ATHF's full disclosure.

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Prior to John Ryan’s summary of the Salt Lake – Miami debacle, John emailed questions to both parties. The USATH and the ATHF.

I recently received copies of emails containing answers and comments from both Cristian Zaharia and Nick VandenBrekel. I was not copied on the answers or the questions from the USATH.

For the sake of transparency and full disclosure I am posting Mr. Cristian Zaharia’s answers to John Ryan’s questions first, followed by comments from Mr. VandenBrekel.

THN: Did USA Team Handball contact you and the LNH about the need to request sanctioning from USA Team Handball? If so, what were your responses?
CZ: John, first let me explain to everybody that this is a private endeavor and we do not need their sanctioning. We do have a professional cooperation with a Professional League doing a business. New World Sports Enterprises LLC is the promoter of this event, not the ATHF, as the probationary federation is trying to misinform everybody.

THN: Why not simply request sanctioning from USA Team Handball for the tournament?
CZ: Why should I request something that we do not need? The USATH is in probation to lead the amateur side of this sport. We are doing a professional and private business.

THN: USA Team Handball is also seeking dissolution of the ATHF. The ATHF, aside from the Miami tournament, is pretty much conceptual at this point in time. Why not simply dissolve the organization?
CZ: This is the biggest enormity I have ever heard. Since when and where can we find in the laws of this great country called United States of America, a non-profit organization is demanding the dissolution of a for profit entity? As I mentioned earlier ATHF is NOT organizing this event. It is the NWSE, but that’s beside the point. ATHF can sell balloons if it so decides tomorrow. This is telling me that this probationary non-profit entity is working in ways that remind me of the old iron curtain. What will you say if AT&T is deciding tomorrow to call Verizon and, because AT&T "decided", they will ask Verizon to dissolve?
This is the level of incompetence where these people think they are having the monopoly. And how does attempting to destroy an organization, who is promoting team handball in US and organizing the arguably the single greatest event in the history of this sport here, will further the development and the credibility of this probationary federation?

THN: Do you think, in retrospect, that the announcement of the ATHF was ill-timed? (i.e., the new USA federation perhaps saw it as a direct threat to their organization.)

CZ: Who is the "We" in the phrase, "We will not acknowledge any entity connected to the ATHF until that organization is disbanded"? Under what right do you get to make that determination? In a country of approx 300M people, do you not think there is enough room for competing federations? Or is their business model designed so that it cannot withstand any competition?

THN: The USA Team Handball notice indicates “further consequences” if there is no request for sanctioning and dissolution of the ATHF. What do you anticipate those potential further consequences might be?
CZ: What consequences? This is border line with blackmail! It seems that any club affiliated with this probationary federation will have to live in fear of being 'destroyed" if they have any dissent or constructive criticism.

THN: Do you think the IHF can effectively mediate this dispute?
CZ: IHF has no jurisdiction over this matters. IHF is mandate to take care of the federations, their National Teams and the World Championships, Pan Am Championships/Games, Asian Championships/Games (see what good job the IHF did there!?!!) and Olympic Games. I want to remind everybody that are not educated in this situation: this is a private endeavor done by a private company with a professional League. This is the USA. Are the models that are in place in the rest of the World not valid here? This is business!

THN: Are you optimistic that this dispute can be resolved?
CZ: This probationary federation should reexamine their position and take care of their daily obligation that they have assumed when they have applied for the NGB status. This country is built on cooperation between people, not exclusion and attitude. They have showed their real intentions; we have a job to finish. This is not really a dispute, the dispute is with themselves.

THN: Anything that you’d like to add?
CZ: For all those who are reading this interview let me tell you about what are we doing, PROMOTING THIS SPORT IN USA!!

We have the biggest event that ever happened in this country, and I dare to say, more focused on the sport of Team Handball than the Olympic Games.
The tickets are on sale for both the Arena and for the Internet pay-per-view. The Travel Agency is ready to take care of all of you and all your travel needs. On this very page you can see the ad. Click on it. It takes you directly to the pages where all the info is present.

