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Is it just me or is the word elite being used more and more within talent development settings? Im seeing academy's popping up in Scandinavia and Europe, with the word elite in the title. I saw a boys U15 team at the Partille Cup called T**** Elite. For the benefit of this post we'l call them Clevedon Elite from here on out. From now one whenever you read Clevedon elite, think 'boys under 15 handball team'.
Lets dig down into this. What is elite?
Before i go any further, i should say that i have a suspicion that the answer to my question lies within the growth & commercialisation of Handball on a worldwide scale in the last decade.
There is no doubt that Handball has seen huge commercial development in recent years - both domestically in most established handball Nations, and in Europe as evidenced by the EHF Champions league which, for the first time ever will award this years winner with a juicy payout of €1 million Euro's! For the first time ever the best Handball players are earning football-esque salaries. A report from sportekz.com suggests that PSG's Mikkel Hansen earns upwards of €120k per month - this eclipses the salaries of the last decade.
We'l come back to this..
When i think of an elite Handball player i think of the best of the best. A player' who has been at the top of the game for period time, achieving accolades along the way. Mikkel Hansen is elite. Andrea Lekic is elite. Nikola Karabatic and Christine Neagu were elite. By that logic no junior or youth, or even newcomer to senior handball is anywhere near worthy of the title elite'. Sorry Clevedon Elite.
Might the reason for the gradual increase in the word 'elite' be a result of our perception of the word? Have we somehow degraded the term? Is it being used to describe the goal of the team or institution? "Clevedon Elite - Developing elite handball players" for example. That being the case, is there an assumption that an elite handball player can be developed and completed during the youth age-groups, like some sort of factory conveyer-belt? Is it being used to look or sound like an attractive proposition for young handball players? Some sort of sales-ploy to attract the best young talent?
Lets try to find a spiffy definition for elite.
A fairly lengthy review of the literature doesn't really produce a common definition. Some authors have used world records to track elite performance over time, but also the top 10 or more performances each year. Other authors define elite athletes as academy or university competitors, national or international level competitors, medal winners, Olympians, professional or semi-professional, world-class, performing within some percentage of world records, experienced, and training frequently.
We'l use this as starting point.
Im not for one second having 'academy', 'university/varsity level athletes', or 'national competitors' fitting into any reasonable definition of eliteness. If elite status is so easily attained, what comes after elite? God-like? Not having it, sorry.
Professionalism would also need defining (income above a certain level or full-time?). There are vast differences in earning potential between sports, depending on popularity and commercial support. Usain Bolt was perhaps, by definition semi-professional but would very much fit into the category of elite. On that basis i don't think the professional category should determine the eliteness of an athlete.
Experienced? Training frequently? Im an experienced squash player and I train frequently. Elite would be the last word i'd use to describe the extent of my squash ability. Auf Wiedersehen.
Okay - We're left with Olympians, world-class, world-record or accolade receiving.
I'd tend to agree with these 3 standards of elite, but i guess its the right time to question the difference between individual sports and team sports.
You could be, by definition, elite if you have competed by right at an Olympics Games as an individual athlete. That assumes of course that you or you qualified through a stringent qualification process.
You're probably not elite if you are player number #16 in a Handball or team. There will definitely be elite players within a handball team that has qualified for an Olympic Games, but a blanket elite status for anyone who has appeared at an Olympics Games cannot be an effective measure. So thats out.
Lets change our last statement to World-class, world record, or accolade receiving (that might be a key performer in the Olympic Games)
World-class is a difficult measure as it might also be a subjective description based on ones' own understanding of world-class'ness. My nephew reckons i'm a world class squash player. But thats because i'm the only person he's ever seen play squash. If i'm the best he's ever seen then it seems sensible for him to assume I am world-class.
Naaaah. Im sorry but in order for world-class to qualify as a measure of eliteness, there would need to be some sort of assigned criteria. Like, how reputable the sport is, or how well established the league structure is. Now if you were to say 'participation in one of the top teams in one of the highest professional leagues', then that might be a decent measure of world-class, and as such, elite status. Thats something i could get onboard with.
