03/05/2025
⁉️ Do you remember a courtroom scene from the movie “A Few Good Men” (1992) in which Jack Nicholson playing the role of Colonel Jessup delivered his famous improvised line “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”?
❓ Do we have the guts to face and handle the brutal facts as our beloved sport of handball continues to be on crossroads in the US, with women’s Senior National Teams international competition results reaching all time lows. Can we find the resolve to identify disciplined people with disciplined thoughts to take disciplined, difficult decisions and bold improvement actions?
🚧 We have been struggling in the US for many decades to attract new female athletes to handball. There are many reasons for this very unfortunate situation and I will mention a few key causes later on. However, the purposes of this piece are twofold. First, help potential new recruits as well as our coaches, both on the National Team and club level, with clearly defining and describing a general desirable background profile of those candidates. And second, propose a comprehensive battery of strength & conditioning tests that could be used to evaluate: (a) a new recruit's aptitude for playing handball on the high level as well as (b) our NT pool players’ level of conditioning for continuous training and competition selection purposes. It is a short read but includes some of those brutal truths that need to be faced and addressed.
https://playteamhandball.com/future-female-american-handball-player-background-and-fitness-profile-raising-standards-for-the-usath-wnt-pool-players
🦔 I strongly believe in the hedgehog concept (crawl-walk-run) and have been advocating for a gradual step-by-step overhaul of our WNT program with a science-based practice proven strength and conditioning as its integral part.
🏃➡️ We have to start somewhere. But must finally begin raising standards and quality of our preparations. This short introductory post only speaks broadly about what to do and does not address the critical pieces of who, when, where, how, and why should recruit, evaluate, test, train new American female handball athletes. I will come back to this topic very soon. However, the key questions about facing the brutal realities remain unanswered.
This installment clearly defines and describes a desirable background profile of new prospective female American handball player. Also, it proposes a comprehensive list of fitness qualities and corresponding strength & conditioning tests that could be used to evaluate: (1) a new recruit's aptitude f...