We are working with big VIP celebrities to be present here and celebrate the sport for the first time at the level it should be, we have some of the best players of this World present on the floor, the Olympic Champions from Beijing.

We are also working with local charities to expose the high risk kids to this sport, to give them a chance to get out of their bad environment. We are also working with the politicians to implement this sport here, in schools. And the USATH wants to kill all this?

In their email salutation, they state: “Have a voice in handball's future. Become a member today!” Is that what you all want? The fear of being 'dismantled" as soon as you have an opinion, or doing what we are doing with private funds, lots of sweat and hard work?
Come to Miami in April, it will be the place to be or see it on internet at www.coupdelaligue.pro.

Following John Ryan’s post, the CEO and Chairman of the ATHF, Nick VandenBrekel, contacted me via email with the following statement. Here it is, unaltered.

NB: In the article on the Team Handball News site, Steve Pastorino is quoted as saying:

“The General Manager of USA Team Handball, Steve Pastorino, further elaborated on the notice via email correspondence and indicated that the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was the ATHF press release indicating that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility. Pastorino further noted that USA Team Handball was…”

The comment is particularly interesting as he is stating: "that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility."

Below is an excerpt from the actual ATHF press release he is referring to:

“The first initiative of the newly created organization is to fully sanction and support the Final Four of the French Professional League Championships, LNH, Coupe de la Ligue, in Miami, April 10-11, 2009.
This initiative is to establish from the outset the National and International credibility of the ATHF in the Team Handball world, based on the past and present achievements of the founding members. For more information about the Coupe de la Ligue visit the official website at: www.coupedelaligue.pro”

As you can see, NOWHERE, in this press release does the ATHF claim to be an organization with national and international credibility. The press release says: “This initiative is TO ESTABLISH, the national and international credibility.”

Clearly before Mr. Pastorino comments on press releases it would behoove him to actually READ them first, especially as he refers to the quote as “the straw that broke the camel's back.”

It is a shame that this entire argument is based on the mistake Mr. Pastorino made in actually attempting to carefully read a press release.

Furthermore, Mr. Pastorino states that ATHF cannot represent itself as a national or international federation. I beg to differ. The dictionary clearly describes the word "FEDERATION" as a union of organizations. That is exactly what ATHF will endeavor to become. A union of Team Handball Clubs and Teams. Once again, Mr. Pastorino needs to acquaint himself with basic English and its well represented and defined meanings.

Thank you.

USA Team Handball and Miami Tournament Organizers in Dispute over Sanctioning

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A dispute between USA Team Handball and the organizers of the French Coupe de la Ligue Tournament may preclude the hosting of the tournament in Miami. The Coupe de la Ligue Tournament, featuring 4 of France’s top professional clubs is scheduled for April 10th and 11th at Miami’s American Airlines Arena and is easily the most significant Handball event ever to be staged in the U.S. outside of the 1984 and 1996 Olympics.

In a notice posted on it’s official website, USA Team Handball has called upon the French Professional League (Ligue National de Handball (LNH)), and it’s American partners, the American Team Handball Federation (ATHF), to formally request sanctioning of their tournament with USA Team Handball and to dissolve the ATHF. USA Team Handball has requested that the International Handball Federation (IHF) address this issue and the IHF is arranging a meeting at the upcoming World Championships in Croatia later this month with the LNH, the French National Federation and USA Handball.

The General Manager of USA Team Handball, Steve Pastorino, further elaborated on the notice via email correspondence and indicated that the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was the ATHF press release indicating that the ATHF was sanctioning the event and was an organization with national and international credibility. Pastorino further noted that USA Team Handball was:

“about to announce several significant partnerships with international organizations… There are enough challenges to attract interest in handball in the USA without another organization “muddying” the sponsorship, broadcast and event landscape. We have no issues with them as a for-profit entity operating in this country; and we welcome their efforts to further the grass roots development of handball in the USA. But they cannot represent themselves as a “national” or “international” federation.”

