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Could I Become an Olympian on the USA Women’s National Handball Team?

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This commentary is regarding the U.S. Women’s National team. For information regarding newcomer prospects for the U.S. Men’s National Team (which are dramatically different) check out this commentary.

Olympic Dreams Fueled by Possibilities

I’m sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of athletes watching the Paris Olympics, seeing handball for the first time and thinking, “What an awesome game! I would be great at this sport. Where can I play?”

And, as America’s #1 handball fan, I can tell you that such revelations are music to my ears. There’s nothing I like better than new athletes and fans following in my footsteps. And, no doubt, some of those athletes are probably thinking even grander thoughts, “Hey, the U.S. didn’t even qualify. Hardly anybody probably plays it in the U.S. Maybe I could be an Olympian. How would I go about becoming an Olympic handball player?

For over 25 years the prospects for any American handball player to become an Olympian haven’t been very good. The U.S. last qualified for an Olympics in 1996 as the host nation. And, since then we’ve never really even come close to securing a berth in qualfication events. But, now with Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics that’s about to change. As Charles Barkley would say, it’s Guaranteed that we’re fielding a team. Out there, many are probably thinking… Somebody’s got to make that team. Why not me?

Unique, Uncharted Circurmstances Means it’s Definitely Possible

First things first. Let me be clear. The following is my opinion and certainly not an official USA Team Handball position. That said, I’ve got a pretty good track record of assessing handball in this country. For what it’s worth, here’s my answer to your question…

Due to a very, very small talent pool consisting of around 150 athletes with modest athletic ability there’s a decent chance you could make the 2028 U.S. Olympic Women’s Handball Team. How good are you chances? That will depends on several variables to include how good of an athlete you are, how motivated you are and what, if anything, USA Team Handball eventually does to identify, recruit and train prospective national team athletes.

Let me explain further. When I say around “150 athletes” I am not referring to our national team talent pool. No… I’m talking about 150 female athletes with American citizenship currently playing handball at any level, anywhere in the world.

Our national team athletes for the past few years have mostly been comprised of of athletes trained at our last residency program at Auburn (which closed in 2018) and dual citizen athletes who compete in Europe. With the U.S. Men we’ve been blessed with a golden generation of talent that has essentially gifted us with the most competitive team we’ve had since the 1980s.

With the U.S. Women we have been less fortunate. While hard working and great representatives of our nation collectively the raw athletic talent is similar to what one might see on an NCAA Div 3 basketball team. Not surprisingly the results have been disappointing. We have not won a match since the 2019 PANAM Games. We’re 0-0-12 in official competition and those 12 losses are not to European sides, but to peer competition in our hemisphere. If our current team were to play the teams competing at the 2024 Olympics we would be 30+ goal underdogs in every match.

  • Demographics assessment from 2019 (It’s actually gotten worse)
    • Overall Women Demographics: Link
    • National Team Demographics: Link
  • And, an important side note: Our #1 GK, Sophie Fasold, is a clear exception. She plays in Germany’s top league and is, arguably, the best GK in U.S. history.

The Variables

So with that as context let’s take a look at some of the variables that will determine an athlete’s prospects for making the 2028 U.S. Women’s National Handball Team:

  • The raw talent of the athlete
  • The starting age of the athlete and amount of time the athlete has to train
  • The training environment the athlete will have
  • The commitment level of the athlete
  • The quality of the athletes also seeking to make the team

Here’s a closer look at each variable

The Raw Talent of the Athlete

With the current raw talent on the U.S. National Team roughly equivalent to an NCAA D3 basketball team an athlete that has played D1 or D2 sports in college should have an advantage against current players. This was even demonstrated at the 2023 North American & Caribbean Championships when a D2 basketball player, Katie Timmerman played significant minutes despite only a couple of training camps to learn the sport. Logically, in most cases a D1 athlete would even have better chances to make an impact.

I could also get into a lengthy discussion regarding the merits of different sports in terms of transitioning to handball. Athletes have come from many different sports, but the most common sport historically has been basketball. And, even athletes from other sports often have high school basketball in their resume.

The Starting Age of the Athlete and the Amount of Time that Athlete has to Train

Normally, I would argue that any athlete over 23 years of age is probably outside the desired range to start a training program. And, generally the younger the better. Given, however, the current cirumstances of a very small talent pool and a 4 year window, I could see a great athlete even in their 30s being a candidate. Obviously not ideal, but we’re talking a very unique situation.

The Training Environment the Athlete Would Have

For many years the U.S. had Residency Programs that were dedicated full time to developing new handball athletes. However, the U.S. hasn’t had a Residency Program since 2018 and as far as I know there are no plans to start one anytime soon.

This leaves a newcomer with very limited options. They could join a stateside club, but they typically just practice once a week and play in a few tournaments on the weekend. One could learn the basics and get their feet wet, but not much more. And, then they could also attend the periodic national team camps that are held. I’m sure any European reading this is just shaking their head in bewilderment, “Athletes who’ve never played before attending a National Team camp?.. That’s crazy.” But, that’s where we are currently at.

The other alternative would be to train with a handball club overseas, most likely in Europe. A handful of stateside based athletes have indeed done this. It’s not easy and it can be challenging to find a quality club with a good system willing to train a relative newcomer. But, again, given the state of the current program it would be your best option. Additionally, I suspect that a higher level athlete with potential would get some help from the national team staff in making such a move.

The Commitment Level of the Athlete

Having great raw talent is a significant advantage, but it’s not everything. An average athlete with modest talent, but knows how to play handball also has an advantage. Sometimes raw talent trumps handball skills, but often the reverse is true. With the necessary commitment to learn the sport, however, it’s only a matter of time before the contest changes from who knows how to play… to who’s the better athlete.

