Your independent news and commentary outlet for the Olympic sport of Team Handball
Fair and deserving awards.
Can't help but notice that this was a slavo-russian party and no one else was invited!!!!
:)
[color=#ff0000]Elite Division:
MVG: Ivan Ignjatovic (New York City)
MVP: Zoran Ostojic (New York City)[/color]
[color=#0000ff]Women Division:
MVG: Nataliya Mitrjuk (Chicago Inter)
MVP: Sladjana Prvanov (Chicago Inter)[/color]
[color=#ff00ff]Men's Division:
MVG: Mario Djokic (Chicago Inter)
MVP: Jugo Redzic (Chicago Inter)[/color]
Elite Top 10:
Zoran Ostojic (NYCTHC) 30
Brian Walsh (Army Black) 28
Vlad Grama (Houston Stars) 27
Jordi Ferrer (NYAC) 23
Muris Lucarevic (Chic. Inter) 22
Mark Orterga (Miami Sharks) 22
Sven Mayer (Cal Heat) 21
Milan Ciric (Chicago Inter) 19
Piotr Gospodarzec (NYCTHC) 18
Jess Jensen (Chicago Inter) 18
Women Top 5:
Kathy Darling (Cortland) 33
Sarah Gascon (Smurfs) 33
Sladjana Prvanov (Chicago) 32
Jolanta Kunicaite (Chicago) 25
Jennifer Robertson (UNC) 25
Men's Top 5:
Anxo, Otero (Chicago Inter) 36
Kevin Hutchison (Knight Air) 33
Scott Knox (Tar Heel) 28
Sergiu DeSouza (NE Freeze) 25
Jeff Gabel (Knight Air) 24
A good Easter Sunday afternoon from the University of Delaware Field House, in Newark, Delaware.
This is the super Sunday for all US Team Handball enthusiasts. The day when, for the next 12 months three teams in each division will claim supremacy over the rest of the participants.
As I write this, on Court 1, the Chicago Inter, to the light of a huuuuge Windy city contingent, have just won gold in the Men's Division, by defeating Knight Air 28:27. Joining them on the podium was the New England Freeze (a former Elite division team) who won their bronze medal game by doubling up Army Gold 38:16.
On Court 2, the Women's divison gold medal game is half way through the second half… Chicago Inter are 15 minutes away from defeating Cortland and a gold medal. An hour earlier the third place went to the Atlanta Condors Women, the lone Georgia representative, who won decisively over a heavily favored west coast Smurfs team. The final on that one: 30:21.
In the Elite division, the Inter of Chicago pulled away late in the game and withstood a wave of unsportsmanlike conducts and downright violent plays from NYAC. The referees were quick to punsih the the guilty parties and order was quickly restored. Let's face it, it wouldn't be "fun" without some fireworks of the "garden" city variety. It what is folks…
Court 1 is now hosting THE FINAL. The surprise team of the tournament, West Point's Army Black is down 6:1 to New York City… more on this game later.
Court 2 is all about Chicago. Chants of "Ole Ole Ole… Inter, Inter" fill the hangar looking Fiels House athletic arena. The Chicago Iner women have defeated Cortland by 3. 25:22. Gold to Chicago Inter, silver to Cortland who played very well and bronze to the Atlanta Condors
PANAM 2nd Chance Tourney Results (Chile defeats USA)
The host team Chile defeated the USA last night 36-26 and is now in good shape to take first place in the round robin tournament.
Chile jumped to a quick 5-0 lead to start the match while a cold US team was held scoreless to the 8th minute when a goal was scored by right wing Gill Bozeman, courtesy of a fastbreak pass from Darrick Heath. The US could never get started on offense, while the Chile offense was too strong for the US through out the whole game. The halftime score was 17-11.
The US came out in the 2nd half cutting the lead to 3 goals at different times in the 2nd half, but with 13 minutes to go Chile pulled ahead by 9 goals and never looked back. The US Men never gave up and fought hard to the last minute.