Pastorino also indicated that USA Team Handball had contacted the ATHF concerning the sanctioning issue prior to contacting the IHF. Pastorino, however, categorized the ATHF reaction as one of contempt, prompting the decision to seek intervention from the IHF.

In regards to what further actions would be taken, should their requests (sanctioning and ATHF dissolution) not be met, Pastorino had no comment. He did, however, indicate that sanctioning was a simple process and implied that any remuneration (i.e., fees) was likely negotiable.

Cristian Zaharia, of New World Sports Enterprises (NWSE) and the ATHF was also contacted via email and emphasized that the Miami Tournament was a private endeavor and flatly rejected the notion that a probationary federation responsible for the amateur side of the sport could force a for profit professional venture to seek sanctioning.

In regards, to dissolving the ATHF, Zaharia, noted that NWSE, not the ATHF, was the actual organizer and responsible party for the tournament. Zaharia also questioned the heavy handed approach and the underlying motives for the dissolution request:

“Under what right do you get to make that determination? In a country of approx 300M people, do you not think there is enough room for competing federations? Or is their business model designed so that it can not withstand any competition? And how does attempting to destroy an organization who is promoting team handball in US and organizing the arguably the single greatest event in the history of this sport here, will further the development and the credibility of this probationary federation?”

As to the IHF‘s role in the matter, Zaharia maintains that the IHF should not have any jurisdiction in this matter as their mandate is National Teams and international competitions.

With neither side appearing to budge for the time being, further resolution/action will likely wait until the planned meeting at the World Championships later this month. Team Handball News will keep you abreast on any new developments as they may happen.

USA Team Handball Notice: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=94
ATHF Press Release (Nov 2008): https://teamhandballnews.com/docs/ATHF.pdf

“Campaign Committee for Clean Handball” Sends Missive on IHF Corruption

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Earlier today, Team Handball News received an email from a group calling itself the “Campaign Committee for Clean Handball” containing a summary of numerous allegations of IHF mismanagement and corruption. The compilation of allegations is attributed to an article in NZZ online and other news sources. The committee is represented by the Swiss public relations firm Geri Staudenmann and Team Handball News has contacted the firm for more information concerning the committee and its members.

NZZ Online: The Revenge of the Pharaoh (German):
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/sport/aktuell/die_rache_des_pharaos_1.1673055.html

The complete text of the allegation summary is in the extended post

[b]IHF in deep trouble – Further serious accusations against President Hassan Moustafa and Treasurer Miguel Roca Mas[/b]

Public criticism has focussed on the International Handball Federation (IHF), and especially its President Hassan Moustafa (Egypt) and Treasurer Miguel Roca Mas (Spain), since the scandal surrounding the Asian Olympic qualifications in the summer of 2007 and expense accounts for more than half a million Swiss francs submitted by the President’s office without the necessary supporting documents. The IHF representatives will be under close observation when they hold the 21st Men’s Handball World Championships in Croatia together with the Organizing Committee of the Croatian Federation (Hrvatski Rukometni Savez) from 16 January to 1 February next. The IHF Council will be meeting in Zagreb on 31 January. In recent weeks, many irregularities involving the present IHF management have become public knowledge.

In a report, the Medical Commission (MC) notes an unsatisfactory and unacceptable situation caused by the refusal of Moustafa and Roca to release resources approved by the Council. The Commission therefore had to cancel at short notice medical seminars which had already been organized in several developing regions of Africa, Panamerica, Europe and Asia. The MC which – based on the WADA Code – is also responsible for all aspects of the prevention of doping is no longer able to meet its obligations founded on the IHF doping regulations. To enable routine business to be handled, the MC set up an independent “Anti-Doping-Unit” (ADU) in 2006. Without consulting the MC or its President Dr. François Gnamian (Ivory Coast), the IHF President halted the successful activities of the ADU headed by Prof. Hans Holdhaus (Austria). The work of the MC is currently suspended.