The huge unknown here, however, isn’t necessarily the “attitude” of the athlete. Commitment is a 2 way street. The athlete commits to work hard and get better. And, USA Team Handball commits to provide that athlete with the tools and opportunities to get better. Unfortunately, right now as an organization USA can’t provide athletes very much in return for their commitment. In fact, national team athletes are actually paying thousands of dollars out of their own pocket to represent their nation. And, not surprisingly… quite a few athletes don’t want to commit to that.

The Quality of the Athletes also Seeking to Make the Team

For the most part I’ve framed this discussion as what would it take for a decent athlete to develop into a handball player that given the current talent pool could make the U.S. National Team. That’s a fairly straightforward comparison.

But, what’s really hard to assess is the number and quality of new athletes that might take steps to earn a roster spot. Right now there’s not much in place to entice a relative newcomer to make such an effort. That translates to fewer athletes competing for slots and lower quality athletes making the team. If a more structured program is put in place more and better quality athletes will start showing up.

The Great Unknown: What Steps will USA Team Handball Take… and When Will they Take them

You might have noticed that one variable I listed was:

  • What, if anything, USA Team Handball eventually does to identify, recruit and train prospective national team athletes

Right now USA Team Handball’s recruitment is very limited. Emails are sent out to college coaches and open tryouts are held, but there’s really no training program in place. I have a hard time believing that won’t change at some point, but I don’t know what it will entail or when it will be implemented.

And, this results in the strange cirumstances that while I can say with a high degree of confidence that total newcomers to handball are likely to make our 2028 Olympic Team I don’t know exactly how they’re going to do it.

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Colorado Collegiate Team Handball Jumpstart Initiative

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WHO: Students interested in starting a Collegiate Team Handball Club at Colorado State University, the University of Colorado – Boulder or any other college or university in the state of colorado.

WHAT: Starting a Collegiate Team Handball Club can be challenging. This initiative will help you get your club started with equipment (balls and goals) and organizing your first practices. Additionally, I will arrange for the Air Force Academy club team and/or the Denver Wolves club to provide to demonstrate the sport with a joint practice/scrimmage.

WHERE: The primary focus of this initiative are the two largest universities (CSU and CU-Boulder) as their larger size and strong club systems will help facilitate the starting of a new club. There’s also a former handball player from France living in Boulder who’s interested in coaching and CSU even had a handball club program from 2012-15. That said, a Collegiate Team Handball program could start anywhere. If there’s genuine interest at your college I’ll help out.

WHEN: This initiative is planned for the 2024-25 academic year, but may be extended depending on need/interest.

WHY: I am a big believer in Collegiate Team Handball and this initiative is intended to provide a helping hand or jumpstart to get a couple of college teams started in the state of Colorado. If programs could get started at CSU and CU, combined with Air Force and Denver Wolves a 4 team league could be established.

HOW: The first step will be to generate interest in starting a collegiate handball club at your university. And, for interested students to link up and then work with their school’s Recreation Services to go through the steps for starting a new club.

For more infromation follow the CU and CSU Team Handball IG pages and send a DM for more information.

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Could I Become an Olympian on the USA Men’s National Handball Team?

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This commentary is regarding the U.S. Men’s National team. For information regarding newcomer prospects for the U.S. Women’s National Team (which are dramatically different) check out this commentary.

Olympic Dreams Fueled by Possibilities

I’m sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of athletes watching the Paris Olympics, seeing handball for the first time and thinking, “What an awesome game! I would be great at this sport. Where can I play?”

And, as America’s #1 handball fan, I can tell you that such revelations are music to my ears. There’s nothing I like better than new athletes and fans following in my footsteps. And, no doubt, some of those athletes are probably thinking even grander thoughts, “Hey, the U.S. didn’t even qualify. Hardly anybody probably plays it in the U.S. Maybe I could be an Olympian. How would I go about becoming an Olympic handball player?

For over 25 years the prospects for any American handball player to become an Olympian haven’t been very good. The U.S. last qualified for an Olympics in 1996 as the host nation. And, since then we’ve never really even come close to securing a berth in qualfication events. But, now with Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Olympics that’s about to change. As Charles Barkley would say, it’s Guaranteed that we’re fielding a team. Out there, many are probably thinking… Somebody’s got to make that team. Why not me?

The Wrong Question. Because… You’re not Going to Like my Answer

First things first. Let me be clear. The following is my opinion and certainly not an official USA Team Handball position. That said, I’ve got a pretty good track record of assessing handball in this country. For what it’s worth, here’s my very blunt answer to your question…

As a total newcomer to the sport I would assess your chances of making the 2028 U.S. Olympic Men’s Handball Team are somewhere between 0.0% and .1%. Not 1 percent… but .1%. As in 1 in a 1,000 chance and probably worse than that.

Let me explain further. There are multiple variables to consider and multiple unknowns, but the weight of them all combined leads to the very long odds involved.

The Variables

When one is assessing the prospects of an athlete to take on a totally new sport like handball here are the variables that need to be considered to assess the likelihood of national team success

  • The raw talent of the athlete
  • The starting age of the athlete and amount of time the athlete has to train
  • The training environment the athlete will have
  • The quality of the athletes also seeking to make the team
  • The commitment level of the athlete

Here’s a closer look at each variable

The Raw Talent of the Athlete

Is it possible to pass judgment on athletes I don’t know and have never seen? Answer: Yes and No. Certainly a talent combine whereby athletes would perform drills that could be measured would be very useful. And, basic scrimmaging even of brand new athletes will likely be a good guage of potential. But, sight unseen the vast sporting infrastructure of the U.S. has already likely binned off your raw talent level fairly accurately.

