if there is a long way to go.

I’m less pleased, however, with the lack of transparency. If you didn’t already notice the recurring theme for this year 1 report card is, “Where’s the plan, Stan?” It’s one thing to have a general goal to improve the state of Team Handball in the U.S. It’s another thing entirely to have several specific sub-goals to make that overall goal happen. And with each of those sub-goals clearly identified with detailed plans and benchmarks to track their progress.

The most glaring example of this shortcoming is probably in regards to the U.S. National Team programs with conflicting underlying messages being sent out in regards to youth teams and senior teams. In other words, does the focus on youth teams (rightly or wrongly) mean that 2012 Olympic qualification is being put to the side? What does that mean to a 25 year old handball player who might be a little long in the tooth in 2016 or even 2020? Or taking the other viewpoint, why spend any resources on 25 year old players if they’re not going to be around when we are truly serious about qualifying? There are sensitivities involved here, but it should be possible to clearly state what the goals are and how it’s planned to achieve them.

General Manager, Steve Pastorino, has indicated that an edited version of their High Performance Plan submitted to the USOC will be posted on their website once funding has been approved. Hopefully, this will clear up some questions. Right now without any goals or objectives laid out its wide open to interpretation as to how we’re doing. Blind supporters might be happy with any progress, even if it is woefully marginal while naysayers will probably complain that we still haven’t won a World Championship yet. All, I’m asking is that USA Team Handball starts to lay out its own plan with benchmarks. That way everyone can get on board with executing the plan. And at the end of the year we can all see what’s working and what’s not. And then USA Team Handball can issue a report which assesses the year in review and goals for the next season. (Better them than me!)[/color]

Varsity Sports on College Campuses

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With the IOC’s vote last week Rugby has joined Team Handball and other sports as part of the Olympic program. Frequent readers to the site know full well that I think rugby’s development in the U.S. is the closest model for Team Handball to follow and learn from. In this podcast from American Rugby News, the topic of varsity sports on college campuses is discussed in detail. Rugby is mostly a “club sport” on hundreds of college campuses throughout the U.S., but in some colleges it has been established as a varsity sport. The podcast explains what varsity status means and doesn’t mean in terms of a team sport at colleges and how to develop and nurture a sport on a college campus. As the U.S. seeks to expand its collegiate handball program from a handful of schools to a nationwide network this podcast should be a must listen to anyone who’s already involved with collegiate Team Handball or is thinking about start a new program.

American Rugby News: College Talk: http://www.americanrugbynews.com/artman/publish/national/Collegetalk_Varsity.shtml
Podcast Download Link: http://www.americanrugbynews.com/podcasts/Collegetalk_3.mp3

EHF Champions League Group Phase – Round 2 (Worth Watching)

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Plenty of matches worth watching so far in Round 2. I say, “so far” because I still haven’t seen Barcelona-Kiel. Here’s a rundown on the ones I think are worth watching.

HCM Constanta VS Montpellier HB: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000682
There’s not enough hours in a day to watch every match at efhTV, so when I check out a match between a heavyweight (Montpellier) and a would be lightweight (Romania’s Constanta) I typically fast forward 5 minutes at a time just to make sure that it’s the predictable blowout that it’s supposed to be. True to form this match started out that way, but I soon found myself rewinding to figure out just what in the heck happened. Sorry, to give away some of the match, but trust me, it’s still worth checking out.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen VS KS Vive Targi Kielce: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000716
Germany’s Rhein-Neckar hosts Poland’s Kielce in a battle for Group B supremacy.

HSV Hamburg VS BM Ciudad Real: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000685
A repeat of one of last year’s semifinal matchups. It’s very early in group play but the head to head matches between these two sides could very well decide who gets the number one seed in Group C.

Pick Szeged VS A.C. PAOK: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000737
Greek side A.C. PAOK was crushed by 26 goals vs. Montpellier last week. Can they make a more respectable showing visiting Hungary’s Pick Szeged?