In the last min a fastbreak by Chile was broken up by Gary Hines and Patrick Oliver. Gary Hines was given an immediate red card for running into the Chile player at 6 meters. The Chile player then pushed US Goalie Danny Caparelli while in the 6 meter zone. The Chile bench, followed by the US bench ran onto the court and play was halted for 6 minutes. Danny Caparelli, US coach Chris Cappelmann and 2 Chile players received red cards Calm, however, was restored, the game was finished and both teams shook hands after the game. According to USA Coach Chris Cappelmann, the match was physical and the Brazilian refs had trouble controlling play throughout.
Gary Hines led US scoring with 6 goals, Gill Bozeman had 5, while Alex McGlynn and Troy Steffen each had 3 goals.
Standings (W D L Points GF GA GD)
Chile 1 0 0 2pts 36 26 +10
USA 1 0 1 2pts 49 56 -7
Venezuela 0 0 0pts 20 23 -3
To win the tournament Chile needs to win their final match against Venezuela or lose by 6 goals or less. Venezuela can advance with a 7 goal victory. The USA has been eliminated from contention since they have finished play and their goal differential is locked in at -7 goals.
(Note: The article was written from an email provided by US Coach Chris Cappelmann and may be further revised following his review.)
Chile Federation Website: http://www.balonmano.cl/
Frequent updates on scores and standings at the ongoing US National Championship tourney in Delaware are available at the Houston Stars website: http://houstonhandball.org/news.php
The US Mens Team Handball National playing in the classification tournament for the final position at the 2007 Pan Am Games, beat the Venezuela National Team 23-20. It was the opening game in the 3 team tournament being held in Santiago Chile. The US Men were led by Danny Caparelli in goal (18 saves) and Gary Hines with 11 goals.
Venezuela took an early lead in the game, scoring some easy goals from the backcourt and with break through goals at 6 meters. The US defense, in particular, had problems with multiple backcourt crosses. The score at the half was 13-10 Venezuela.
In the 2nd half the US came out strong with Gary Hines scoring 3 in the first 5 min. Darrick Heath anchored the US defense and Danny Caparelli made several saves on fastbreaks and wing and circle shots.
With about 5 minutes to go and the US leading by 1 goal, Jeff Goss got his 3rd 2 minute penalty and the automatic red card. Venezuela was unable, however, to tie the score with the man advantage. Instead, the US extended their lead to two goals, courtesy of a Patrick Oliver circle shot. Oliver then stole a pass on the Venezuela throw in at half court and dribbled down and scored to insure the victory.
The US plays Chile at 6pm on Saturday night. If the US wins, they will clinch the tournament. A Chile win or draw, will put Chile in the driver's seat heading into the final match of the tournament against Venezuela
Standings (W D L Points GF GA GD)
USA 1 0 0 2pts 23 20 +3
Chile 0 0 0 0pts 0 0 0
Venezuela 0 0 0pts 20 23 -3
The Men's 2nd Chance qualification tournament for the PANAM Games starts tomorrow in Santiago, Chile. Chile, Venezuela and the USA will play a round robin tournament with the winner securing the 8th and final spot for the PANAM Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil later this summer.
Friday, 6 April, 1800 USA vs. Venezuela
Saturday, 7 April, 1800 USA vs. Chile
Sunday, 8 April, TBD Venezuela vs. Chile
(Listed start times are US East Coast.)
We will post game results as soon as they become available.
Miami Sharks Press Release
We are happy to announce that game footage from the 2007 United States Open National Championships in Newark, Delaware, will be available on an on-demand basis, courtesy of [link=http://www.livesportsvideo.com]LiveSportsVideo.com[/link]. At the current moment, the broadcast slate will include all five of the [link=http://www.miamisharksteamhandball.org]Miami Sharks[/link] games, which will be available for on-demand viewing within 24 hours of competition at [link=http://www.livesportsvideo.com]www.livesportsvideo.com[/link].
[link=http://www.miamisharksteamhandball.org]The Sharks[/link] will play two games on Friday (available for viewing by mid-day Saturday), with the first game against the [link=http://www.houstonhandball.org]Houston Stars[/link] and the second against [link=http://www.chicagointerhandball.org]Chicago Inter[/link]. [link=http://www.miamisharksteamhandball.org]Miami[/link] will play New York on Saturday morning (available for viewing by mid-day Sunday) and an opponent to be determined on Saturday night after re-seeding.
Please visit [link=http://www.livesportsvideo.com]www.livesportsvideo.com[/link] for the on-demand footage, and visit the site throughout the year as additional tournaments will be broadcast live and archived onto the first team handball broadcast network in the United States.
The games can be broadcast for $100 per game. Clubs interested in having their games available for viewing should contact [link=mailto:headcoachhandball@comcast.net]Cristian Zaharia[/link].
See you all in Delaware
Cristian Zaharia
Miami Sharks Team Handball Club
Well, if it wasn’t too obvious the, “Kretzschmar Signs Contract to Play in United States” article was an April Fools’ Day joke. Kretzsch has no plans to move to the USA and the LA Team Handball Club would be hard pressed to find $60 for salary compensation, let alone $6 Million. Still, if anybody had told me that David Beckham was going to sign a deal to play soccer in the US for $50 Million over 5 years I would have thought that was an April Fools’ day joke as well. Maybe some day the Handball World will try to wake the sleeping giant and make Handball something more than the blip on the radar screen it is now in the US, but I’m not holding my breath.
And maybe instead of saying blip on the radar screen, I should say blip on the heart monitor in the Emergency Room. With the recent losses to Mexico and Chile by the Women’s National team, the US has sunk to a new level in terms of performance on the court. In fact, not too long ago a 9 goal loss to Mexico would have simply been laughed off as another April Fools’ joke. This weekend the US Men’s team will seek to restore some measure of respectability for US Team Handball with their 2nd chance opportunity in Chile. Still, even with a win, a roster with several players in their late 30’s or early 40’s speaks volumes about the current state of US Handball.
Team Handball in the US is clearly on life support and in a total state of disarray. With the USOC’s decertification of USA Team Handball last year, the US doesn’t even have a Federation anymore. And while the USOC has continued to provide limited support to keep the National team programs running, this support can be described as lukewarm at best and contingent on achieving some positive results. With the continuing lack of success this lukewarm support could quickly turn very cold.
The US is staging their annual National Championship Tournament this weekend and traditionally a “Town Hall Meeting” is held to discuss the sport’s status. Hopefully, after this meeting we’ll know a little bit more about what the USOC's near, mid and long term plans for the sport are. As was the case last year, Bogdan Pasat will be on site at Nationals and we hope to make podcast recordings of the town hall meeting available on our site, as well as interviews with players and officials. Be sure to stop by and talk to Bogdan and let us know what you think about our site and what features you’d like to see added.
In a move that has shocked the entire Handball world, Stefan Kretzschmar has formally announced today that he is leaving his German Club, Madgeburg, and will play next year with the Los Angeles Team Handball Club. Details of the contract have not been revealed, but it is rumoured to be a 4 year deal, that with incentives and promotional opportunities will net the Left Winger close to $6 Million and make him the highest played Handball player in history. Known for his body piercings and tattoos as well as his handball skills, Kretzschmar is arguably, the most famous handball player in the world. The announcement has everyone in the Handball world talking and wondering whether this move is a stroke of genius or the craziest thing they’ve ever heard.
Below is a text of the press conference (translation courtesy of Bjoern Brembs)
Host: Thanks everyone; Stefan will now take a few questions.
Reporter: Stefan, Why the US? Why now?
Kretzschmar: Why the US? Why not? (laughter) But, in all seriousness, I’ve been a big fan of the NBA for years and I admire the way Americans present and promote their sports. I’ve also always been puzzled as to why Team Handball is not more popular in the US. I think that by playing in the US I can help raise the sports profile and the level of play in the US. If we can make the sport big in the US, it will help make the sport bigger world-wise. As to why now? I’m 34 years old and I think I have a few more good years left playing at a high level. I figured if I was to make this move, I needed to make it now.
Reporter: This sounds a lot like the David Beckham move to the US. Were you influenced at all by him?
Kretzschmar: Absolutely. In fact, as some of you might know, ‘Becks’ and I have been friends for years. When Claudia and I vacationed in LA over the winter break with Becks and Victoria we fell in love with the laid back LA lifestyle. The weather is great and everyone was so friendly. Becks at the time was contemplating his move and I was only joking then, but I said to Becks, “To bad there isn’t a Team Handball club in LA that I could play for. If there was then I could do the same thing for Team Handball that you are doing for Soccer.” It was only an off hand remark, but Becks talked with his agent and his agent contacted the LA Club, and one thing led to another, and well, here I am.
Reporter: Why do you keep saying ‘team handball’ instead of just ‘handball?’
Kretzschmar: That’s what the sport is called in the US, so that’s what I’m calling it now.
Reporter: I’m not an expert on handball on the US, but the level of play is at a very low compared to Germany. Aren’t you concerned that you’re new club won’t have other top flight players for you to play with?
Kretzschmar: Certainly, the level of play will be at a lower level, but the US has many talented athletes that can learn the sport. Also, we’re currently in discussion with DSF and ESPN, but there will likely be a couple of reality TV shows that will help. The German show will focus on my new life in LA, while the American show will focus on the club and the players. We will be recruiting talented athletes from basketball and other sports and the show will follow them as they learn how to play Team Handball. We’ll play games in the US, but we will also tour the world. We have plans to play games in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Greenland, the Caribbean, Africa, Japan, Korea, and, of course, Europe as well. We’re also open to the idea of adding a few more handball veterans from Europe to the club, but this is still yet to be determined.
Reporter: Tell us a little bit more about the German Reality Show.
Kretzschmar: It’s going to be great. There will be some handball in it for sure, but it will also include my experiences on the LA scene. Trips and parties with Becks and Victoria, visits to the Playboy mansion, meetings with famous sports celebs like the LA Laker’s Kobe Bryant, etc.
Host: OK, thanks everyone. We’ll keep you posted as to future developments.
LA Team Handball: http://www.lateamhandball.com/
Stefan Kretzschmar Official Site: http://www.stefan-kretzschmar.de/
[b]Match Results[/b]
Thursday, 29 March Mexico 29 – USA 20
Friday, 30 March Chile 31 – USA 30
Saturday, 31 March Mexico 27 – Chile 24
[b]Final Standings (W T L Pts GF GA GD)[/b]
Mexico 2 0 0 4 56 44 +12
Chile 1 0 1 2 55 57 -2
USA 0 0 2 0 50 60 -10
Mexico Handball Site: http://www.balonmano.com.mx/
Mexico and Chile will play this afternoon to decide who will win the 2nd Chance tournament and secure the 8th and final spot for the Women’s Handball tournament at the PANAM Games. Mexico soundly defeated the USA, 29-20 on Thursday night, while Chile overcame an early deficit to pull out a 1 goal victory, 31-30. As both teams are level at 2 points each, the winner of the match will win the tournament. And in the event of draw match, Mexico will qualify due to an 8 goal lead in goal differential.
[b]Results[/b]
Thursday, 29 March Mexico 29 – USA 20
Friday, 30 March Chile 31 – USA 30
[b]Standings (W T L Pts GF GA GD)[/b]
Mexico 1 0 0 2 29 20 +9
Chile 1 0 0 2 31 30 +1
USA 0 0 2 0 50 60 -10
Sources
Mexico site (includes pictures):
http://www.balonmano.com.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=2
Chile Forum site: http://foro.balonmano.cl/viewtopic.php?t=346
The Women's 2nd Chance qualification tournament for the PANAM Games starts this evening in Mexico City. Mexico, USA, and Chile will play a round robin tournament and the winner and the winner will secure the 8th and final spot for the PANAM Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil later this summer.
Thursday, 29 March, 1700 USA vs Mexico
Friday, 30 March, 1700 USA vs Chile
Saturday, 31 March, 1200 Mexico vs Chile
(Listed start times are local and Mexico City is 2 hours behind the US East Coast.)
This information was taken from the USA Women’s National Team Press Release: www.usateamhandballwomen.com and this Mexican Handball site: http://www.balonmano.com.mx/
US Women’s National Team Roster
Coach: Dawn Lewis
Assistant coach: Thomas Brond
Athletic Trainer Alissa Kordrupal
Back Courts
Megan Ballard
Edina Batar
Kathleen Darling
Tomuke Ebuwei-Holmes
Sarah Gascon
Left Wings
Tabitha Lowey
Sunny Chen
Right Wings
Melanie McCormick
Jennie Choi
Circle Runners
Anne Coulter
Jennifer Farrell
Goal Keepers
Jacquelyn Messel
Anca Stevens
Erika Bohn