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Darryl McCormack Commentating At The Olympics

Darryl McCormack

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] is pleased to announce that Darryl McCormack will be one of the commentators of the handball games at the 2008 Olympics to be aired by SBS, in partnership with TV Channel 7. The commentary team will be calling the matches at the International Broadcasting Centre in Beijing.

Darryl, who is a formidable Right Back player, has been in the Australian Men’s Team for sixteen years.  He has represented Australia in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and in the World Championships held in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.  He also has been based in Sweden playing in First Division League for the H65 club in Hoor. Having an extensive handball experience, Darryl certainly is very qualified to provide commentary on the games.

This will not be the first time that Darryl will be involved in commentating handball games.  He also did the commentary on handball games at the 2004 Olympics held in Athens, Greece. In 2004, Channel 7 in partnership with SBS, was looking for an expert handball commentator to cover some of the handball matches. The list of known handball commentators in Australia is not long, so the two networks went looking for Darryl. The TV networks had a bit of a tough time tracking Darryl down, but through contacts listed on the AHF website, they were able to obtain Darryl’s mobile number in Sweden. 

Darryl received his roster of games last week and at this stage, subject to unpredictable changes, will be commentating on 15 of the 16 days of handball competitions. He will be calling games involving a good mixture of nationalities from both men’s and women’s competitions, as well as good coverage of the quarter, semi-final and final games.

The following is Darryl’s response to the question:  Who are your picks for the Gold Medals in Beijing?

On the women’s side it is hard to see anyone beating Russia.  They have totally dominated women’s handball since winning the World Championships on home soil in 2005, and then backed this up again at the end of last year at the 2007 World Championships in France. The size, strength, speed and skills of the Russians as a whole, and the fact that the majority of the national team play in the Russian league means that it is practically impossible to find a weakness in the team.  

The absence of the Danes in Beijing, after winning the Gold at the last 3 Olympics shows a real fall from the throne of the Danish national women’s team.  The only team to shake the Russian women in international competition over the past 3 years has been Norway, who played the game of their lives to defeat Russian in the final at the 2007 European Championships.  It was great to see Norway come away with the win so that Russia does not totally dominate women’s handball.

On the men’s side, the competition is wide open.  There’s Croatia, defending Olympic Champions, Germany, current World Champions, France, who have been favourites to win a number of international competitions in the past few years.  And then there are the Danish men, surprise winners at the European Championships earlier this year, with a very solid performance throughout the tournament and played an impressive final, beating the Croatian team.  We see more and more that the most successful teams are the ones that manage to keep their key players fresh by resting them throughout the tournament and by using their bench wisely.  If this point becomes a determining factor, then the Danish and German men would be the best to fare.  There is an absence of huge stars in their teams, rather the consistent and all-round strengths of all players in these teams means their coaches are much less reliant on having to continually use a few key players to perform and produce in all games throughout the tournament.  Living in Sweden, my hope would be for the Danes to get the title, but on sheer individual brilliance it’s hard to go past the likes of Balic, Karabatic, Abalu, Dzomba in the teams of France and Croatia.

The AHF is optimistic that the broadcast of so many handball games at the Olympics will not only benefit current handball players and fans but also encourage more youth to take up/follow the sport.  In addition, AHF is hopeful that it will also draw some interest from prospective sponsors.

SBS Olympic Handball Schedule

Minister For Sport and Youth Sends Message

The Australian Handball Federation is appreciative of the support from the Federal Minister. To view the Minister's Message of Support click the link below;

Federal Minister's Message To The National Women's Team [ pdf ]

SBS Interview Bevan Calvert

Vacancy - AHF Sport Administrator ( Internship )

Invitation from a Brazilian Team

A Brazilian handball club is interested in playing in Australia in January 2009. If any Australian handball club is interested in negotiating an exchange between their club and the Brazilians with the possibility of a return trip playing against his club (which has previously played international games including against teams from Argentina), please contact

Luciano Almeida Curi at
                  geracaohandball@ibest.com.br

The invitation is open to junior, senior, male or female teams.

