Last week, our handball community learnt that Barry Siff, USA Team Handball CEO since April 2019, will be stepping down. This news came as a surprise for many in the United States (and abroad probably) and it is fair to ask ourselves what’s in store for the future.
After years, or one could say even decades, under the leadership of Mike Cavanaugh (Cavanaugh served three stints as ED/CEO of USA Team Handball from 1986-1997, 1999-2005 and 2014-2019), our national federation was blessed with new blood and energy to reinvigorate our sport and bring it to a more than deserved new level. Instantly, Barry brought a lot of enthusiasm and hopes to the community. His mindset, desire for inclusiveness and strong wish to further expose our sport to the media helped us get additional traction and exposure. Team Handball slowly started to be broadcasted outside of the usual Summer Olympics window. A big sponsor came on board (Verizon). A legend of our sport, Staffan Olsson, joined the organization. The IHF, contemplating, rewarded the US with wild cards for the junior (2019) and adult world championships (2025, 2027). The national teams, both women and men, were given some much needed additional pushes to accomplish their goals. But many questions remained unanswered.
Our club scene, in particular, is still left stranded. For years, clubs have been one of the main financial fuels of the federation. They’re still 100% self-funded, some are even on a ‘survival’ mode while a few clubs have vanished in the last couple of years. The number of teams at the US Club Nationals is also on the decline (36 teams in 2017, 32 in 2018 and 28 in 2019), true it’s not necessarily a reflection of our club development, but still it’s a fact. Coaching and referee education is nowhere to be seen. Youth development, and especially competition, is nearly in-existent. It is quite surprising for a country like ours to not have a youth competition going on. Staffan Olsson’s appointment came also with a lot of questions. During his brief time serving as a High-Performance Director, many could surely agree that he could have held a coaching clinic or two in the US. He did so many of those back in Europe. Obviously, his role came with a lot of challenges, but it came also at a cost. All in all, Barry left a legacy during his short time as a CEO, but he left also our community with a moral obligation to step up and develop the sport in the US starting from the club scene.
Whoever comes on board to lead USA Team Handball will be met with high expectations and demands. Besides the energy, enthusiasm and experience needed to navigate a complex organization, with numerous committees and councils, the ideal successor will require some knowledge of the sport, or at least knowledge of a team sport, to make the right choices and bring this entire community to new heights. We are in need of more qualified coaches, educators, referees, delegates and a pipeline of youth and junior players to feed our adult teams. We need more handball hubs besides New York City, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco (Calheat). In the long run, at least 50% of the US national team players should have had a US handball education and they can then be sent to Europe to further advance their skills. But is there such a profile in our organization? That’s the 1 million dollar question.
Only the future will tell, but we all hope that USA Team Handball will make the right decision, the one that will not only benefit the national teams and the IHF, but also help the clubs and local athletes to prosper. We will follow this closely. Let us know how we, clubs, can help.