RK Gorenje VS HC Bosna BH Gas: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000740
Can the upstart Bosnians make it two upsets in a row with a victory on the road in Slovenia?

Pevafersa Valladolid VS Chekhovskie Medvedi: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000739

More matches are available at ehfTV: www.ehftv.com
And if you can’t wait for the results, score and reports are here: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/

The unlikely Handball connection behind Chicago’s first round exit

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There’s been a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking as to why Chicago was booted unceremoniously in the first round of voting in the race to host the 2016 Olympics. Nearly everyone had predicted and eventual Rio – Chicago showdown, but there were at least a few articles that mentioned that Chicago had to be wary of early round voting. And post mortem, several pundits and IOC members have hinted that Chicago’s demise was due to Asian solidarity to prevent a first round exit for Tokyo. And as told to the Chicago Tribune one of Chicago’s lobbyists hinted that it was specifically Arab support to their Asian colleagues:

“Luciano Barra of Italy, one of the lobbyists working for Chicago, said those who shifted to Tokyo may have included Arab members from countries belonging to the Asian Olympic group who wanted to show regional solidarity.”

Wait a second? You might have thought that the East Asians and the Arab states didn’t get along. Certainly, in Handball that’s true. After all, the Asian Handball Federation, Kuwaiti Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad al-Sabah, was the man on the other line talking to Dr Moustafa when it was decided that the Jordanian officials would be a better pair to officiate the infamous Korean-Kuwait Olympic qualification match. And after that there were calls from the Japanese and the Koreans to consider starting a new federation for East Asia. But while the discord continued from the Koreans the Japanese rancor became subdued. And even more startling the Japanese decided that Sheikh Al-Sabah’s role was worthy of an honorary doctorate degree for fair play. All seemingly bizarre, except for the fact that Al-Sabah is also the President of the Olympic Council of Asia and one of the very important 106 IOC delegates.

One can imagine the discussions that took place in the Japanese inner sports management circles. Handball is not a very important sport there and they most definitely wanted the Olympics. If not in 2016, then perhaps in 2020. Handball fair play protestations were pushed to the side in deference to their Olympic bid. And a year later it appears to have paid off with the Sheikh delivering the votes to Tokyo, with the consequence of Chicago being tossed out early.

The fact that Sheikh Al-Sabah can play such an important role in the Olympic movement while nary a word is said of his involvement in the Olympic Qualification scandal speaks volumes about the IOC and the need for an independent anti-corruption agency. If being selected host city means placating likes of Al-Sabah, perhaps Chicago will need to get Northwestern ready to start handing out the honorary doctorates if they want to get selected for 2020.

Chicago Tribune: Chicago 2016 team: Was it misled or did it miscount?: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-08-olympics-chicago-hersh-oct08,0,882158.column
IHF Website: AHF President Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad al-Sabah receives doctorate from Nippon Sports Science University of Tokyo: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=228&idart=1600
THN Commentary: AHF President honored for promoting fair play?: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.633

USA Team Handball calls for calm, while other NGB leaders call for heads

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In the wake of Chicago’s disappointing first round exit, rancor in the U.S. Olympic movement has been ratcheting up with several sport’s National Governing Bodies (NGBs) calling for the resignation of CEO, Stephanie Streeter and Board Chairman, Larry Probst. Of particular, note is the results of a 63 question survey which was sent to NGB’s by the Association of Chief Executives for Sports (ACES) which queried NGB Chief Executives on a number of topics to include their confidence in the USOC leadership, funding, marketing and the proposed Olympic Network. Most telling were the overwhelming negative responses to questions concerning the acting CEO’s qualifications and effectiveness in her position. Whether the survey had any influence on her recent decision to not be a candidate for the permanent CEO is not clear.