New Caledonia invite clubs to tournament

Handball Couple Gets Married

Lee Schofield and Katia Boyd

The very much awaited event in the Australian handball family occurred on 14^th June 2008.  Against the backdrop of the serene beauty of the bush and the sparkling water of the lagoon in the grounds of Sirromet Winery in Brisbane [Queensland], Australian handball’s first couple Lee Schofield and Katia Boyd exchanged vows to become husband and wife.  Whereas for consecutive weekends Brisbane endured stormy weather, that day was perfect – the sun was out in its glory, blue skies and soft breeze.

It was not surprising that after the family, many of the guests were Lee and Katia’s friends who have been associated with handball in one way or another.  Aside from being part of the important event, the occasion was also a time for a reunion for those who may not have seen each other for a while, as well as getting the opportunity to make new friends.

The touching ceremony was followed by a very memorable celebration, with moving speeches from the parents, ‘enlightening’ ones from the Groomsmen [handballers Darryl McCormack and Jason Hoppner] and funny lines from the Masters of Ceremony [one of whom is another handballer, Karim Shehab]. Fellow handballers Olivia Doherty was Music Consultant and Anthony Deane the Videographer.  The rest of the evening was enjoyed by all, either on the dance floor or catching up with friends.

A lot of thought went into all the aspects of the wedding.  A hotel with modern amenities and located within walking distance from Raby Bay and public transport was sourced for guests to book their accommodation.  A coach was arranged to transport guests from the resort to the wedding venue and back.  The Reception Program is a great memento of the event as it included a short narrative about everyone who attended this important milestone in the life of Katia and Lee.  This provided everyone to get to know more about those they are familiar with, and made it easier for those who just got acquainted.

A few Handball friends celebrate the wedding of Katia and Lee

The Australian Handball Federation and all in the Australian handball family congratulate and wish Katia and Lee much happiness as they embark in the new chapter of their life together as a married couple.

Application For Coaches and Team Managers

Applications are invited from suitably qualified people for the following positions:

Handball Connects People - Part 2

Being a handball parent and through my involvement in my support role in the Australian Handball Federation [AHF], I have met a number of amazing people both locally and overseas.  Recently, I made a quick trip to New York to attend an impromptu get together with my university friends.   One of the highlights of the trip was meeting in person, someone who has been a supporter of Australian handball.  This is none other than Nenad Bach, the Editor of the Croatian World Network [CROWN] website.

A few months after the 2005 World Championship held in Tunisia, one of the Australian players [Onjen Latinovic] came across the picture of Bevan Calvert included in an article published on CROWN.  I sent a short email to the Editor to thank him for acknowledging an Australian player.  Much to my pleasant surprise he replied and requested some information on Bevan.  That marked the start of a 'connection' with CROWN, which has been publishing updates on the Australian handball team and Bevan.  [see:http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/8871/1/UPDATE-ON-AUSTRALIAN-HANDBALLER-Bevan-Calvert-A-CroWorld-FRIEND.html ] Hence, CROWN has been recognised as one of AHF's friends and a link between the two websites duly established.

It was fortunate that during my unplanned trip, Nenad was not out-of-town and he and his friend, Dino Rulli, were able to meet up with me. Our friendly Webmaster agreed that it would be a good idea to do an interview article on Nenad and happily helped develop questions which I emailed to Nenad after I got back home.  Here are Nenad's responses to a few questions:

VC: Is there excitement in Croatia about the upcoming WC?
NB: In a small country like Croatia, events like World Championship is front page news.
We are building a new sport hall in Zagreb for the event, plus the whole country will be involved. As we are coming closer to January 16, 2009 you will see more articles written about the handball and championship.  

VC: Do you follow Croatian Handball closely or just the National Team?
NB: I actually didn't pay much attention to the sport at all, except by default, because our national team is phenomenal, considering of a small pool of people to chose from. What triggered my attention is Australian Handball and Croatian World Network Croatia.org connection with Bevan Calvert and your PR Team that did an amazing job promoting its national team. Then I started to pay more attention and now especially that we are      the host of the 2009 Men's World Championship (January 16th - February 1st, 2009).