At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Moustafa and Roca interfered to such an extent with the powers of the Competition President Aleksander Koschukow, who has since died, that he was already threatening to leave after a few days. In Beijing, the President and Treasurer constantly changed the referees’ match schedules. Against this background, some 60 per cent of all the nominations in Beijing did not reflect the concept of the Referees’ Commission and the Competition President. That being so, the IHF obviously came under fresh suspicion of manipulation. The fact that treasurer Roca is to take over the competition management in Croatia is regarded by everyone as a provocation because this makes him Head of the Spanish Group at the same time.

Following the death of Staffan Holmqvist (Sweden) and Aleksander Koschukow (Russia), the Executive Committee of the World Federation has now shrunk to just three members: Moustafa, Roca and Peter Mühlematter (Switzerland). The latter is the honorary Secretary General. Moustafa has now sidelined the Swiss representative completely and barred him from entering the headquarters of the IHF on Peter-Merian-Strasse in Basel. Mühlematter was asked by an employee of the office to return the key. Mühlematter is no longer kept informed of events or only obtains fragmentary information about incoming and outgoing post and is not allowed to attend meetings and negotiations which fall within the terms of reference of the Executive. This raises an urgent question: is Moustafa abusing his powers in the case of the Secretary General? After all, Mühlematter was elected to his office by the IHF Congress, the supreme body of the World Federation.

The situation is damaging the working climate at the office in Basel and causing divided loyalties and conflicts of interest among the staff. Uncertainty in the administration and fears over jobs are growing.

Swiss labour law is being flouted, for instance in the matter of overtime. Even the auditors are constantly criticising the conduct of the Treasurer and President. According to statements made by staff members, money is currently being spent liberally for electoral purposes. The IOC does not like to see an Olympic sports federation reduced to serving the personal interests of top officials and acting in such a shameful manner. Greed sometimes rapidly develops its own dynamic. The question arises as to how the dozens of member federations, which are not exactly living on a bed of roses, view these activities. Ironically, the testimony of the late Executive member Alexander Kozkukhov also shows that in the autumn of 2007 Roca had called upon President Moustafa to resign. The many irregularities have not gone unnoticed either by the key long-standing partners of the IHF. The global recession will surely make it easier for some thwarted partners to use the opportunity to terminate their cooperation with the IHF.

Council members are also aware of the dictatorial management style adopted by the President. The Council representative of the Pacific continental Federation, Vernon Winitana (New Zealand) was excluded from attendance at the Council meeting in late October in Herzogenaurach. Because there is at present no official handball organization in New Zealand, the Pacific region currently consists of just four federations and therefore now has no voting right: that was the reason quoted by Moustafa for the exclusion from the meeting in Herzogenaurach. Instead, a new Council member who had not yet been elected was allowed to vote. Meanwhile, Winitana has chosen to appeal and contested the decisions taken by the Council at the end of October because they are not consistent with the constitution. As a result, for example, the decisions to hold the Men’s World Championships in 2011 in Sweden and the 2009 congress in Egypt have still not been ratified and their legal basis is for the time being called into question.

Moustafa and Roca are cementing their claims to domination although they are now able to count to only a limited extent on the “house powers”, i.e. their own federations. In Spain, Jesus Lopez Ricondo a close affiliate of Roca, was voted out of office as Federation President after serving for 14 years. The year before last, Roca was called upon to resign from the presidency of the Spanish professional league on grounds of financial manipulation! In Spanish handball circles there is still a vociferous controversy over an outstanding account for 50,000 euros charged for VIP services at the World Beach Championships last summer in Cadiz. In Egypt, Moustafa is no longer also President of the Egyptian Federation. The national Olympic Committee defied all of Moustafa’s efforts – despite his intervention with the IOC – and declared that his term of office had ended. At the end of 2008, however, the Congress did not elect a new man from Moustafa’s sphere of influence but appointed the opposition candidate by 40 votes to 15. The

From NZZ World Edition and other sources Jan.10, 2008

Spain vs. Germany Match on EHFTV.com

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EHFtv.com is offering a free webcast of a World Championship warm-up match between Spain and Germany on Sunday, 11 January. The match start at 1900 hours in Spain or 1300 (U.S. Eastern Time Zone)

EHF Announcement: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/12020
EHFtv: www.ehftv.com

Dispute Threatens Miami Tournament

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USA Team Handball has posted a notice on their website concerning the French Coupe de la Ligue tournament. USA Team Handball’s position is that the French Professional League and the Miami organizers need to request sanctioning from USA Team Handball and dissolve the recently formed American Team Handball Federation (ATHF).

