The Road to Zagreb

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Last week’s PATHF Div 1 Tournament was the first event to have a direct bearing on which nations will qualify for the 2009 Men’s World Championship in Croatia from 18 January to 1 February 2009. In the coming months well over a 100 matches will be played by the 5 continental federations to determine which 24 nations will take part. To help you keep track of who’s in and who’s out we’ve set up a web page where you can track the competition. The link is on the right hand side of the home page and will be updated as Nations qualify:

https://teamhandballnews.com/page23.html

Tar Heel Invitational Title stays in Chapel Hill.

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Chapel Hill, NC

The THI tournament hosted this past weekend iat the Ftzer Gym in Chapel Hill, NC and which featured a total of 7 teams, was won by the hometown favorites and 2007 College Nationals runner, UNC's Blue Heat. The team, featuring veteran UNC alumni players Mike Applegate and David Sutton, won the final by one goal, against West Point Black. The winning goal was scored with :12 seconds left in the game, a game which was hotly contested and featured many lead changes.

PATHF Division 1 Championship (Final Results)

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As expected Cuba dominated the tournament, winning all four of their matches by an average of 16 goals. Canada also had a good tournament, securing 2nd place with 2 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie. The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico were level on points at 3 a piece, but the Dominican Republic takes third place by virtue of their 35-31 victory over Puerto Rico on the last match day. The top scorer for the tournament was Joseph Aska of Puerto Rico with 33 goals. The best goalkeeper of the tournament was Misaiel Iglesias of Cuba.

Next June’s Championship field is now set as Cuba, Canada and the Dominican Republic will join Brazil, Argentina, USA, Uruguay and Chile. Based on recent performances Brazil, Argentina and Cuba should be favorites to finish in the top 3 places that will award a ticket to the World Championships in Croatia. As reported earlier off court factors, however, might change the final composition of the field. The Cuban government may decide to forego sending a team to play on USA soil where USA law makes it very easy for Cubans to defect and acquire USA residency. Should that happen, Puerto Rico would advance to the Championship. The other factor is Greenlands membership status. If Greenland are reinstated as a full PATHF member the PATHF may decide to keep the field at 8 teams and have only two teams advance from the Div 1 Championship.

Match Results

Monday, 5 November 07
Canada – Puerto Rico 27:27 (13:13)
Cuba – Mexico 44:23 (21:07)

Tuesday, 6 November 07
Dominican Republic – Canada 19:25 (9:15)
Mexico – Puerto Rico 29:35 (16:18)

Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Dominican Republic – Mexico 34 -34 (18:18)
Cuba – Puerto Rico 35 -20 (20:08)

Thursday, 8 November 2007
Canada – Mexico 31:20 (14:11)
Cuba – Dominican Republic 31:20 (17:11)

Friday, 9 November 07
Puerto Rico – Dominican Republic 31:35 (18:18)
Cuba – Canada 31:13 (13:5)

Team W D L Pts GF GA GD
Cuba 4 0 0 8 141 74 +67
Canada 2 1 1 0 5 96-97 -1
Dominican Republic 1 1 2 3 10 120 -11
Puerto Rico 1 1 2 3 103 126 -23
Mexico 0 1 3 1 97 134 -37

Cuban Newspaper Article: http://www.juventudrebelde.cu/deportes/2007-11-10/ganan-los-cubanos-el-campeonato-panamericano-de-balonmano/

PATHF Div 1 Championships (Match day 3 and 4 Results)

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Cuba and Canada have clinched a finish in the top 3 and their final game will decide who wins the tournament. Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic will play for 3rd place. The Dominican Republic needs a win to take 3rd place while Puerto Rico only needs a draw. Mexico has finished the tournament with an 0-1-3 record.

Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Dominican Republic – Mexico 34 -34
Cuba – Puerto Rico 35 -20

Thursday, 8 November 2007
CAN 31×20 (14×11) MEX
CUBA 31×20 (17×11) DOM

Team GP W D L Pts GF GA GD
Cuba 3 3 0 0 6 109 62 +47
Canada 3 2 1 0 5 83 66 +17
Puerto Rico 3 1 1 1 3 72 82 -10
Dominican Republic 3 0 1 2 1 73 90 -17
Mexico 4 0 1 3 1 96 133 -37

PATHF Division 1 Men’s Tournament in Full Swing

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The Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) Division 1 tournament is taking place in Havana, Cuba. Five teams are participating: Cuba, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The tournament will take place over 5 days and will follow a single round robin format. The top 3 teams are scheduled to advance to the PATHF Elite Championships in Atlanta this June.