VC: Which team(s) do you think will do well in the 2009 WC?
NB: I am not an expert on the subject, so beside obvious choices like Croatia, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Spain and France, there are always some surprises and that depends on a momentum that some teams achieve by a magic. Most of the time I remember that people who are somewhere in the last row of the photo when our sports teams leave for Olympic games, are usually the first one to come out of the plane with gold medals around their necks. Some people, as well teams, are calibrated for big stages. They shine under pressure.

VC: What do you know about Australian Handball?
NB: Not much, but much more than average Croatian probably. The reason is as I mentioned before, our connection with CROWN - Croatia.org and therefore, I learned on a day that Australia qualified for the 2009 games the same day. And it made me very happy that Australians are travelling to Croatia. We are two countries that are far apart on the globe, but very well connected in human stories and sensibilities. Many Croatians found home in Australia and always promote their new country as the place to visit, with the words "You will love Australia as soon as you land". Sports is a great catalyst for world peace, because it is transparent as much as it can be, plus people connect through the game regardless where they came from and what they do or make for a living. At the game we are all together on the same spiritual level. It is very close to music.
 

Dino and Nenad modelling the 2007 Australian Open Championship  T-Shirts in New Jersey [ USA ]  - photo Violi Calvert

VC: What do you expect from Australia at the coming WC?
NB: Well, all I can say that I wish you well. I know that you are not in the same league as the front runners, but all of these teams got there by participating. And you ARE participating. You have the whole organization of support that makes your team better and better; and as we see, your players are being accepted in the some of the best world leagues; where when they come back to play for the national team, they will transfer the knowledge to their own team. Croatians play all over Europe, plus desire must be stronger than pain.

VC: What made you pick Bevan's picture out of the hundreds [possibly thousands] of pictures taken during 2005 WC?
NB: Destiny.

I thought I'd also mention that aside from being the Editor of CROWN, Nenad is also an accomplished singer, songwriter and film score composer.  If you want to know more about his "music side", you can check out:  http://www.myspace.com/nenadbach .  Hopefully plans for him to tour Australia next year would materialise.  He could even catch a handball game or two, and we could also get the chance to attend his concert.  Then we can truly say that sport and music connect people. 

Violi Calvert
Media and Public Relations

AHF’s Annual General Meeting

At the Annual General Meeting held on 29 -30 March 2008 at Valentine Park, Sydney, Alex Gavrilovic and Paul Smith were re-elected in the Australian Handball Federation [AHF] Board.  Alex was re-elected by the Board as its President.  The positions held by Steven Harbort and Bronwyn Thompson are due for election next year.

The AHF Board is comprised of:

Following the AGM, the AHF had a productive planning weekend and updating policies governing its operations.  It is looking forward to a more professional and effective management of Handball events and activities in collaboration with the State associations.

From Left: Bronwyn Thomson, Alex Gavrilovic and Stephen Harbort  - Photo Violi Calvert

From Left: Paul Smith, John Calvert, Rikke Petersen and Susan Wilson-Gahan  - Photo Violi Calvert

The AHF would like to thank Tim Harbort ( Queensland ) for his contribution whilst he was one of the Directors and welcomes Susan Gahan who is his replacement. Also new to the Directors is Martin de Graaf from Western Australia. The AHF is also supported by the Webmaster and Media & Public Relations.

Handball Connects People

I am self-confessed avid fan of handball.  What has drawn me into the sport is the passion of the athletes and of those who have some form of involvement for the good of the sport.  I have met some amazing people through the sport since I got bitten by the “handball bug”.

I got acquainted with another handballer during a short visit to Hong Kong recently. Whilst playing tourist at the popular Victoria Peak which has a great view of the city, I noticed the familiar drawing on a guy’s t-shirt, of a hand and handball.  Like billboard signs, the drawing and graphics which read “hmg des Deutschen Handball-Bundes” were hard to ignore.