I am seeking more information from both parties and will post new information as I get it. More informal discourse is available, as always, for everyone in the forum section of the website.

USA Team Handball Notice: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=94
ATHF Press Release (29 Nov 2008): https://teamhandballnews.com/docs/ATHF.pdf

Home Depot drops Olympic sponsorhip. Opts for NASCAR

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Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games looks bleaker.
The global economic woes continue to rear its ugly faces in all the wrong places.
With funding for the London Olympics already in trouble, the US can ill afford losing a sponsor of Home Depot's ilk, while still in the running for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Spain and Brasil have to like their chances even more [link=http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/01/07/home_depot_olympics.html]now.[/link]

On a related note today, President Elect Barack Obama, warned that a "[link=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/08/transition.wrap/index.html
]bad situation could become dramatically worse[/link]".

Not exactly what the IOC and the world would like to hear.
And should President Elect Barack Obama make a plea in person for the 2016 US Olympic bid(as Tony Blair did for the Brits), he would certainly have to do an about face this coming October.

Ivy League Handball Rules

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As the new USA Federation scours the country in search of new players they might want to avoid a try-out at Princeton University. Or at least they might want to send the school a copy of the official rulebook first. According to the rules recently posted on the Princeton Intramural website the following unique “Ivy League” Handball rules apply:

II. a. Teams consist of 5 field players and a goalie for a total of 6 players.
III. e. Players may take 2 steps with the ball after gaining possession.
III. m. Each team can have at most one defender (stopper) who will be allowed inside the shooting arc, but not inside the goalie box. If there are 2 defenders in the zone at one time, the offensive team will receive a penalty shot. (I’m guessing they didn’t bother to draw a 6 meter line and are using a basketball 3 point line.)

And my personal favorite….

III. n. This is a non-contact sport.

Princeton University Team Handball Rules: http://www.princeton.edu/campusrec/intramural/rules/Team-Handball-Rules.pdf

Addendum: Christer Ahl, the Chair of the IHF Referee’s Committee informs me that real Handball has been played at Princeton University. In fact, in 1976 he officiated a friendly match between the USA and Romania in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium prior to the Montreal Olympics. He assures me that it was indeed a full contact match.

Ally to IHF President Moustafa Loses Egyptian Handball Federation Election

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The Egyptian Handball Federation held its Congress meeting on Monday, December 29, 2008 and for the first time in almost 30 years they have elected a new President without strong ties to current Egyptian and International Handball Federation President, Hassan Moustafa. The new President, Hady Fahmy, defeated Moustafa’s ally, Sayed Abd Alal, by a decisive 40-15 margin.

Moustafa, who had been the Egyptian Handball Federation President in addition to his position as IHF President was prohibited from running for re-election due a new law recently enacted by the Egyptian Olympic Committee to limit Sport Federation Presidents to two terms. This law was implemented reportedly after Moustafa got into a heated argument with Egyptian Olympic Committee President, Hassan Saker, following Egypt’s disappointing performance in Beijing. In addition to implementing the new law it is also worth noting that the new Egyptian Federation President was fully supported by Hassan Saker.

This national federation defeat could significantly impact next year’s IHF Presidential Election in June. Despite controversies surrounding President Moustafa’s involvement in the Asian Olympic Qualification scandal and questions surrounding his failure to provide receipts for IHF travel, Moustafa was seen by many as headed towards re-election. Notably, the selection of Egypt as the host site for the IHF Congress was seen as favorable to Moustafa because as host, Egypt could provide financial support (lodging and travel) to IHF members from poorer countries. Given the circumstances of the recent election, however, it seems less likely that the new Egyptian Federation leadership will wholeheartedly back a Moustafa candidacy.

