INTEGRATING THE AMERICAN SPORT DRAFT SYSTEM INTO EUROPEAN HANDBALL

Abstract

Youth training plays an extremely important role in today’s sporting life. To this end, the Hungarian Olympic Committee, in cooperation with the Hungarian Handball Federation, has developed various training and educational programmes (e.g. Hercules). These programmes help and support young athletes throughout their careers and facilitate the selection of talented athletes. Their aim is to provide the national team with greater immersion opportunities. However, the introduction of the draft scheme we are considering will open up further opportunities for previously undiscovered athletes and professional clubs. In our research, we explore the possibility of using the draft as a selection method, a system that would give less fortunate athletes the opportunity to showcase themselves and their skills. In our country, there are many talents who remain undiscovered, mostly because they are not even given a chance to play against the big names in the low-quality county championship. The sample included coaches and club managers from teams in the Hungarian National League (NB I), the Champions League (BL), the NBI/B and a professional from the Hungarian Handball Federation. Based on these, the sample element size is 5 persons (N=5). In order to keep anonymity, I present the persons involved in my research coded as BLe (Champions League coach), NBIv (club manager of NBI team), NBI/Bv (club manager of NBI/B team), NBIe (NBI coach), MKSZm (Hungarian Handball Federation professional). During data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted using oral questioning. The first and most important aspect is to examine the respondents’ opinions and the reasons for their opinions. The interviews were conducted face-to-face and online. The interview started with an informal discussion about the functioning of the draft system and the Chinese Super League, so that the interviewees fully understood the essence of my research. This was followed by nine questions on the professional and economic viability of the new league system, an assessment of the monitoring activities of Division I coaches in junior leagues, and the opinions of sports managers on the potential of the Super League system. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the interviewees for later processing. Content analysis was used for data processing to best compare the opinions of the professionals in the sample on the respective issues. At the beginning of our research, I heard from all of the interviewees with whom I spoke about the feasibility of introducing a new draft system in the current league system, more specifically the draft system used in the United States. The answer from all of them was a clear no. Both the NBIe and the BLe have raised the issue of a league system. Currently, Europe’s top teams play in several leagues at the same time. Take the Hungarian league for example, it’s the Hungarian NBI, Champions League, SEHA League. As they play in several leagues at the same time, it is impossible to have a draft-like selection, as this helps to determine the league qualification, not the team. It is not possible to join multiple leagues at the same time for this system. Therefore, if the goal is to get into the draft, a new league system will have to be developed based on the hypothetical Chinese Super League.