There I met Joern Johannsen from Germany and naturally we got talking about handball in Germany and in Australia.  I gave Joern my AHF card, to introduce him to the website.  Upon return to Australia, I related this friendly encounter with the Webmaster who suggested that I do a simple interview article on Joern.  Below are Joern’s responses to questions I emailed him:

VC:      From what age did  you start playing handball?
JJ:       I started  playing handball in 1982 when I was six years old at a mixed team of
girls and boys in my home village called Büdelsdorf, Northern Germany, close to the Danish border.

VC:     How did you get involved with handball?
JJ:      My brothers were playing before (this covers the next question) and I think I was fascinated by watching it even as small child. I also liked to spend time in our local hall to watch matches whole Sundays long and to play around on the field during breaks.

VC:     Are there others in your family who also play/played handball?  
JJ:      My older brothers Knut and Erk started at the time when I was three years old.

VC:     Which league/club did you play for?  From when to when?
JJ:      I played in the youth teams of TSV Büdelsdorf until I was 16 and got drafted to the county selection of the Northern German Handball Federation. Then I got an offer to play for THW Kiel youth team in the highest German youth league. Unfortunately, we missed to win the final of the German youth championship at that time twice.

After that I played for some years in the Third League for different clubs and two years in the semi-professional Second Federal League (Zweite Handball-Bundesliga) for TSV Altenholz.  Despite the offer from a First League Club in 2001, I did not take it up as I looked upon handball as a hobby and Law as my future profession. Last but not least, I have also been a member of the German Beach Handball National Team and took part in the first European Championship in Italy 2000.

VC:     Any additional info you wish to share re WC's or international tournaments you participated in?
JJ:      Teramo, Italy holds a very interesting youth tournament as games take place in sometimes exciting surroundings all over the beautiful Italian city. In general the tournaments in Scandinavia are big fun due to the perfect organisation and the friendly atmosphere. Concluding, I loved all off-season tournaments (even those in small neighbouring villages) because of the chance to meet friends from the handball scene and to simply have a great time.

Like I said beforehand, most handball people I have met are lovely.  Not only has he replied promptly to our questions above, Joern also extended an invitation to handball games when we are over his part of the world and made an undertaking to drop by Sydney in his next travel. That would be great so we could give him an AHF memento in return for one which he kindly left at our hotel the following day of our meeting.

Danke Joern. Übersehen Sie gelegentlich

Violi Calvert
AHF Media and Public Relations

[Congratulations to THW Kiel for winning the German Handball Trophy last weekend.]

AHF discontinues HFV's membership

The Australian Handball Federation [ AHF ] has decided to discontinue the membership of the Handball Federation of Victoria [ HFV ] to its Federation. It is important to note that one of the effects of this decision is that no members of the HFV are covered by the global insurance provided by the AHF, nor is the HFV covered for public liability or any other insurance provided by the AHF.

To see full details of this decision please click link below [ pdf ]
Official letter from AHF to HFV

Minister For Sport and Youth Sends Message

The Australian Handball Federation is appreciative of the support from the Federal Minister. To view the Minister's Message of Support click the link below;

Federal Minister's Message To The National Men's Team [ pdf ]

Kristof Wins Bronze

World University Championships

Notice of OHF AGM

Notice is given to all members and affiliated members of the Oceania Handball Federation that the 12 Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 10 April 2008 in Wellington, New Zealand.

 

For more information please click on
 'Word' Document below

OHF Notice of AGM

Notice of AHF AGM

The Australian Handball Federation's AGM will be held in Sydney on 29 March 2008. The venue will be Valentine Park. 

As per the Constitution, the position of President (Alex Gavrilovic) and one Director (Paul Smith) are up for election at this AGM.

All State Directors will advise their members that nominations are welcome and must be received as follows:

Nominations must be:

1. in writing;

2. on the prescribed form provided for that purpose;

3. signed by a nominator and a seconder, who shall be Individual Members; and

4. certified by the nominee expressing his willingness to accept the position for which he or she is nominated.