Egyptian News Source (Arabic): http://www.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=59709
Egyptian Daily News (English): "Local sports in 2008: achievements, failures and disputes": http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18806

Editor’s Note: This article was written based on a translation of an Egyptian article (see above) and other sources. Special thanks to Mohamed Elmira for his assistance

WNT's Brezic – on the mark.

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Marko Brezic (he of the USA WNT head coach), was missing in action following his unsuccessful trip to Mexico City, where our beloved WNT lost all their games in what everyone hoped to be the beginning of a new era.

Just after Christmas he and I had chance to catch up. His schedule has been hectic. "Frustrating!" he sighed.

I was pleased to learn that the NGB had given him the reigns of the WNT for the duration. Not sure if "interim" was removed from his title yet but the decision made by the NGB braintrust to allow him to continue his work at the helm of the WNT is commendable.

Marko and I go back a few good years. For those of you who do not know him, Marko is what USA Team Handball needs. A man of principles, soft spoken yet a good communicator. Handball is his life… I worked with him in Houston when he pulled double duty as the coach and player for a number of our teams.

Now that he received the stamp of approval from the NGB, I sensed that he is at peace with the work he was entrusted to perform. I asked him what he needs in order to turn the WNT program around. "Time and lots of patience" – he replied. I asked him if the NGB was buying into that. He said that it did.

Marko now lives in Salt Lake full time. Far away from his family in Croatia, 2009 looks to be overwhelming for him, as he is set to recruit new talent and to begin work on rebuilding a WNT that has fallen victim to mismanagement, way too many times.

One of the best hires of the new NGB, Marko Brezic hates the snow in Salt Lake City: "I hate losing more than I hate snow! Quote on me on that."

Long, Long Range Planning: 2015 PANAM Games

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A recent article in the Toronto Star describes Toronto’s bid for the 2015 Pan American Games. Toronto, Bogota, Colombia and Lima, Peru are the 3 candidate cities and the selection will be made next fall by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). Speculation is that Toronto is favored to win based on its infrastructure advantages and the fact that neither Canada or the USA has hosted since 1999. (The USA isn’t bidding due to the conflict with the 2016 Chicago Olympic Bid.)

The PANAM Games Handball tournament has historically served as the Pan American region’s automatic qualification for the Olympic Games. The 2011 PANAM Games will be in Guadalajara, Mexico and the winner of both the Men’s and Women’s tournament will qualify for London 2012. If the qualification format is maintained the 2015 tournament will serve as Pan American qualification for the 2016 Olympics.

For the USA, this may be academic if Chicago is selected as the host city for 2016. (Host nations automatically qualify in all team sports.) If Chicago is not selected for the Olympics, however, qualifying for the 2016 Olympics will surely be easier for the USA in Toronto, vice Bogota or Lima.

Toronto Star: “Pan Am bid seen as economic salve”: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/557978
Wikipedia article on 2015 Pan Am Games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Pan_American_Games

Seattle Holiday Tournament 2008 (Results and Summary

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The Seattle Speed recently hosted a holiday tournament. A round robin was conducted amongst the four teams and Vancouver won the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.

Final Results:
1st – Vancouver BC Federation 3-0 (87-73)
2nd – Portland Handball 2-1 (77-71)
3rd – Cal Heat 1-2 (75-79)
4th – Seattle Speed 0-3 (65-81)

Seattle Speed Website: http://www.seattleteamhandball.com/

See the extended summary for a detailed summary of all 6 games. (Thanks to Seattle's TJ Ogden for the write-up)

Game 1
Vancouver BC Federation 27 – Cal Heat 26 (17-16 half)
The tournament got underway with the first match between the Vancouver, BC Federation and Cal Heat. This game was intense and close throughout. Each team looked poised to make their mark on this tournament and get that important first win. The Cal Heat held a slim lead for most of the first half. However, Vancouver went on a charge to take a 1 point lead at the half. The second half was heart pounding with intense up and down action that would go down to the final seconds. Cal Heat lead 26-25 with over 2 minutes left as Vancouver scored to tie the game. After a failed Cal Heat possession, Vancouver took te lead with 1 minute left in the game. As the clock ticked down a Cal Heat shot was saved by the goalie in fantastic fashion, as Vancouver took over possession and ended the game. Both teams fought hard and played very well. What a great way to start a tournament!