If you’re a pro athlete chances are you’re not contemplating a new handball career. The same is also true for most NCAA college athletes who are still in college. Mistakes, of course, are made. And, there are athletes who are average in one sport, but can excel in another sport like handball. But, those are the exceptions. Chances are… that you are a good athlete that can develop into a pretty good handball player. It’s less likely, that your a great athlete that can develop into a great player.

The Starting Age of the Athlete and the Amount of Time that Athlete has to Train

Well, this is fairly simple to contemplate. If one were to start their handball dream immediately they would have four years to go from zero to hero. Barring another pandemic induced delay that four years is set in stone. With the right training and competition environment great progress can be made in four years. A lot more than some Europeans might think. But, it’s still not very much time to work with.

In terms of the starting age of the athlete if the goal is to get as good as you can in a four year window I think anywhere from the age of 27 on down would be feasible. But, only if that four year goal is set. Obviously, younger ages would be desired because combined with a longer timeline it becomes more and more feasible to develop into a world class athlete.

The Training Environment the Athlete Would Have

For many years the U.S. had Residency Programs that were dedicated full time to developing new handball athletes. However, the U.S. hasn’t had a Residency Program since 2018 and as far as I know there are no plans to start one anytime soon. This means the only currently feasible training program would be to train with a handball club overseas, most likely in Europe.

A handful of stateside based athletes have indeed done this, but it’s not easy and it can be challenging to find a quality club with a good system willing to train a relative newcomer. There are some programs that can help faciliate such moves, but the athletes making the jump typically have been developed some stateside first. It would take a really special athlete for a newcomer to get such an opportunity.

The Quality of the Athletes also Seeking to Make the Team

This factor more than any other drives the percentage chance below 1%. The current Men’s talent pool, which consists mostly of dual citizens that grew up in Europe is the best that the U.S. has had in years. By U.S. standards it is a golden generation both in handball skills and raw athletic ability. Comparable to a low NCAA D1 or high D2 basketball team. And, for the most part, this team is fairly young. Four years out from the LA Olympics, we essentially already know around 95% of the athletes who will make up our roster. We may even soon add a former Swedish national team athlete playing in Denmark’s top league.

Two months ago we played a friendly vs France and lost 38-29. They are either the best or 2nd best team in the world. And, sure it was a friendly, but several players on that French side were fighting for Olympic Roster slots. Watch the highlights– We can ball.

I can not understate what crazy good fortune this is for our Men’s National Team. We’re not going to medal. We might not even win a match. But, this team will compete and will not embarrass. And, this team didn’t cost USA Team Handball a penny to develop.

We’re a big country with a sizable population and we could find better raw talent athletes, but not a whole lot better and those athletes would have a long way to go to get to a similar level. And, no matter what every single state side newcomer would be several years behind in terms of competition experience.

The Commitment Level of the Athlete

If one takes into account what I’ve listed above… it’s reasonable to be skeptical of any athlete that thinks they have the will to continuously strive to overcome all the obstacles.

The realities are stark. There’s really not enough time, there’s nothing in place to train you and you’ll need to beat out athletes with similar raw talent that have have been playing the sport for years. When someone becomes fully aware of all of these realities and that the dream is very likely out of reach. Well, the commitment level will logically nosedive precipitously.

The Right Question: How Can I Play Handball?

So, I don’t take glee in raining on your Olympic aspirations. In fact, it’s been a few years, but I had similar aspirations once. Such aspirations led me into the sport long ago. But, the times were different… For me they were actually reasonable aspirations. I had time. There was a training program. And, there wasn’t a crazy golden generation of dual citizens standing in the way.

Even given all that I was still asking the wrong question all those years ago. And, you are, too. This is true, even if you have time for a run at Brisbane 2032 and beyond.

The question you should be asking is simply how can I play this cool sport? How can I get better as a player? Play the game for fun and see where it takes you.

And, sure, if you improve as a player and it eventually makes sense, why not move to Europe and further develop your game if you can also smartly continue your education or career? Just don’t start out with the goal of being an Olympian. Let that come in due time. Kind of like you would with any other sport.

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Olympic Team Handball Information Page

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Here are some handy links to find out more information on Team Handball and the Team Handball competition at the 2024 Olympic Games.

  • Olympic Handball Competition Schedule and Results: Link
  • USA TV and Web Streaming Information: Link
  • Handball Betting Information:
    • Handball Betting Tutorial: Link
    • Olympic Handball Odds: Link
  • Mainstream Media Articles on Handball: Link
    • Hey, media person, just discovering handball: Think you’ve got a “new” idea on how the U.S. can win Olympic Handball Gold? Think again… Check out these articles dating back from 1996.
  •  Handball FAQ: Link
    • Trending Questions
      • Where is handball popular in the world?: Link
      • What impact has the name confusion for Handball/Team Handball had on the sports development in the US?: Link
    • Have a question you want answered? Contact Team Handball News via social media or send me an email at john.ryan@teamhandballnews.com

2024 Olympic Handball Odds

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Multiple U.S. betting sites now offer handball odds. Here are some links to Olympic Handball odds in Colorado. The availability in your jurisdiction may vary.

Pre-Tournament odds (Courtesy of DraftKings)

WOMEN

France and Norway are the co-favorites to take the Gold and the odds have shortened in France’s favor, probably due to some uncertainty with an injury to Norway’s Henny Reistad.

MEN

France and Denmark are the co-favorites for the men. They play in the same group, but the expectation is that they will both proceed through the knockout round to an eventual gold medal rematch.

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Olympic Team Handball: USA TV and Web Streaming Information

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Good news for Cord Cutters: Last Olympics, if you didn’t have NBC via cable, satellite or some other platform you were out of luck. This time around all Olympics content will be available via NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.

TV Broadcasts

NBC has the rights to all Olympic content in the USA and they currently plan to produce 2-3 handball matches/day for broadcast on NBC TV networks. Some matches will be broadcast live, but if past Olympics are a guide, most will will be shown on a tape delay basis. A quick look ahead at the schedule shows that most matches be shown on the USA Network with a few on E! and CNBC. There are also temporary channels being set up called Paris Extra 1 and Paris Extra 2.

Web Streaming

NBC will be streaming every handball match live and on demand. And, there will be two ways that viewers can access the web streams.

  • If you already have NBC through a cable, satellite or another platform like Fubo or YouTube TV you will be able to stream content after authenticating your subscription. You do not need a Peacock subscription.
  • If you are a cord cutter, however, your best option will be to subscribe to NBC’s streaming service, Peacock for access to all of NBC’s Olympic content

Here are some handy notes and links

  • NBC Schedule Page for Handball: Link
    • You can select “TV & Digital” or “TV only” The TV & Digital option will show you every single match as every match is streamed while the TV Only option will show you the traditional broadcast viewings
  • As Handball is one of the few sports starting before the opening ceremonies on Friday there will be 3 live broadcasts Thurdsay all aired on the USA network at 3 AM, 5 AM and 1 PM (US ET)
  • The first 12 days of competition will have 6 matches played each day with the same starting times. Those times are
    • Paris (Local): 0900, 1100, 1400, 1600, 1900, 2100
    • US (ET): 0300, 0500, 0800, 1000, 1300, 1500
  • With some matches being played early in the morning, U.S. time, you may want to watch those matches later in the day without knowing the score. Thankfully, it appears that the NBC schedule page will be spoiler free.

Commentators

NBC TV broadcasts will have commentary with Eric Frede and Dawn Lewis. Digitally streamed matches will use the Olympic Broadcast Service feed and will have commentary from Paul Bray, Mark Hawkins and others. Here’s some more information on the commentators:

  • Eric Frede (NBC Play by Play): Eric Frede is a veteran commentator based in New England who has called multiple sports to include football, basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, softball, volleyball, tennis, track and field and auto racing NBC Bio
  • Dawn Allinger Lewis (NBC Color/Expert): Lewis was a member of the 1996 U.S. Women’s Olympic Handball squad and this will be her 6th straight Olympics with NBC NBC Bio
  • Paul Pray (OBS): Bray is the dean of handball commentators and has been calling handball matches for over 30 years. Previously he was also the President of British Handball
    • IHF Article on Bray: Link
    • Podcast Interview from 2007: Link
  • Mark Hawkins (OBS): Hawkins was a member of the 2012 Great Britain Handball team and is the current head coach of the Great Britains Women’s team
    • 2017 interview with the Uninformed Handball Hour podcast: Link
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Nikola Karabatic: The Handball Goat Retires (Part 3): Match ~#400: The Old Man and the D

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I continue my look back at Nikiola Karabatic’s career and try to illustrate why he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest 2 way defender of all time. (Read Part 1 Part 2)

Why Handball Defense Gets No Respect

As a former defensive specialist perhaps nothing annoys me more about typical Handball GOAT debates than the often total lack of any discussion whatsoever regarding defensive capabilities.  It’s annoying, but understandable.  Understandable, because unless it’s a GK save you’ll rarely, if ever see any any defensive highlights. This is in sharp contrast to another indoor sport, basketball.  No finger wagging Mutombo blocks or career defining Lebron chase downs to win a title. 

No. A great defensive play in handball… often is a defensive foul that stops play and results in a 9 meter free throw or restart. Yawn…  Of course, if you know a little bit about the sport you know that a good yawner can be pretty important.  On a tactical level it stops play and requires the offense to start over.  Seemingly a no big deal, do over, but the offense is now that much closer to a passive play call and may well end up having to settle for a less than ideal shot. 

On a strategic level a good hard foul resulting in a restart plays an important role in the attrition nature of a pretty physical sport.  Athletes like to think that they just brush off such contact and move on to the next play… and they do, but sub-consciously it plays a role in subsequent attacks.  If an offensive player tries a tactic that the defense stops they will then try another tactic the next time.  And, that other tactic… well, it often tends to be a tactic that next time results in less contact.  Maybe, it’s just the smart move.  After all, avoiding contact when trying to throw a ball into a goal is generally a good thing.  But, maybe they just don’t want to get hit again.

That psychology plays a role especially in a 60 minute game.  And, if you are the focal point of the offense, make no mistake, you’ve got a bit of a target on your chest.  That contact adds up and takes a toll. It’s why you often see offensive stars subbing out on defense or playing the wing defender position.  It’s a chance to lick your wounds and rest up so you can be more ready for the next offensive attack.

But, not the Handball GOAT, Nikola Karabatic. No, he has either played as a middle defender (often referred to as a “3” defender), and more often lately as a “2” defender in between the 3 and the “1” or wing defender.  No subbing out or hiding out on the wing. No, he’s typically been making stops and looking for contact.  In fact, I wonder what would have ever happened if one of his coaches suggested that he should play wing defender. Not that any coach would be so foolish as to put one of his best defenders there.

Match ~#400: 2020 Olympics Final, France 25, Denmark 23: Karabatic Slows Down the Young Gun and Stops him in Crunch Time

To take a closer look at Karabatic’s defense, I’ll use what I estimate is about the 400th match that I saw him play. The gold medal final between France and Denmark in August 2021 at the COVID delayed 2020 Olympics.

The 2020-21 season was a challenging one for Karabatic as he tore an ACL in October of 2020. ACLs aren’t as devastating as they used to be, but they are still a major injury. And, at age 37 one might think that even one of the greatest players of all time might not recover in time to make another Olympics… But, Karabatic was back on the court in May after seven months of rehab. And, recovered enough to make the Olympic Team. Check out this video which is queued up to the injury and subsequent rehab.