Cuba lived up to its role as the favorite by demolishing Mexico on the first day, 43:22. Canada and Puerto Rico played to a 27-27 draw and with each side also winning on Tuesday, both teams are in a good position to secure the 2nd and 3rd spots. As a result of their draw 2nd place could come down to goal differential should the teams still be level on points on Friday.

Its also important to note that the number of teams that advance to Atlanta could move up or down due to non court factors. Greenland is appealing their full member status with the PATHF and should they be reinstated the PATHF may decide to only advance two team. And while Cuba is the big favorite to win the tournament, the Cuban government may not approve a trip to the USA where USA law grants immediate residency to any Cubans that might chose to defect.

Finally, if you were wondering why Cuba is participating in the lower division when they have historically been one of the better teams in the PATHF the reason is their lack of participation in recent PATHF events. By not participating they failed to accrue enough points to make the last PATHF Elite Championships. The same problem also befell Canada, who despite their 3rd place finish in 2004 were not allowed to participate in the 2006 PATHF Elite Championships

Schedule and Results

Monday, 5 November 07
Canada – Puerto Rico (27:27)
Cuba – Mexico (43:22)

Tuesday, 6 November 07
Dominican Republic – Canada (19:25)
Mexico – Puerto Rico (20:25)

Wednesday, 7 November 07
Cuba – Puerto Rico
Dominican Republic – Mexico

Thursday, 8 November 07
Canada – Mexico
Cuba – Dominican Republic

Friday, 9 November 07
Puerto Rico – Dominican Republic
Cuba – Canada

Team GP W L D Pts GF GA GD
Canada 2 1 0 1 3 52 46 +6
Puerto Rico 2 1 0 1 3 52 47 +5
Cuba 1 1 0 0 2 43 22 +19
Dominican Republic 1 0 1 0 0 19 25 -6
Mexico 2 0 2 0 0 42 68 -26

Greenland PATHF Membership Status Still Unresolved

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Eleven months after the Pan American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) downgraded their full PATHF membership to associate membership, Greenlands appeal to be reinstated is still unresolved. The impact of this downgrade has been substantial to this Handball loving, semi-autonomous nation of the far North. Associate membership means Greenland can no longer qualify and participate in IHF events. Already, this has denied Greenland the opportunity to qualify for 3 IHF events: the Junior Men, Junior Women, an Youth Women World Championships. Notably, the Junior Men, with many players, including leading scorer, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann, having gained experience in Germany at the 2007 Senior Mens Championships would have been a legitimate threat to win the PATHF title.

Now the clock is ticking for 2009 Senior Mens Qualification. The PATHF has adopted a new, 2 tier qualification scheme for 2009 Qualification. The 2 tiers are Elite and Division 1. The Elite teams consist of the top 6 nations from the previous Pan American Championships, while the Division 1 consists of the 7th and 8th place nations from the previous Pan American Championships and all other nations. The Division 1 Championship will be in Cuba from 5 to 9 November with the top 2 teams from that tournament joining the 6 teams already in the Elite Division for the Elite Championship in Atlanta, USA from 24-29 June 2008.

In August, when the PATHF announced the schedule for qualification, no mention was made of Greenland’s possible participation. Instead, the PATHF noted that 3 nations, instead of 2 nations would advance to join the 5 Elite nations. The reason? As Greenland is no longer a full member an additional nation was needed to bring the Championship to an even field of 8 teams.

Greenland has tried to work with the PATHF and IHF to resolve their membership status. At the IHF Congress last April in Madrid, they had two scheduled meetings with the PATHF that were cancelled for unspecified reasons, but they did discuss the situation with the IHF leadership and received verbal support for their reinstatement. Additionally, they proposed to the PATHF that a meeting being held with all member nations concerned with their membership status to address any concerns that those nations had. As informal pleas for resolution failed Greenland issued a formal complaint to the IHF for resolution. The complaint, however, is being addressed at what appears to be a glacial pace. According to the PATHF Exec Committees informal minutes, the PATHF intends to let the complaint work through the entire legal process.

Concerned with the slow progress to date, the Greenland Handball Federation wrote to the IHF in August to emphasize their concerns. Noting in the letter that the inability to participate in World Championships, not only harms the athletes, but this limbo status is also impacting their ability to keep their current sponsors and acquire new ones. The letter also asks the IHF to take a hands on role in resolving the situation. Since, the letter was sent the GHF has not received any feedback other than that the IHF Arbitration Committee was reviewing their request for reinstatement.