Game 2
Portland 26 – Seattle 17 (14-10 half)
The host team got underway with a healthy crowd on hand to root for the home team. The host team struck blood first and actually had a 3-1 lead. However, the hosts then gave up an 8-0 run, which allowed Portland to build a lead which Seattle could never come back from. Seattle was able to keep the lead to a slender 4 points at the half, but the Seattle offense just had no answer to the Portland keeper on this day who made great save after great save.

Game 3
Portland 29 – Cal Heat 22 (10-14 half)
This game was a game of runs! Cal heat started the game off and jumped out to a fast 12-4 lead after just 15 minutes of play. It looked as though Cal Heat was going to run away with this game. The final 15 minutes of the first half had Cal Heat only score 2 more goals. Portland was able to keep it close and trim the lead to 4 goals by halftime. The 2nd half was completely dominated by Portland. It simply looked as though Cal Heat had expended all of their energy in the first half. After Cal Heat jumped out to a 12-4 lead, they were outscored the rest of the game 25-10 by Portland. Portland surprisingly won by a comfortable margin and stamped their ticket to the championship game. Meanwhile, Cal Heat looked to regroup for their final match.

Game 4
Vancouver BC Federation 28 – Seattle 25 (18-12 half)
This was the game that the newly established Seattle team had waited for. A game in which all of their hard work had come together. After getting easily defeated in their first match. Seattle had the daunting task of bouncing back against a long established and talented team. Seattle jumped out to a 5-1 lead and put BC on notice that this would not be easy. BC fought back and tied it up at 5-5. Each team exchanged punch for punch and Vancouver went on a run and ended up taking a 6 point lead at the half. Seattle battled back in the 2nd half and held Vancouver to just 2 goals scored in the 2nd half with 10 minutes to go. Seattle then took its first lead of the 2nd half with just 8 minutes left at 21-20. The home crowd was electric as it had just observed the home team make a 9-2 run. BC answered with 3 quick goals to re-take the lead. The Seattle goalie had all of the fans in the gym roaring as he stopped 3 straight 7m penalty shots in a 3 minute span as things got chippy. The score was 26-25 and BC put the game away with a man advantage in the final minute, scoring 2 goals and winning by 3. Vancouver once again escaped defeat with solid play and clinched its spot in the championship game.

*Note* The 2nd day of competition was shortened due to weather and travel situations.
Game 5 – Consolation Game
Cal Heat 27 – Seattle 23 (14-10 half)
Seattle and Cal heat both hard luck losers of day one, met in a game which would see someone get a win. Both Seattle and Cal Heat were missing several key players for this match as adverse weather struck the area. The game was still very competitive which saw much back and forth action in the first half. The two teams basicaly exchanged goal for goal up until a late Cal Heat run to take a halftime lead. The late Cal Heat run would prove to be the difference in the game as each team scored equally the same amount of goals in a very evenly matched 2nd half. The lead was tight several times but never dropped below a 2 point cushion for the visitors from California. Seattle was able to string together 2 solid performances against 2 very established teams. Cal Heat was able to recover from their surprising loss to Portland and grab 3rd place in the tournament.

Game 6
Vancouver BC Federation 32 – Portland 22 (16-9 half)
In a tournament that saw several closely contested games, the biggest margin of defeat was in the title game. In what was at times a very sloppy game by both teams, Vancouver was able to take advantage of a very depleted and watered down Portland team (several left due to weather travel situations) and easily beat Portland. It was a disappointing loss for a Portland team that had quickly built up a reputation of good defense, fast offense and solid keeping. Vancouver simply continued to build on its' solid play throughout the tournament and was never threatened in this game. Congratulations to Vancouver BC Federation for their victory!