In response to the rancor, USA Team Handball has issued a press release yesterday with Chairman of the Board, Dieter Esch calling for discourse, not discord. Specifically, Mr Esch stated that “Blaming individuals for the actions of the past six months is short-sighted. We need a thorough analysis to cure the fundamental chasm between the USOC and the IOC." Additionally, the release calls for a blue ribbon panel “that puts actionable plans, not finger-pointing, at the forefront."

USA Team Handball Press Release:USA Team Handball calls for discourse, not discord: http://usateamhandball.org/news/article/24425
Sports Features Communications: American NGBs call for immediate resignation of Probst and Streeter: http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index.php?section=olympic-article-view&id=46004
Association of Chief Executives for Sport (ACES) Survey Results: http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/18045/NGB_-_USOC_Survey_Results.pdf

Addendum: Dieter Esch and former National Team Player Matt Van Houten are quoted in this NY Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/08/sports/08usoc.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Slate Magazine’s "Hang Up and Listen" talks Handball

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Stefan Fatsis and his podcast mates Mike Pesca and Josh Levin briefly talk about Handball in their most recent “Hang up and listen” podcast. During the 3rd topic on their irreverent sports podcast they start off discussing ESPN’s broadcast of the “Hardbat” ping pong tournament this past Sunday. Naturally, the discussion turns to a sport more worthy of ESPN broadcasting.

Stefan is a strong backer of Team Handball, but I’ve chastised him for getting his melons mixed up. As every true Handball aficionado knows, the cantaloupe is the official melon of Team Handball due to its size and weight. A watermelon while tastier is too large and oval shaped.

Amusing 2 degrees of separation (who needs 6 with Team Handball)
– The former Executive Director of USA Team Handball, Mike Cavanaugh, is now the CEO of USA Table Tennis. OK, Hardbat is a bastardization of table tennis, but I’m sure Mike’s not complaining about the exposure.
– Keep listening for a few minutes after the Handball discussion and you’ll hear Mike Pesca do an end of show take on the scandals plaguing SUNY Binghamton basketball. Coincidentally, this is where USA National Team Handball blogger Jordan Fithian played hoops, although he claims not to have been a part of the problem

Slate Hang up and Listen Podcast page: http://www.slate.com/id/2230999/
Slate Hang up and Listen Podcast download: http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/media.slate.com/media/slate/Podcasts/Sports/SG09100501_HUAL.mp3 (The Hardbat discussion begins at 26:50 and the brief Handball discussion is at 31:00)
Jordan Fithian’s Blog: http://www.usateamhandball.org/blog/blog/378

IOC: Good Governance and Anti-Corruption

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Some may have the impression that the only important issue on the agenda of the IOC Congress was the decision regarding the 2016 summer Olympics. However, the IOC has in fact been holding a congress with speeches and debates covering a broad range of fundamental aspects: the Athlete, the Olympic Games, the Structure of the Olympic Movement, Olympism and Youth, and the Digital Revolution. I will not attempt to comment on all of these aspects; instead I will point you to the document summarizing the recommendations of the IOC Congress. http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Conferences_Forums_and_Events/2009_Olympic_Congress/Olympic_Congress_Recommendations.pdf

Some of the conclusions that came up under the heading ‘the Athlete’ will be useful for those athletes who need support and arguments in their struggle be heard by the authorities in their respective sports, as discussed in my posting from yesterday. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.839 I hope to come back to this topic in a near future.

My focus here will instead by on good governance and anti-corruption. The reputable organization ‘Play the Game’ had made a major effort to force the attention of the IOC on the need for strong action against corruption, through an open letter to the IOC at the Congress. This open letter, for which a vast number of signatures were obtained, http://www.playthegame.org/news/detailed/call-for-action-against-all-forms-of-corruption-in-sport-4543.html was not necessarily welcomed by all IOC members. Several of them were interviewed about the idea of an independent anti-corruption agency (somewhat similar to WADA, the anti-doping agency) and while a few diplomatically referred to the existence of an IOC Ethics Committee and a Court of Arbitration for Sport, other interviewees (such as the IHF President) suggested more firmly that issues involving corruption could best be handled internally by the organization affected. (The FIFA President indicated that he would retire, if such an agency were to be established; it prompted some observers to suggest that this sounded like the best possible argument for moving ahead…).