         Nominations must be received by the Secretary General at least twenty eight (28) days prior to the Annual General Meeting and shall be sent to the Members entitled to receive notice under this Constitution (being Affiliated Clubs and the State Members) of the Annual General Meeting with the agenda for that General Meeting.

         Subject to nominees having the appropriate qualifications nominations shall be open to any Individual Member.

Sally Potocki on ABC2

World Championship Diaries

We are thrilled to bring to you the popular diaries of Violi Calvert, the Australian Handball Federation's Public Relations and Media Officer, which are exclusively back for the Women's World Championships, commencing today in France. Violi

We invite you all to read her diaries by clicking on the image to the left or by clicking on the 'WC Diary' Link that is found on every page of this website.

Canberra Handball Club Wins Bronze in Tahiti

Photo - www.canberrahandball.com.au

The Australian Handball Federation congratulates Canberra Handball for a successful participation in the recently concluded Oceania Champions League.  The tournament was held in Tahiti during 28 October – 2 November 2007.  The Champions League is the major competition for handball clubs in the Oceania region.  The tournament which is in its second year, was contested this year by Dragon and Faaa from Tahiti; Mont-Dore and Dumbea from New Caledonia; Auckland from New Zealand and Canberra from Australia. 

A number of the Canberra players were unable to join the Team in the tournament.  The Team’s final composition was complemented with the loan of three players from New South Wales teams – Frederik Johansen and Giles Guillemin from Taysols; Cristoph Niebel from Sydney University.   The group of 12 players and 5 officials left for the tournament on the weekend following the Australian National Championships.

Canberra bore losses for the first two games into the competition.  A close match with the Tahitian Champion AS Dragons, saw Canberra losing its first match only by one point [15:16].  This was followed by the loss against New Caledonian and 2006 Oceania champions Mont-Dore, with the score being 14:18.

From all account the third game was a thriller, with Canberra winning the match against the local club Faaa with the score of 18:15.   The composed way the Team established and maintained a lead in the match did not give the crowd an inkling of the players anxiety following their frantic struggle to find their way to the venue following a “no-show” by the usual public bus pick-up.

Canberra’s fourth game was a win by one point against Auckland [16:15].  Game report indicated that despite a close finish, Canberra maintained a lead and controlled the game but nearer the end, Auckland closed up the gap. 

In what was another exciting game played by Canberra, the Team found chasing Dumbea from the start of the match.  By this time of the tournament, both teams were feeling the strain of intense play in preceding games.  The match ended in a draw 20:20 which meant a play-off for the third place in the tournament.

Twenty-four hours later, Dumbea and Canberra faced each other again with both sides eager to secure Bronze in the tournament.  The scores were pretty even throughout the game, with two late goals by Giles Guillemin cementing Canberra’s win with a score of 19:15.

The Oceania Champions League winner for the consecutive year was New Caledonian club Mont Dore with a score of 27:22 against Tahitian Champion Dragon. Mont Dore proved to be the strongest team in the competition by not losing a game in the six matches it played

The AHF also congratulates Canberra for being awarded the “Fair Play” trophy for having the least warnings and suspensions in the competition; and Christoph Niebel for the ‘top scorer’ trophy.  Niebel scored thirty-three goals in six games.  Credit is also given to the five officials for the valuable support they provided to the Team during the tournament.

Congratulations are also offered to Tahiti and all those involved in the conduct of a successful tournament.  There is no doubt that competition such as this, further develops and strengthens handball in the Oceania region.  AHF hopes that there will be greater club participation in future tournaments and wishes Noumea success in hosting next year’s Oceania Champions League.

Women’s Team on Sports Tonight, Wednesday, 31^st Oct

Brad McEwan interviewing Olivia Doherty - Photo John Calvert

The locally-based members of the Australian Women’s Team held their last training camp in Australia this weekend.  Head Coach, Katsu Kinoshita, put the team through rigorous exercises and moves.  

This morning Brad McEwan [Journalist] and Cameraman Dan of Sports Tonight [Channel 10] attended the camp held at Marrickville PCYC to record a story about our women’s Team.  Brad interviewed Katsu and three players [Sally Potocki, Allira Gofers-Hudson and Olivia Doherty]; Dan filmed the team as they went about their training routines.