According to Kurt Lauritsen, GHF National Team Coordinator, Greenland may soon be forced to take the issue above the IHF, to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. This, unfortunately, however could mean that this issue might not get resolved in time for Greenland to participate at the PATHF Championships next June. Greenland’s frustration is self evident and Lauritsen notes, “If one of the larger Handball nations like Germany, Russia, France, or Croatia had a similar situation that action its doubtful that the IHF would be so slow to resolve it. The least that could be done would be for the IHF and PATHF to acknowledge now that if we win our case that we will be allowed to participate next June. That way we could avoid a situation where the 3rd place team at the Div I Championships isn’t surprised when Greenland gets it spot back in the tournament.”

Team Handball News and Handball-World requests to the IHF and PATHF for comment were unanswered.

Handball FAQ Added to the Website

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I’ve added a Handball Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to the menu at the top of the page. I’ve started it with a few common questions concerning Handball in the USA.

– Most of the world simply identifies Handball as Handball, so why does the United States call the sport Team Handball?
– What is the popularity of Handball in the United States?
– What percentage of Americans are familiar with the sport of Handball in the US?
– What impact has the name confusion for Handball/Team Handball had on the sports development in the US?

I will gradually populate it with more questions and answers in the coming weeks. If you’ve got a burning question drop me a line at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com. Better yet, answer a FAQ yourself, and I’ll add it to the website.

Women’s National Teams Prepare for World Championships

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This past weekend saw several Women’s National Teams playing in friendly tournaments in Europe and Africa. Here’s a round-up of the results and links to write ups that appeared at the Handball-World Website

[b]GC World Cup in Aarhus, Denmark[/b]: http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Kampe.aspx
Statistics:http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Statistik.aspx

Final Rank
1) Russia
2) France
3) Norway
4) Denmark
5-8) Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, Brazil

Match Day 3 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4243
Match Day 2 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4230
Match Day 1 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4223

[b]Holland Tourney in Rotterdam[/b]: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4260

1) Germany
2) Japan
3) Poland
4) Netherlands
5) Spain
6) Iceland

[b]Pannon Cup in Hungary[/b]
1) Hungary
2) China
3) Austria
4) Lithuania

[b]Tunisia Tournament:[/b] http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4254

1) Angola
2) Tunisia
3) Portugal
4) Tunisia- Olympia Selection

US National Team Players Match Up Against Each Other in France

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In what might well be a USA Handball first, two American National Team players took to the court against each other in a sanctioned competition in another country. Backcourt player Kathy Darling, Bergerac HB and Megan Ballard, Toulouse met each other in a NF1 league contest in Toulouse, France. For the record Toulouse won the match 33-19. Ballard had 5 goals while Darling led Bergerac with 10 goals. Another National Team player, Jennifer Farell is playing in NF2 for Jacou (near Montpellier) and was on hand to witness the match.

NF1 is the third level league in France and you can follow the results and standings for both Toulouse and Bergerac all year long at this weblink:
http://www.ff-handball.org/ffhb/html/les-championnats/de-france/seniors/n1f/lesresultats.php

US Women’s National Team Story (with pictures): http://www.usateamhandballwomen.com/content/view/158/1/

>>> BREAKING NEWS <<< NGB certification delayed!

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The USOC's eagearly and long awaited NGB certification announcement will have to wait a little longer. As the October 15th announcement deadline approached and then passed, the US handball community became understandably restless. Emails and phone calls abounded.

Earlier today, I was able to talk by phone with USOC's [link=http://www.usocpressbox.org/usoc/pressbox.nsf]Eric Parthen[/link]. You may recall that Mr. Parthen, Director, USOC NGB Organizational Development, chaired the two NGB team handball public hearings held in Colorado Springs, CO in late August and mid September 2007 respectively.

According to him, more time was needed for due dilligence. Letters were mailed to the principals of the two NGB applicants. Dieter Esch (Utah NGB) and Mariusz Wartalowicz (Chicago NGB) were informed that a background check will be perfomed on each individual.

"This is nothing more than standard procedure. The NGB Committee must be very thorough in its assesment of each candidate(s) and organization(s). When the time comes and an official recommendation is made to the USOC Board of Directors, we want to be fully prepared and able to answer any questions, and address any concerns, which may arise," said Parthen.

"Furthermore, [link=http://www.usocpressbox.org/usoc/pressbox.nsf]a new press realease[/link] will be forthcoming, outlining the reasons for this brief delay and what the new timetable is," Parthen continued.

When asked when the next USOC Board of Directors meeting will take place, Parthen said "December 13th."

Eric sympathizes with the US team handball community. He understands the urgency of the issue but made it very clear to me that this is not an easy task.