However, a glimmer of hope could be seen in the keynote speech by the IOC VP Thomas Bach, under the heading of ‘the Structure of the Olympic Movement’. http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/2009_Olympic_Congress/Speech_Thomas_Bach.pdf While (as I would put it) he ‘put the cart before the horse’ by first talking forcefully, albeit eloquently, about the need for the sports movement to enjoy a high degree of autonomy from governmental interference, he later came to the important point that, in order to deserve such autonomy, sports organizations need to demonstrate ‘responsibility’ in terms of compliance with rules of ethics and good governance. As key principles he mentioned, for example: define the vision and mission so that clear goals and strategies can be developed; clear, democratic and efficient structures, with checks and balances, and clear and transparent rules for democratic decision-making; transparent financial processes with clear rules for the distribution of revenues; and involvement of active athletes and protection of their rights. It seems that my earlier suggestions for the steps needed prior to IHF By-Law changes were receiving full endorsement… https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.812

Finally, it is also worth noting the conclusion that the IOC should immediately establish its own entity for monitoring the betting activities going on in connection with the Olympic Games. (Previously, the IOC has been ‘piggy-backing’ on an external agency, viz. the company used by FIFA, for the purpose of detecting suspicious activity). This should be seen as a strong indication that the IOC, like many other organizations, have come to realize the tremendous threat that illegal gambling constitutes to the desire for fair play and an untarnished image in sports.

EHF Group Phase – Round 1 (Worth Watching)

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Group Play has started in the Champions League and efhTV.com broadcast 11 games over the weekend. For the most part the games were predictable and lopsided, but there were a couple of matches worth viewing. If your time is limited just toggle the play bar towards the end of the matches.

HC Bosna BH Gas VS Chambery Savoie HB: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000694
The 2nd best French side, Chambery traveled to Sarajevo to take on the lower seeded HC Bosna BH Gas. The French league is clearly better than the Bosnian league, but Chambery minus Daniel Narcisse is not the team they were last year.

Rhein-Neckar Löwen VS MKB Veszprém KC: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000679
Rhein-Neckar was the 3rd best side in Germany last year, but is off to a slow start this season in the Bundesliga. They hosted the perennial Hungarian participant in the Champions League, Veszprem.

Pick Szeged VS Chekhovskie Medvedi: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000693
Hungary’s other top side played host to Russia’s perennial participant

KS Vive Targi Kielce VS RK Gorenje: http://www.ehftv.com/ec/cl/men/2009-10/video/000678
Poland’s new top Club welcomed Slovenian side Gorenje

If you can't wait or don't have time to watch, scores and write-ups on the matches are available here: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/

What about the players – is anyone listening to their concerns?

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There is an ongoing debate about many issues that primarily affect the players, and many different sources express opinions and negotiate solutions, but do we ever have the sense that the players themselves have much of a say? I am talking about issues such as the competition calendar and the concerns about an excessive pressure on the players, the whole set of issues regarding doping, the increasing concerns about different forms of match fixing, the transfer regulations, the general concern for the players as human beings off the court, and the broad issue of ethical and effective governance in our sport.

You might ask: don’t the clubs and federations look after the concerns of their players on all these topics? If you ask the players, you will get a resoundingly negative response to this question. And indeed, is it realistic to believe that clubs and federations who are relying on the players for success and income will be sufficiently concerned about their personal well-being? Is this not really the same situation that we have in the labor market, where the investors and the company managers know that they depend on their employees for success but nevertheless focus more directly and selfishly on their own immediate concerns. The employees are seen more as tools and not so much as human beings. Is this not why employees rely on unions and other methods to have their interests represented!?