Thanks to Petra Winkler-Hirter, the Women’s Team Masseuse who, as luck would have it, provided massage to Brad during the week.  They got talking about handball, which triggered Brad’s interest to do a story. 

Brad hopes the story would be aired on Wednesday, 31^st October on Sports Tonight following Late Night News on Channel 10 [national broadcast]. Some visions of the finals from the National Championships held in Canberra during 19^th-21^st October might also be included.

AHF Get A New Skin

The Australian Handball Federation (“AHF”) is extremely pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Australian company Skins™ Compression Garments Pty Ltd.

Skins™ is the market leader in compression performance equipment and is recognised worldwide for their use of BioAcceleration Technology™. The agreement means that Skins™ will be the official supplier of compression and therapeutic wear to the AHF.

In particular, the partnership agreement will see the Australian Women’s Team turn out in their Skins™ gear at the World Championships, being held in France this coming December.

AHF Secretary General, Lee Schofield, noted that with handball being a full body, contact sport, the training and competition schedule both in the lead up to, and during a Handball World Championships, places an enormous strain on the bodies of the athletes. Through our partnership with Skins™, and our athletes’ use of Skins™ products, we expect that the athletes will be able to train and play harder and recover much faster.

Skins™ Strategic Partnership Manager, Russell Morris said the AHF partnership was the latest in a number of agreements with Australia’s leading sports teams. “We are delighted to be associated with the Australian Women’s Handball Team in their quest for success at the 2007 World Championships. Skins™ is very keen to raise and maximise our brand awareness in Europe and the association with the Women's Australian Handball team's quest at the World Championships in France will assist us in this area.”

Skins™ is the official supplier of compression and therapeutic wear to many of Australia’s leading sporting teams and associations including Basketball Australia, Netball Australia, Hockey Australia, Rowing Australia, a number of AFL and NRL clubs and many others.

For any further information, please contact;
Lee Schofield,
Secretary General of the AHF,
on +46 730 22 66 40 or
sec-gen@handballaustralia.org.au.
For more information on Skins™,
see the Skins™ website:
www.skins.net.

Toast to Handballing Couple

-Malmo, Sweden.    

There was excitement in the air as the Handballers moved about.  This time it was not on court to win a game.  Rather this was to toast Katia Boyd and Lee Schofield on their engagement. The party was held in their new place in Malmo on 8^th September 2007.   An invitation was extended to all in the Australian handball family for this happy occasion.  However, logistics dictated that the Australian contingent’s participation in the merrymaking was carried out by Darryl McCormack, James Blondell, Joanna Blondell, Josh Parmenter, Bevan Calvert, Tim Jackson and Kim Tennant.
 

Whereas Darryl, James and Joanna are based in Sweden, Josh, Bevan, Tim and Kim travelled from Denmark to be part of this important occasion.

Lee and Darryl’s club H65 Höör and Katia’s club Lugi HK were also well represented, along with people from Lee’s workplace - Volito and some of Katia’s school friends who flew in from London.    The occasion was an informal affair, with only the nominated Best Man [Darryl] making a speech and the rest of the occasion was spent in some serious partying.  The next important event for Katia would be in France in December when she joins the Australian National Women's Team in the Women’s World Championship for the other kind of excitement. No doubt Lee would be at the sideline to cheer her and the Team on.

Gentle Hands Get Tough When Challenged

The Australian Handball Federation [AHF] congratulates the Australian Men’s Team’s Masseur, Kristof Frankowski on his recent sporting achievements.   Kristof recently participated in the World Masters Judo Championship Brazil 2007.  Of the 900 competitors from 47 countries, he was one of the few who successfully won much-coveted titles.  Kristof  won Bronze Medal in the 50-65 years, under 100 kg bracket  and Silver Medal in the 50-55 years Open Category.

These recent accomplishments were in addition to Kristof’s long list of successes in Judo Championships.  Over the years he alternately represented three countries in Judo tournaments (Poland, New Zealand and Australia).   These included: