Meeting with the Man

Hello to all and to all, hello. It is Monday afternoon here in gloomy Germany. Jen and I have had a busy and interesting two weeks since the last time I sat down to write a blog. I’ll start with the important things and go from there.

Last Thursday morning we had the good fortune of having the chance to meet with Mr. Dieter Esch, the President of the US Handball Federation. He is a super busy man, and we were lucky he had a few hours to spare that morning. The Federation was even gracious enough to cover the meal, which included a hot AMERICAN breakfast that tasted amazing. It was great for Jen and I to hear from the Man his thoughts and feelings on handball in America and the reasons/thoughts behind the direction he wants handball in America to go. He has a grand plan and after hearing him explain the why’s and how’s, Jen and I really think he has the right mind frame and is going about it the right way. He is in a very tough position, trying to balance American handball now, and making a strong push to build for the future. His main goal is to build a program from the ground up, starting with the kids and schools and trying to create an atmosphere where handball can grow as the sport should in the sport crazed nation you live in. In the next few paragraphs I will try and outline/discuss what we talked about and what inspiring handball players can do to help themselves and what others can do to help build this sport.

One of the key points we covered is how teams and individuals are responsible for and should relish the opportunity to grow the sport locally. It must come from the ground up, not from the Federation down. The Federation is there to help and to guide but simply does not at this time have the manpower or time to set up individual school visitations, camps, demonstrations, etc., across the U.S. For the sport to grow as fast as possible, the communities where handball already has a presence, must continue to work on expansion. Chicago and New York are doing a pretty good job of this, Dieter said and he is very excited about the upcoming events in New York during the Christmas period. He hopes that will bring more attention to the sport in NYC and Nation-wide. His wish is that every city will work on making tournaments and camps, etc, a part of their general make-up.

Another key point of our conversation centered on Jen and I’s experiences. What we went through and are going through in moving to Germany and how much better our handball has become. I have said this before multiple times (I even devoted most of a blog to it) but Dieter wanted us to reemphasize that Jen and I have learned more in the five months we have been here than we learned in a combined four years of playing. Right now, there is no better way to learn the game and to learn it quickly, than moving to Germany, or Poland or Croatia. The Federation has worked on building these relationships with these countries and it provides Americans with such a great opportunity that we must take advantage. Dieter is very dedicated to having 80 young men and women playing overseas in the next year or two. If this happens, we will be well on our way to being able to compete internationally. This takes time and can be difficult to make happen, but that is where we come in. Jen and I are more than willing to discuss what we have gone through, give advice as the best way to make it happen and even help players come over. I know that Mark Ortega, currently playing for SC Pulheimer in Germany, also wants to help as much as possible. There are so many opportunities, especially for younger players, to receive a Visa (gives one the right to stay over here) and to play. Between the option of schooling and becoming an Au Poire, anybody between the age of 15-21 has a very easy road to playing overseas. We now have or soon will have support from the top leagues in Germany, Poland and Croatia who have promised to help find families/teams/jobs for players wanting to come over. The amount of learning is so great that Jen and I agree that this must be the way to go about making America a contender in PanAms and international contests as soon as possible.

I was interrupted by my beautiful fiancé and have lost my train of thought so I am going to move on. Since the last time I wrote a mear two weeks has passed. That is my fault, I am lazy and sometimes unmotivated and this is because it is now dark out almost all day and it’s cold. Winter makes people lethargic, like bears, and I am not any different. Regardless, going back two weeks takes us to Thanksgiving. Which introduced us to a very interesting situation, two people who have never cooked a Thanksgiving meal on their own before. To put it simply, we rocked it!! If we didn’t know how to cook something (Turkey, Stuffing) we made it up, if we didn’t have the proper seasoning, we threw something else in and amazingly, everything worked. We grubbed on a Turkey, mashed potatoes w/ sour cream, butter, milk and pommes frites seasoning, a variety of steamed veggies, stuffing (got really lucky making it on the stove top with water), Jen’s famous Banana Bread and croissants. Top it off with beer Jen smuggled back from her Poland trip and we might have had the best Thanksgiving meal this side of the Atlantic. The saying really is true, everything tastes better when you make it yourself. Our roommate Aniko joined us for the meal and simply stated, “I will find you every Thanksgiving to eat.” We took it as a compliment.

Two Saturdays ago, perhaps feeling a little Thanksgiving hangover, TV Grenzach and ESV Weil am Rhein both suffered losses. Weil simply got their asses handed to them in a poor showing, both offensively and defensively. I believe the score was 35 – 24, embarrassing. I did not play to well either, scored the first goal of the game, went downhill from there. Working on erasing the loss from my head so that is all I will comment on it. Jen teams on the other hand lost a close game by 1 goal. She played on Sunday and I, on Saturday and so I was able to watch her play for the first time this year. I was very impressed with her aggressiveness on offense and continued stellar play on defense. She scored five goals, her most explosive output in the league so far. I think she definitely gained some confidence in Poland and is finally feeling a little more comfortable on the offensive end. She is capable of scoring 5+ every game and I would expect to see those types of numbers from her from here on out.

This past weekend saw a return to dominance, TV Grenzach played their best defensive game of the year only giving up 20 goals. Jen scored four goals in a very low scoring game. They won by two. Weil put together an okay game against one of the worst teams in the league. After leading by one or two for the first 40 minutes Weil busted open and ended up winning by six, I think. I had three goals but still haven’t gotten to be where I wanna be offensively yet. One game was very good but since than I have struggled a little. Regardless, we both play this upcoming Saturday and than have a break until January 9. Jen also has a Cup game on Thursday, I am excited to have the chance to watch her play again.

We are both itching to come home. We fly out next Monday, the 14th. We are going out with my teammates on Sunday to celebrate my birthday and the completion of the first part of the season. Should be a good time. There are a lot of things we miss back home, namely family and friends and we can’t wait to be able to spend time with them over the Holidays. I have to get ready for practice so we are checking out.

Until next time, love and peace.

To Aunt Candy Kane, Happy belated Birthday!!!!! Also Happy Birthday again to Mike Ferns and Jon Kimball!!!

Can't wait to see the Northeast so soon!!!