Mariusz Wartalowicz Hired as USA Technical Director

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In a move that comes full circle from the USOC’s NGB certification process in 2007, USA Team Handball has hired Mariusz Wartalowicz as the new USA Technical Director. As the Technical Director, Wartalowicz will oversee the development of the sport including club and regional competition, tournaments, coaching development and youth development.

In 2007, Wartalowicz, was the Board Chairman for the unsuccessful American Team Handball Association (ATHA) bid to become the new NGB for USA Team Handball. The ATHA bid lost out to the Utah Team Handball Foundation (UTHF) bid led by current USA Team Handball Board Chairman, Dieter Esch.

Although, the ATHA bid proposal was fairly well conceived it lacked the financial resources of the UTHF bid. Moreover, the bid’s chance of winning self destructed when a rift between other ATHA members (THN’s own Bogdan Pasat and Miami French League tournament organizer Christian Zaharia) resulted in their resignation. The cause of this rift was Wartalowicz’s failure to strongly state the willingness of the ATHA to work with all elements of the Handball community in the U.S. Obviously, in light of the recent hiring any lack of willingness (perceived or reality) to work with Mr. Esch has been resolved.

USOC Announcement: http://www.usateamhandball.org/news/index.html?article_id=89
Commentary of NGB Board Hearing: Do two halves make a whole?: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.381
Two ATHA Board Members Resign (NGB Bid Likely Over): https://teamhandballnews.com/comment-n387.html
Interview with Mariusz Wartalowicz (April 2007: https://teamhandballnews.com/news307.html

French Final Four is Set: Montpellier, Chambery, Istres and Paris book tickets for Miami

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The Quarterfinals of the French Coupe de la Ligue were played in Cannes, France this weekend. There were no surprises as France’s top two club teams, Champions League participants Montpellier and Chambery each advanced to the semifinals. Also booking tickets to Miami are the less highly regarded Istres and Paris clubs. As the luck of the draw would have it these two sides avoided several teams with better records and had relatively easy paths to the finals.

The lack of a transparent draw procedure resulted in some criticism in the French monthly Handball magazine, HandAction. Apparently the draw results were simply announced (without a live video) and the author of the article implied that the fix was in. As he wrote that one of the beneficiaries was Toulouse (which actually lost to Istres) the credibility of the allegation is somewhat suspect. Still, the losers to Montpellier and Chambery, Dunkerque and Tremblay, respectively, would have been favored to beat any of the other four participants. It certainly will be interesting to see the draw results of the semifinals. A nightmare pairing would be Chambery and Montpellier in the semifinals.

As an aside there are some French rumblings of discontent in regards to the Miami tournament. The discontent stems mainly from two angles. Some supporters are upset because they can’t afford to go to Miami and others just don’t like the idea of a French championship being played on foreign soil.

The Nouvel Observator Website also posted a short article last week speculating that the tournament might not take place in Miami after all. The speculation was due to a cancelled press conference and reported discord between the American and French organizers (perhaps federations?). The French League, however, offered assurances that the tournament would take place in Miami as planned. Certainly, a casual check of the LNH website shows no indications of a change in plans as practically every article mentions Miami.

LNH Website (Coupe de la Ligue News (French): http://www.lnh.fr/cdl.php?rubrique=actualites&valeur=CoupeLigue&bt=2&&ssbt=1
Coupe de la Ligue Website (English/French): http://www.coupedelaligue.pro/en/
Nouvel Observator: http://sports.nouvelobs.com/cmc/scanner/omnisports/200850/la-coupe-de-la-ligue-a-miami-aura-t-elle-lieu-_207193.html
Web petition against the French Cup in Miami (French):
http://www.petitionduweb.com/petition.php?signataire=voir&code=91e4742fb1ae4607f0d7a9ee4f012348&id=2312&num=0c77ada30032f296d38a9741e68bc589&PHPSESSID=be214bd34f1af4714fc5df5aca573477