EHF Handball Legends Video

So more than a few people felt that Karabatic, coming off an injury and in the twilight of his career was making the French Olympic team as sort of a lifetime achievement award. But, while Tokyo Olympics Karabatic was certainly not Peak Karabatic he still found ways to contribute, particularly on the defensive end in a gold medal showdown vs Denmark.

As has often been the case for the past several years, Denmark and France finished on top in their respective groups and then marched through the knockout phase to meet in the final. The only thing somewhat different, was the continued emergence of Denmark’s, Mattias Gidsel, who at just 23 years old was starting to change the game with his slashing, 1v1 breakthrough first offensive focus.

Matched up against him much of the game was Karabatic. I recently rewatched the match and it was a real battle between the Old Man and the Kid. And, while this is a commentary on the GOAT’s defensive prowess, Gidsel more than held his own, scoring 6 goals, the most goals from the field and only trailing Mikkel Hansen who scored 9, but with some of those being penalties.

That said, here’s a sequence that resulted in one of those “yawner” 9 meter restarts that Karabatic has been a part of God knows how many times.

Anyone who’s watch Gidsel play the last three years knows that more often than not this sequence ends in a goal, sometimes with the defense hardly touching him. Plays like this don’t show up in the stat sheet, but plays like that make a difference and is an example of the defense France played collectively that day when they held the high powered Danish offense to just 23 goals.

Here’s the video of that sequence queued up:

Karabatic vs Gidsel (First Half)

And, in the crunch time of all crunch times: 15 seconds left in the Gold Meda Olympic Final they were matched up against each other for one final time.

And, here’s the video of that final 15 seconds queued up:

Last 20 seconds of 2020 Olympics Gold Medal Final

A yawner of a turnover and I’m not even sure exactly what happened. But, the stage for that turnover was setup by the previous 59 minutes of play. And, on that day during crunch time the end result went the GOAT’s way. Did we think that it would somehow end differently?

Too much love for the Handball GOAT? Perhaps, but I’m next going to provide a little balance. Yes, I’ll address a match I’ve never seen and most of the Handball World pretends was never played: 12 May 2012, Cesson-Rennes – Montpellier.

USA Handball Talk (Episode 24): Christmas in July Beach Handball Special

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:00 — 29.1KB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

Jacob Roberts fills in for JD and he and John discuss the North American & Caribbean Club Championships, the IHF Beach Handball Showcase and upcoming Beach Handball events in North America this summer.

Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

  • Jacob Roberts on social media: IG, FB USATH Profile
  • Kentucky Stags Handball Club: IG, FB, Twitter
  • Univ of Kentucky Handball: IG
  • The UK and Stags Coach, Ruben Humada: Linked In, IG, FB
  • John’s commentary on how a new collegiate program could quickly compete for a national title: Link
  • The movie Highlander: Link (starring Christopher Lambert)
  • The movie Braveheart: Link (starring Mel Gibson)
  • NACHC Club Championship: Link Results and Leading Scorers
  • John’s commentary on how the LA teams aren’t really from LA: Link
  • FISU World Handball University Championships: Link
  • IHF Profiles on USA athletes participating in the Beach Handball Showcase: Christine Mansour, Ebiye Udo-Udoma and Drew Donlin 
  • Beach Handball Showcase Schedule: Link
  • Article/commentary regarding the IHF statement that they “will not tolerate any reduction of the indoor handball quota at the Olympics”: Link
  • Upcoming Beach Handball Tourneys

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the  Team Handball Handball News podcast on Spotify: Link
  • Or use this RSS Feed to sign up for the podcast in your favorite podcast aggregator: Link

And, be sure to check out the podcast archive with interviews and great  handball discussion going all the way back to 2006: Link

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Nikola Karabatic: The Handball Goat Retires (Part 2): Match ~#200: Peak Karabatic Makes all the Players around him Better… A Lot Better

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(Karabatic and Narcisse*, Jordan and Pippen, Ruth and Gehrig. *I could probably have used a picture with Jerome Fernandez and some other players)

I continue my look back at Nikiola Karabatic’s career and try to answer the age old GOAT question: Does the GOAT owe his greatness to his sidekicks? Or does the GOAT make the sidekicks look better? The ~200th match I saw him play provides some clues. (Read Part 1)

The GOAT Sidekick Debate

Whenever GOAT debates come up in the world of sports one of the big questions that has to be asked is whether the “would be GOAT” is only the GOAT because of the athletes playing alongside him.  As in Jordan had Pippen and Ruth had Gehrig.  Generally no one is arguing that that the #2 was on the same level, but folks will argue that without that #2 taking some of the load, the GOAT would have been less “great.” 

Some ornery folks will even make the case that the great player was just pretty good thanks to that #2 carrying the weight.  That aspect of GOAT debates creates a more complicated argument especially when a player is often surrounded by many great players.  And, with Karabatic playing for a top national team like France and some of the premier clubs like Kiel, Barca and Paris St-Germain that was particularly the case.

Karabatic played alongside some pretty good backcourts and two, Daniel Narcisse and Jerome Fernandez, come to mind. Narcisse is the 5th all time leading scorer for France and had one of the best (if not the best) 9-10 meter jump shots of all time. Fernandez is France’s all time leading scorer and is arguably the best right handed, right back of all time. (fyi: Karabatic is the 2nd all time scorer for France) Having those guys on either side to pass to is a pretty good deal… and, conversely, having Nikola Karabatic drawing a lot of attention probably makes your shooting easier, too.

