(In my re-imagined “Chase your Dreams” project, Lewis Howes uses his platform to find new crossover women athletes and then chronicles their efforts to make the 2028 Olympic Team)
Social media influencer and podcaster, Lewis Howes, has lately been providing some great publicity for handball in the U.S. He first started chronicling his effort to jumpstart his handball career to make the 2028 USA Men’s Olympic Handball team. There’s a YouTube docuseries and he was interviewed on the EHF “The Spin” podcast. Now he’s the new owner and President of the Los Angeles Team Handball Club and has raised (as of this posting) over $75,000 on GoFundMe to support his and LA’s Olympic Handball Dreams.
I’ve mostly been amused by this quixotic quest. Unrealistic, but mostly harmless and great publicity for our sport. I’m also pleased to see that his personal quest has now been expanded to include support to other athletes seeking to make the 28 Olympic Team.
An Unrealistic Quixotic Quest
So why do I assess this quest to be quixotic? Unrealistic with a very low likelihood of success?
First, let’s take a closer look at his athletic resume. A resume that is solid, but one that has been amplified considerably by very effective marketing. Lewis Howes is an NCAA Football record holder, was an NCAA All American in both football and track & field and played professional football. Those are all true statements, and I think some people immediately paint a picture of a D1 career at some prominent college followed by a promising NFL career cut short by injury. Not quite… Lewis Howes did play football in college, but he mostly played at the Division 3 level, the 4th and lowest level of college football. Athletes receive no scholarships and everyone plays simply for the love of the game. And, while he did play professionally after college it was with the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the AF2, which was actually a minor league under the now defunct Arena Football League.
While this context makes the resume less impressive it would also be very wrong to dismiss these achievements. In particular, it would seem that Howes was at least a D2 level athlete competing against D3 competition. In fact, one little noted aspect of his athletic resume was his 2001 Freshman season at D2 Southwest Minnesota St where he saw very limited playing time. I’m guessing he received a partial scholarship to attend college there and, for one reason or another, it didn’t work out. And, with the transfer rules at the time athletes either had to sit out a year or drop to a lower division which he did with a transfer to D3 Principia College in Ohio. His football record of 17 receptions for 418 yards in a game still stands and is a monster game at any level. Incidentally, this game wasn’t a blowout. In fact, his team lost 42-35. He played two years at Principia and then two years at Capital College, a more established and competitive D3 program. It’s hard to really know, but I suspect he was the type of player that in today’s simpler transfer framework could have received offers to transfer to a D2 or even a lower level D1 program. 418 receiving yards in a game?… There are coaches that would definitely take a look see at an athlete that did that.
And while Arena Football is a long, long way from the NFL, if you’ve ever attended a game in person you’ll quickly realize that it’s for real, competitive football. There were quite a few good college football players who didn’t make the NFL so it was still pretty tough to make an Arena Football roster. And, for a D3 athlete to make it against athletes from bigger schools is a significant achievement.
USA Team Handball: A Long History of Decent Athletes Giving Handball a Try
So, what I’m saying here? All, I’m saying is like many others before him, Lewis Howes is a decent American athlete who decided to give handball a try after running out of options in his primary sport. This reality has been true for EVERY SINGLE STATESIDE AMERICAN ATHLETE since the sport was introduced in this country. Yes, 100%… every athlete born and raised in the U.S. has only started to seriously play handball after their other sporting careers have played out. This happens at different points. Post college, post high school, heck, even in high school, now. But it’s what’s happened… EVERY SINGLE TIME.
There is no shame in that and, as far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier. But, we want to get those ahtletes at age 22… not age 42. And, while Howes has played handball before for the U.S. National Team he did so during one of the weaker eras in our history. An era where there was no residency program and only limited utilization of our dual citizen athlete pool. The teams of that era were so weak… there was plenty of room for a good athlete like Howes with very limited handball experience to make a U.S. roster. I’m pretty sure that if Howes, in his 20s had participated in a residency program like the one I participated in the 1990s that he would have had a very good chance of making the 1996 Olympic team. He wouldn’t have been a “lock” to make it, but he would competed well for one of the coveted roster spots.
Making the 2028 Olympic Team?
I don’t know for sure, but I think Howes’ previous experience with the National team is clouding his perception of what he’s capable of achieving. He was one of the better athletes and overall the technical handball skills of those U.S. teams he played were fairly low. I suspect that he assessed (correctly, in my opinion) that if he truly focused on his development as a handball player in a quality training atmosphere that he would eventually be one of the best players, maybe even the best player on the team.
Alas, this is not a weaker era for the U.S. Men’s National Team and Lewis Howes is now 42 years old. Our current Men’s National Team would clobber the teams he played for by around 20 goals. In terms of raw athletic talent the athletes on the current roster are similar to the raw talent he had in his 20s. Maybe, his 20 something athletic prowess is slightly better in some areas, but, for sure, no one on the team would be totally outclassed athletically. In terms of technical handball skills… every single athlete on the team has him beat by a considerable margin. And, this goes pretty far down on the depth chart.