In handball, even though they players and the leagues really are professional in a large number of countries, the existence of unions is really quite limited. For instance, only three countries, Denmark, France and Spain, have their professional players represented by the European Handball Players’ Union (EHPU). Another way would of course be to offer the players a chance to participate and influence matters through their federations, and many federations, also the IHF, have an Athletes Commission or something similar. In fact, in some countries this is mandated by law or by the highest sports authority, and the IOC certainly expects an entity such as the IHF to have an Athletes Commission.
In reality, however, the opportunities to influence are very limited. I cannot speak for individual countries, but I certainly know that the IHF Athletes Commission would be justified in arguing that its existence is mere ‘window dressing’ and that its influence is almost non-existent. This cannot possible be an appropriate and desirable situation!

A key issue is of course the competition calendar. As the physical demands on the players increase due to the speed and force of the game at the top level, the demand for their participation in games and tournaments seems to increase. One source of conflict is the clash between the schedules of the clubs and the national leagues vs. the demands caused by the involvement of the national teams in World Championships, continental championship, the Olympic Games, and all the related qualifying events. For a player on a top club, furthermore from a country that tends to qualify for all the big events, this adds up to a lot. Of course, the clubs pay the salaries of the players, so they feel they should have priority, even if, also in top leagues such as in Germany and Spain, half of the matches are nothing more than money-makers against clearly inferior opponents. But these games are needed to earn the money to pay the players, say the clubs, so they tend to feel that the many games and events for the national teams are the excessive ones. When all this is negotiated between federations and clubs, involving particularly the IHF, the EHF and club organizations such as the GCH, are the direct preferences and concerns of the players really taken much into account? The players don’t think so!

Anti-doping regulation is another area where real implications are primarily felt by the players. They have to worry about compliance, reliability of medical advisers, the effect on their health, and the consequences of non-compliance. But their influence on rules and procedures is quite limited. Corruption in the form of match fixing is another area where players can get caught in the middle. They may do their best to win a game, but if corrupt team officials and/or referees are involved, their best efforts may not matter much. The players themselves may receive pressure to manipulate games, or they may, through careless involvement in gambling or other activities, become obvious targets. Despite all this, the players are likely to have very little influence on the existence or absence of adequate prevention and enforcement on the part of the federations involved, and they typically do not receive adequate education and warnings about these issues.

Of course, if one is used to the caprices of the trading of players in U.S. professional sports, one may not find that the transfer situation of professional handball players is so horrible. Moreover, transfers are often the result of efforts by players, who want to go where ‘the grass is greener’. But often they may not have much of a say in a transfer matter, and clearly they do not have much of a say in the implementation of transfer regulations. To some extent, this is only one aspect of the tendency to treat the players more as ‘commodities’ than as human beings. This often becomes evident when players, who are highly talented and rise to a level of prominence and great exposure at a very young age, do not get much help in ‘growing up’ outside the handball court and in handling the many difficult aspects of fame and media pressures. Basic education is also often neglected

Finally, the sound governance of our sport at the international level is obviously a very important issue for a professional player, who must rely on handball politicians and bureaucrats to provide the framework within which he or she wants to earn a living and make a long, successful career. The continued competitiveness of handball in a tough marketplace and the image of our sport are just two of many important dimensions in this respect. Conversely, talented and dedicated players are obviously the key asset in the struggle of handball to retain or improve its ‘place in the sun’ (and for its politicians and bureaucrats to earn their places). [u]Surely this suggests that the players, whether through unions or Athletes Commissions, [b]deserve a much greater role [/b]in the management of our sport. As far as the IHF goes, let this begin with the upcoming [b]process[/b] of revising the By-Laws (appropriately preceded by a serious effort to revise goals, plans and strategies) and then also in those [b]provisions[/b] of the By-Laws where the participation of the athletes is prescribed![/u]

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.

——

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