The 2008 – 2011 Four Tourney Sweep

It’s too simple to say that Fernandez/Narcisse made Karabatic great…or that Karabatic made Fernandez/Narcisse. But, make no mistake those 3 great players along with Omeyer in goal and Dinart, the GOAT defender made France really tough to beat. And, those players were all part of a very dominant French side for many years.

The peak of France’s domination was arguably their sweep of four straight major international tournaments from 2008-2011 when the 2008 Olympic Games, 2009 World Championship, 2010 European Championships and the 2011 World Championships. And, I think the last of those four championships provides a pretty good answer for how this sidekick debate should be answered.

Match ~#200: 2011 World Championship Final, France 37, Denmark 35: Peak Karabatic

For those that weren’t following the sport 13 years ago, France was starting to become the team everyone else was getting real tired of losing to. And, even though they had won 3 major tournaments in a row they seemed a little vulnerable heading into 2011 World Championships. Daniel Narcisse was injured and out for the tournament, Fernandez was starting to slow down a little and France would need to rely more on backcourt players like William Accambray and Xavier Barachet. Not bad players by any stretch, but clearly a rung or two… or maybe three below Narcisse and a younger Fernandez in his prime.

But, if Nikola Karabatic is orchestrating the attack would it matter? And, I should mention here that Karabatic’s move from big shooter left back to center back was at the time a bit unorthodox as generally teams kept their big right handed scorer in the left back position. But, Karabatic’s game had evolved to the point that he could play both center and left back interchangeably. He was a center back that could both pass and score.

It turns out that it didn’t matter. I didn’t find a lot of footage from the tournament, but I did find some highlights from the Final vs Denmark which France won 37-35 in Extra Time. In the highlights you’ll see some goals from Xavier Barachet and maybe you’re like me, kind of wondering whatever happened to him. Barachet and Accambray were at the time the younger backcourts that were presumably the future.

But, as it turns out what we were really seeing was peak Barrachet and peak Accambray. Solid players, but limited players… that were playing next to the 26 year old GOAT… who was playing at his peak. At least if one looks at the arc of their careers this would seem to be accurate. Both players would move to the fringes of the French National team eventually seeing less playing time and then no longer being called up. Hard to say entirely as Barrachet also had some injuries which one could argue also contributed to his decline.

All, I know is that my recollection is that Karabatic’s performance was masterful as he had 51 goals in the tournament to go along with 34 assists. 10 of those goals coming in the gold medal final. He carried and willed that team to a title. And, yes, I remember wondering out loud… If he can make Xavier Barrachet and William Accambray look that good… could I even have looked like a halfway competent backcourt next to him? Most definitely not, but the fact that I could even contemplate such a question says quite a bit about what Peak Karabatic was like.

(Nikola Karabatic celebrates a 2012 Olympics title with William Accambray, Xavier Bararchet and Didier Dinart)
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Is it “Still the Battle for L.A.” if only Four Athletes Live anywhere near Los Angeles?

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This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed out some “problems” with our U.S. club rosters. (See Link Link) Honestly it’s getting a little old googling and checking social media sites, but today’s battle between two “Southern California” club teams at the North American & Caribbean Club Championships got me wondering… Just how many athletes on these two teams actually live in the Los Angeles area?

Well, subject to my standard disclaimer (social media websites and LinkedIn profiles aren’t always accurate), that answer is four athletes. As in 4 out of 31 athletes.

There are multiple issues with these rosters that we should be concerned with. I’ll go through some of them again:

  • Nationality: The fact that they are just eight Americans playing on these American club teams is problematic. I, for one, would like to see more Americans playing. I like to think that just about anyone would like to see that. In particular, younger American athletes who can really benefit from particpating is a competition like this. And, it’s nice to see a few that even fit that demographic. But, I understand why it’s the exception. Teams want to win and right now better non-American athletes are available and allowed to play with no restriction for U.S. club teams.
  • Residency: The fact that there are only four athletes on these two teams that live anywhere near where these team say they are located is… crazy, ludicrous and silly. Let me repeat… it is crazy, ludicrous and silly. We are not talking about a couple or a few athletes to round out the roster… Not even just saying it’s around half the team. No. We are talking about the overwhelming majority of the athletes. 27 out of 31. These athletes don’t practice together. Some probably just met each other. 14 out of 31 don’t even live in the United States! Again… This is crazy, ludicrous and silly.
  • Competitive Fairness. The addition of this many athletes to rosters defeats the spirit of competition. I guess every club is free to recruit players to improve their chances. But, it kind of goes against the concept of a club championship. Instead it’s become more of an all star team recruitment competition.

Who’s to Blame?

Well, here’s my assessment:

  • The athletes? No, absolutely not. As, I’ve stated before… Offer me the chance to compete in a nice little tournament with the winning team getting a free trip to Cairo to play the best teams in the world. My response is, “Where do I sign?” Or, as I think is probably the case in most instances… “Sure, I’ll pay my way to New Jersey for this opportunity.”
  • The Clubs? Maybe, a little bit. Nobody is forcing them to create all star rosters. Nobody is forcing them to tell their locally based athletes… “Sorry, we’re going with player X instead of you. Maybe next time.” It’s something these clubs want to do. Maybe a club should internally decide like San Francisco CalHeat did that this isn’t really how they want to go about things. Maybe… But, if you aren’t breaking any rules and the rules are such that you can drive a freight train through them. Then why not? Blow the whistle and go. Full steam ahead.
  • The NACHC? Yes, there’s some blame here. It’s a NACHC competition, so the NACHC is responsible for whatever rules and regulations are in place. That said, they are a newish, all volunteer organization with a lot of challenges. Roster regulations probably aren’t high on their list of things to get done. But, hopefully as they get grounded as an organization they will take a closer look at this competition and assess whether it’s currently stuctured to meet organiational goals.
  • The IHF? Yes, and I would argue that they are the most responsible. As I wrote in this commentary about the 2023 CalHeat Super Globe roster the IHF’s good intentions to support club development around the world has had major unintended consequences. Unless they step in with more restrictions on club rosters I suspect recruitment might just get even crazier. Who knows, maybe next time it will make more sense to just play the NACHC club championship in Europe. It would save on air fare and the jerseys could just be shipped to whereever it’s being held.

2024 Olympic Team Handball Competition Schedule, Results and Format

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There are several website options for getting your Olympic handball information. However, with the Olympics starting early in the morning in the U.S. you might want to strategize when and where you get your information, particularly if you want to watch matches that were played while you were sleeping without knowing the result ahead of time.

Olympic Handball Schedule and Results

Here are some websites where you can find the latest results and what matches are coming up along with some pros and cons for each website:

  • International Handball Federation (IHF):
    • Men’s Tournament
    • Women’s Tournament
    • The IHF website is the best place to get detailed information, but if you don’t want to know the scores of already played matches it’s not a good place to avoid spoilers
  • Paris 2024 Olympics Official Site: Link
    • Based on previous Olympics websites the official Paris 2024 website will just have basic top level information on the competition
  • NBC:
    • Handball Homepage
    • Schedule (Men and Women)
    • The NBC schedule page will be the go to destination for anyone living in the U.S. wanting to watch handball during the Olympics. Each match has a link to either the Live or On Demand video and it automatically adjusts the schedule to your time zone. Very importantly, the site also doesn’t have spoilers with the results of the matches.
  • Wikipedia:
    • Men’s Competition
    • Women’s Competition
    • I’m a huge fan of the Wikipedia pages for major handball competitions as most of the information I’m looking for is all in one place at an easy to navigate website without a lot of bells and whistles.

Competition Format

Both the Men’s and Women’s competition have the same relatively straightforward competition format.

  • GROUP PLAY: The 12 teams are divided into two groups of 6 and play a round robin
    • Matches during group play can end in a draw
    • The top 4 teams from each group advance to an 8 team knockout tourney
    • Rules for ranking and tiebreakers:
      1. Points (2 for a win; 1 for a draw)
      2. Head-to-head points
      3. Head-to-head goal difference
      4. Head-to-head goals scored
      5. All matches goal difference
      6. All matches goals scored
      7. Draw lots
  • KNOCKOUT TOURNEY
    • Matches during the knockout tourney cannot end in a draw
      • If the match is tied at the end of regulation two five minute periods of Extra Time are played
      • If the match is still tied after the first two periods of Extra Time another Extra Time with two more five minute periods is played
      • If the match is still tied after the 2nd Extra Time a penalty shoot out with similar rules to soccer is played until there is a winner.
    • Quarterfinal pairings
      • One half of the bracket will be (A1 vs B4) and (B2 vs A3)
      • The other half of the bracket will be (B1 vs A4) and (A2 vs B3)
    • The quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals.
    • The semifinal winners play for gold and the semifinal losers play for bronze.

Notes:

  • Throughout Group Play and the Knockout Tournaments, the men and women will alternate playing days and rest days.
  • The women’s competiton actually starts on Thursday, 25 July, the day before the opening ceremonies. There is no competition on Friday, 26 July, the day of opening ceremeonies and then the Men start play on Saturday, 27 July.
  • Group play matches will be played at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles and then the rest of the competition starting with the quarterfinals will move to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille.

USA Handball Talk (Episode 23): DEFCON 3

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:14 — 30.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

JD and John discuss the Paris 2024 Olympics Promotion Working Group, the results and statisics from the Jr Womens World Championship, how the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary style might work for the U.S. Women’s Team and the upcoming NACHC Club championships.

Here’s a summary with links to some of the items we discussed:

  • DEFCON 5 means normal conditions and DEFCON 1 means war is imminent: Link (So a lower number DEFCON is worse, not better, and this sometimes results in confusion.)
  • John and JD discussed their participation on a Paris 2024 Olympics Promotion Working Group. A link with more information on how others can volunteer will be provided when it’s available.
  • 2020 Jr Women’s World Championships Information page: Link
  • 2024 USA Jr WC Statistics: Link
  • John’s new obsession: FX’s Welcome to Wrexham: Link
  • According to Ryan Reynold’s Wikipedia page he is a dual Canadian-American citizen since 2018
  • English soccer’s pyramid… which is really more of a tower at the top: Link
  • 2024 NACHC Club Championship website: Link

Watch on YouTube or listen/download the mp3 file at the top of the page

If you have any suggestions for future topics that you would like us to consider please let us know on social media.

Don’t miss an episode:

  • Subscribe on YouTube: Link (Earliest Availability)
  • Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes: Link
  • Follow the  Team Handball Handball News podcast on Spotify: Link
  • Or use this RSS Feed to sign up for the podcast in your favorite podcast aggregator: Link

And, be sure to check out the podcast archive with interviews and great  handball discussion going all the way back to 2006: Link

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Nikola Karabatic: The Handball Goat Retires (Part 1): Intro and Match #1: OMG, He’s only 18 Years Old!

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(An 18 year old Nikola Karabatic with Montpellier head coach, Patrice Canayer, back in 2003)

Later this August, probably after the Gold Medal match at the 2024 Olympics, Nikola Karabatic will hang up his shoes and retire from handball. It’s been a long journey for him… and a long journey for me and the rest of the handball world. Like most careers one fillled with ups and down, but way more ups than most. I’m going to take a long look at those ups… but, I’ll also touch upon some of the down moments. In doing so I hope to capture his legacy and give the GOAT a proper sendoff.