And, he’s 42 years old. I saw him play for the California Eagles at the NACHC Club Championships in Las Vegas this summer. He’s a decent 42 year old player, but nothing special. And, against quicker, younger, elite competition that knows how to play handball he’s going to struggle. Multiple times I saw him get beat 1v1. Side to side movement declines significantly as one ages… I know this from personal experience. There’s no shame in that… It happens to everyone.
A “Mostly” Harmlesss Quest, but…Some Cause for Concern
The commonly quoted axiom that almost always applies to handball in the U.S. is that “Any publicity is good publicity.” Whether it’s Jake Cutler or Pat McAffee talking nonsense about how their boys who’ve never played the sport can win an Olympic gold medal it gets people talking about the sport of handball and by default introducing the sport to more people in this country.
Howes’ positive messages regarding his love of handball are great and he’s gotten people, most of whom know next to nothing about the the sport to donate money. That’s awesome! Kind of amazing, when you think about it.
But, at the same time he has said a few things in interviews that I strongly disagree with and give me some concern. In this clip from his interview on “The Spin” he talks about how his leadership could help bring a team of stateside and overseas Americans together. Having observed the U.S. team and chatted with players and coaches for the past 6 years I would assess this as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Even more troubling were some comments he made on a podcast with NYC’s Bini Moustafa during the pandemic where he highlighted how he first made the U.S. National Team via his networking skills. Does he think he can do it again with a modified, but similar campaign? That USA Team Handball can be persuaded to leave one roster spot for an aging, but still decent athlete that can provide leadership, marketing and exposure for the sport.
I’d like to think that the current USA Team Handball Coaching/Management team would stand firmly in the way of such a possibility. That roster decisions will simply be a matter that will be decided by athlete merit, but with everything that has taken place in the past year… I’ve got my doubts.
Yes, I was shaking my head and sighing as I typed the last sentence. Let’s move on to some real positive aspects of this effort and a proposed reboot that could really make a difference.
Suppporting the Dreams of Other Athletes and a Suggested Pivot to Focus on Women’s Athlete Development
While folks might be skeptical of a 42 year old athlete chasing their dreams everyone should get behind an effort that seeks to do the same for other athletes. As oulined in the GoFundMe page the club’s mission is to “provide athletes of all ages—youth, juniors, men, and women—a place to learn, play, and improve their handball skills.” And, the money being raised will be use to provide facilities, coaching, equipment and travel. I’m not very excited about paying for athlete travel costs, but I’m certainly down with the aim to restore Los Angeles as a premier hub for handball excellence. The Olympics are coming to town in 3 years. It just makes sense and we should already be doing something like this.
However, while I believe all athletes are worthy of help… I’ll make a pitch here for this effort to strongly consider a pivot to focus on the dreams of women athletes. The reason for this is simply pragmatic. During the 2024 Olympics I wrote a candid commentary on just how very unlikely it was for a male newcomer to the sport to make our 2028 Olympic team and, in turn, how very feasible it was for a female newcomer to make the 2028 Olympic team. The difference is night and day and the women’s national team situation is dire. We are currently on a path to very uncompetitive, very embarassing results in 3 years. Help is needed… yesterday.
And, I’ll tell you something… If Lewis Howes was Linda Howes, a 42 year old female athlete with a similar pedigree… I’d still be skeptical about her Chase Your Dreams project, but I wouldn’t write it off. The current talent level on the U.S. Women’s National Team is such that a great athlete, even at age 42, with proper training could very quickly find a roster spot.
But, LA THC and Lewis Howes don’t have to go after women in their 40s and 30s. They could scour the LA basin for top athletes in their early 20s. Howes could use his social media platforms (10M across IG, X and Facebook) to get the word out. And, the message, “of train to be an Handball Olympian with me in LA” would not be a car salesmanlike “what am I not being told here?” situation. No, it would be 100% legit. He could even shift his docuseries to focus on these new women athletes. From their first practice in LA, to their training in Europe, to their first national team appearance and on to the Olympic Games. Maybe even use his marketing acumen to turn a youtube show into a reality show on a major platform for a broader audience.
I don’t think LA has even fielded a Women’s team for several years, but with the right focus and resources, I think they could win a National Title as early as next spring. Heck, the core of the 2028 Olympic Team could eventually come from an LA based program. This may not be the personal dream Lewis Howes envisioned, but it’s still a rewarding one.
From personal experience, I saw my own Olympic dreams fall short, but I took some solace in being a part of another athlete’s (Dave DeGraaf, 96 Olympian) journey to reach their dreams. And, that was just a supporting role for one athlete. Lewis Howes is not going to be an Olympian, but he could be the catalyst directly responsible for fielding a large chunk of our Women’s Olympic Team… He really could and, if he did so, it would truly be “Greatness.”