"The NGB certification process is very tedious. The last thing we want is to find oursleves and the team handball community, in the same place two years from now. It is unfortunate that the due dilligence process has extended past the initial deadline but we are ver confident that an announcement will be made at the December USOC BOD meeting," concluded Parthen.

More details as they become available.

Joining the Handball-World Team

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Earlier this month, I was pleased to note that Handball-World.com www.handball-world.com had restarted the English language content portion of their website. Well, now I am even more pleased to announce that I have accepted the position as Editor in Chief for English Language Content at Handball-World.com.

As visitors to this website know, I’ve been a fan of the Handball-World website for some time. Even though the site had reverted to an all German format it still was an excellent source of information, even if you did have to cut and paste text into an automatic translator. At the World Championships this past January I had the opportunity to meet some members of the Handball-World team. I learned that Handball-World, like Team Handball News is an independent news site devoted to Handball. And as we had a similar mission, albeit in different languages, we started to routinely share information on events happening in the Handball World. With Handball-World now bringing English back to their site it only seemed natural that we further team up in some way. And hence my decision to join their site.

[b]So what does this mean to you, the reader?[/b]

Well, first off, you are now going to have a lot more independent, English language news reporting on handball. And these articles will include more graphics and pictures. Not every German language article at Handball-World will be translated into English, but all of the major stories will be. And, time willing, these stories will also be edited by native language speakers. Additionally, in the coming months we hope to roll out some new features that will make Handball-World.com an even better internet destination for the Handball fan.

Secondly, for the near future anyway, Team Handball News won’t be going anywhere. The site will, however, become a little more North American focused. Many stories with “world” appeal will still be posted to both sites, but stories and commentary with a more narrow focus on Canada or the US will stay on the Team Handball News site. That’s not to say that some North American content won’t find its way to the Handball-World.com site. Events like the PATHF championships have broad appeal and deserve a wider audience. But other events, like details on the USA Handball Federation application process will stay with the Team Handball News site.

As always, I’d like to express my thanks to you, the readers, and your continued support of Team Handball News.com. And I, and the Handball-World team, look forward to your support there as well. If you have any comments/suggestions or would like to volunteer to help with either website, just drop me an email at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com

Group Club Handball (GCH) Joins Soccer G-14 in Weighing in on EU Reform Treaty

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Group Club Handball (GCH) has jointly signed a letter with Soccer's G-14 and Euroleague Basketball to European Union leaders expressing their concerns with the proposed modifications to EU Reform Treaty which could alter the current business practices for club teams in Europe.

The proposed modifications to the treaty are being pushed by UEFA President, Michel Platini, with support from the EHF and FIBA Europe. Platini has called for the EU treaty to include specific safeguards to protect the unique nature of the game, including the pyramid structure which allows any team — in principle — to reach the top, and the financial support of lower leagues by professional clubs. In his letter Platini further states that the European game is being threatened by "the malign and ever-present influence of money."

The combined G-14, GCH, Euroleague Basketball letter states that there is no problems with the current treaty and highlights that UEFA, the EHF and FIBA Europe are not neutral players, but are sports entities as well and that all of these entities should be equal under the law.

The underlying current for these disagreements between the European level sports bodies and the professional clubs are conflicts over players playing to many games (club and national team) as well as fears that the top clubs have become too powerful within the current European structure.

Group Club Handball Press Release: www.groupclubhandball.com/0_menue/0_0_index.htm
UEFA Statement on Platini Letter: www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=64/newsid=594068.html

Add Chicago Inter to YOUR tournament list.

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The Inter of Chicago Team Handball Club hosted its inaugural tournament this past weekend (Oct. 5, 6 and 7). The three day tournament featured men and women teams from West Point, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta. 60 minutes matches, IHF rules and court size. Shiny, clean wooden floors. Professional grade, sturdy goals. Two scoreboards, scorekeepers, PA system, music, fans (cheering and air), stands, trainers, heat and humidity. It was all there.

I was also there. I can tell you, without hesitation, that you should add Chicago to your top 5 MUST ATTEND TOURNAMENTS for 2008.

Chicago is now a hotbed for handball just like Atlanta, Houston, Miami and West Point. The Inter Club features over 80 registered adult players (men and women) who practice three times a week. New players join every week. Having a huge Eastern European community to choose from, the club is set to prosper for years to come.

You can check out photos, stats and even video footage of all matches by visiting the following websites:
– http://www.houstonhandball.org – Houston Stars
– http://www.chicagointerhandball.org/Tournament.html – Chicago Inter

Enjoy.