Handball’s Greatest of all Time (GOAT): Don’t Even Try to Argue for anyone Else. Just Don’t…

When a professional career spans over two decades of excellence it can be a bit hard to wrap ones arms around its entire arc. Memories fade some as the great player becomes only really good and then just good with periodic reminders of that all time greatness. Younger fans of the sport who have never even seen Karabatic play when he was at his peak are may even be a little puzzled when he’s referred to as the GOAT.

Understandable… but, they need to be educated. For sure, the numbers are just ridiculous. No one has won more titles as a national team athlete or a club athlete. Just take a look at these major international tournament stats from his Wikipedia page.

I had to shrink the page several times just to get a screenshot and its pretty clear there are a lot more highs and lows. And, yes handball is a team sport and France has had a lot of good players over the years. But, make no mistake: He’s been the key cog in the French machine for the past 2 decades. 2 decades… 25 major tournaments with 11 Gold and France made the semifinals in all but 6 of them. He’s going to be a 6 time Olympian. Take a look at this list of most Olympic appearances in all sports. A lot of equestrians and shooters… He’s doing it in a rough and tumble, professonal team sport. It’s truly remarkable.

On a club level he won the national league title for the club he was playing for (in France, Germany and Spain) every year except the 2012-13 season. I guess just 3 Champions League titles is a bit of a disappointment, but it’s still pretty good. And, it’s certainly true that he’s almost always played for a really good club, but it’s not a coincidence that he has usually been the centerpiece of those really good teams.

Nobody has numbers like this. I guess Mikkel Hansen is sort of in the ballpark, but Hansen never played defense anywhere near the level of Karabatic has. And, if there are any Croats lurking that want to argue about Ivano Balic. Please… Just don’t…

Seriously, I think the only thing Balic did better than Karabatic was the “flashy” pass. And, mind you Balic wasn’t a better overall passer. No. He was just a better flashy passer. The kind of passes that make for great highlights. Whereas Karabatic generally just made effective passes that got the job done.

And, really that pretty much defines Karabatic’s entire game. Effective… doing what’s needed to get the job done… over and over and over. One could even call him the “quiet” GOAT. Quiet in that a video of career highlights the highlights aren’t that remarkable. If you know handball you certainly can appreciate them, but they aren’t the jaw dropping “spectacular move” of a Michael Jordan. Just mind numbing excellence year after year after year.

My Parallel Journey

This series is mostly about the GOAT, but it’s also about me and really any other fans out there. For me personally, Karabatic’s career parallels my journey from a casual handball fan to an uber handball fan. And, over the past 22 years I’ll estimate that I’ve seen him play around 10-30 matches/season which I’ll round off to about 450 matches in total. That’s a pretty good sample size for anyone. For an American? That’s a crazy number. I was there when he burst on the scene and I’m still here two decades later as he hangs up his shoes.

So herewith is my look back at his legacy by my estimated chronological viewing match #.

Match #1 (9 March, 2003, Montpellier, 34 vs Zagreb, 25 EHF Champions League QF): OMG, He’s Only 18

(Context: My daughter in front of the TV back in Paris and at her recent college graduation. Karabatic has been playing at a really high level for a really long time.)

It’s important to set the scene for the 1st time I remember ever seeing Nikola Karabatic play. I had been living in France for about 6 months, but I hadn’t quite figured out French television or club handball competitions for that matter. Many of the matches were on a different tier of cable service which I hadn’t paid for initially and I didn’t really understand the concept of the Champions League and that I could watch such matches.

But, I eventually figured it out and I’ll never forget sitting down on the couch to watch handball that fateful day a little over 21 years ago. 21 years… In my mind’s eye I can see my not quite 1 year old daughter crawling around as I watch. The same daughter who just recently graduated from College.

And, I can remember watching the match on a non HD set and seeing this guy named Nikola Karabatic playing and clearly being the best athlete on the court. And, I remember asking myself, “Who is this guy with the Yugoslavian name and why have I never heard of him before? I distinctly remember grabbing my laptop and googling his name, pulling up his French Wikipedia article, cutting and pasting it into some translation website and reading the entry…

And, saying to myself:

“Oh My God, He’s only 18 years old! Is that really true? Is somebody messing with Wikipedia. Is the translation not working?”

My Greatest Sports Prediction

We always remember the predictions we got right… and forget the ones we got wrong. I’ve hit a few home runs in my day. In 1988, while he was still a cadet I predicted that Troy Calhoun would some day be the Air Force Academy Head Football Coach… He’s now in his 17th season in that position. In 2013, I correctly predicted the four handball clubs that would make the 2014 Champions League Final Four and that Flensburg would win it. This preseason prediction is even documented on video.

And, on that day back in 2003, I said to myself that someone that crazy good at age 18 could very well become the greatest handball player of all time. It’s a shame I’ve got no video evidence. Just my self serving recolllection, but it’s true.

And, it would be fun to go back and watch the match again to see what exactly impressed me so much. I suspect it was a combination of his outside jumpshot and 1v1 skills. A combination that made him so very hard to guard. Don’t come out on him aggressively enough… and he’ll shoot over you into the top corner of the net. Come out on him…and he’s going to go by you for a breakthrough shot. Standard stuff, of course, he just did it really well then and eventually better than anyone else who’s ever played the game.

That 2003 Champions League season was epic as the kid led Montpellier to their first ever title. There’s a lot to be said for the Final Four in Cologne, but the two game aggregate playoff final between Montpellier and Pamplona (Portland San Antonio) was a real gem with Montpellier losing the first match in Spain by 8 only to turn the tables with a 12 goal win in the return leg.

Here’s a video highight and a post regarding that epic playoff: Link

(Karabatic with a breakthrough left handed goal vs Pamplona)

That run through the Champions League was my (and the world’s) introduction to Karabatic. But, there was more to come… a lot more.