What we sayin' team? Bundesliga, Starligue? How many leagues? Top 3? Top 6?
The problem with Handball is that some of the worlds best team's play in obscure leagues around Europe, win their domestic leagues by 10,000 points every season and use their real energy in the Champions league.
According to EHF's latest league Coefficient rankings the three best leagues in Europe are German Bundesliga, French Starligue, and Hungarian K&H Liga. By this logic no player from teams like FC Barcelona (Spain), Kielce (Poland), Aalborg (Denmark) could be placed in the elite category. Not happening.
On the women's side, the best leagues in Europe are the Hungarian K&H Liga, Romanian Liga National, and Russian Superleague. By the same logic, no players from teams like Kristiansand Vipers (Norway), Team Esbjerg and Odense (Denmark), ŽRK Budućnost (Montenegro), a whole heap of Russian teams would could be place in the elite category. Again, not happening.
Taking this into consideration, our best option is to use the EHF Champions league as the designated 'top professional league'. On the mens side this would allow players from any of this seasons' 16 Champions league teams to earn elite status - notable inductions of Barcelona (Spain), Kielce (Poland), Aalborg (Denmark), and Elverum (Norway). On the women's side there would be a much wider spread of top teams, and would include players from such teams as Kristiansand Vipers (Norway), Team Esbjerg and Odense (Denmark), ŽRK Budućnost (Montenegro), a whole heap of Russian teams.
Love it.
Okay, Lets change our last statement to World record or accolade receiving (who might be a key player with Olympian status, and must play a key role in their EHF Champions League participating team).
We're getting there folks.
World record or accolade receiving.
On the basis that Handball is a team invasion game where the objective is to score one more goal that your opponent, there are a very limited number of world records an individual player can win.
World records are typically linked to individual sports or sports which use things like time, distance, weight etc. as the only measure of placing competitors. Running, throwing, and weightlifting, for example.
Individual world records in Handball might include stuff like 'most goals scored in a match'. On that note Kjetil Strand coaches the local partner club to the one i'm coaching at...
Shout out Boysen. @RasmusBoysen92, twitter.
Seriously though, as much as i loved that epic Kjetil Strand goal fest, I feel like its a bit too 'open to interpretation'. There are no doubt people who put Strand in the elite category. Others wouldn't.
With that said i'm going to make an executive decision and say that World Records in Handball do not, i repeat, do not qualify a player for elite status.
"Accolade receiving" on the other hand is criteria I will be entertaining.
accolade /ˈakəleɪd,ˌakəˈleɪd/ noun
1. an award or privilege granted as a special honour or as an acknowledgement of merit.
The most valuable accolades, or individual awards in world handball are most certainly the EHF Player of the Year and the IHF Player of the year
The IHF World Player of the Year is a handball award given annually to the player who is considered to have performed the best in the previous season, both at club and international competitions. It is awarded based on votes from experts, media and fans.
The EHF Players of the Year are handball awards given annually to the best male and female players who are considered to have performed the best in the previous year. They are awarded based on the EHF Players of the month list of winners.
On the list of recent elite status we have the likes of Luka Cindric (Croatia), Casper Mortensen (Denmark), Petar Nenadic (Serbia), Christina Neagu (Serbia), Eduarda Amorim (Brazil), Nikola Karabatic (France), Mikkel Hansen (Denmark), Niklas Landin (Denmark), Stine Bredal Oftedal (Norway), Andrea Lekic (Serbia).
All worthy candidates.
But now i have a new problem, and that is that by this logic of defining elite we lose some truly amazing Handball players; Dika Mem, Kentin Mahe, Sander Sagosen, Christian O' Sullivan, Gøran Johannessen, Mads Mensah Larsen, Frankis Marzo to name but a few from the most recent IHF World Championships. We lose Sandra Toft, Camilla Herrem, Vladlena Bobrovnikova, Ana Debelic, Nora Mørk, Line Haugsted, Estelle Nze Minko but to name a few from the most recent EHF Women's European Championships.
Bugger it. Everyone is elite. Even you, Clevedon Elite U15 boys!
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