Staffan Olsson has had a truly remarkable handball career both as a player and as a coach. He was part of the Swedish national team nicknamed the Bengan Boys—one of the finest national teams in the history of the sport—and has won medals in all major international handball competitions. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Staffan Olsson and Bini Mustafa discuss Staffan’s historic career as well as his recent involvement with coaches and youth program development in American handball, which led the two to meet at Michael Lipov Invitational tournament in Chicago in 2019.

Jérôme Fernandez has won many handball honors and holds the record for most goals scored for the French National handball team. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Jérôme Fernandez and Bini Mustafa revisit their shared experiences, from NYC to the south of France. Jérôme also shares his recollection of the 2009 IHF World Championship finals in Zagreb, where he, as the team captain led France to victory while overcoming challenging times in his personal life.

Ivan Ignjatovic is the team captain of the New York City Team Handball Club. He has won seven US championships, one Canadian championship, eleven consecutive Northeast League titles, as well as MVG titles for almost all tournaments that he has attended. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Ivan and Bini reflect on what makes The World’s Handball Club who they are while also sharing a few memories from their long-shared handball experiences that have turned into an irreplaceable brotherhood.

Lewis Howes is an entrepreneur, influencer, and business coach. His podcast, The School of Greatness, is one of the top 100 iTunes podcasts with over 250 million downloads, and his impressive career has seen him on Ellen, The Today Show, ESPN, and many more. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Lewis Howes and Bini Mustafa talk about Lewis’ unusual start to handball in 2011, where he showed up for practice in Brooklyn, stating that he had moved to New York to learn to play handball. As it turned out, he was not joking, and Lewis went on to kickstart his handball career at age 29, making his dream of representing Team USA in international competition, and also winning some major handball events with The World’s Handball Club.

Tom O'Brannagáin is the voice of handball in all English-speaking countries, commentating for the EHF on EHFTV.com. He has also played and coached handball at an international level. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Tom and Bini Mustafa talk about how Tom got into handball and how, though they have yet to meet in person, the sport of handball connects them.

Goran Šprem played for the Croatian national team for ten years. As part of Croatia’s golden handball generation, he has won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Goran reflects on some critical moments in his career and shares his take on the recent successes of a new generation in the Croatian national team.

Xavier O'Callaghan is a two-time Olympian who played 19 seasons for FC Barcelona handball, winning many titles. His dedication to Barca has stretched for 34 years into his life. Xavi is now the Managing Director for FC Barcelona in the Americas, focusing on the expansion of Barcelona's fundamental beliefs.

Marko Savovski is the Operational Manager for RK Vardar. As current regional SEHA League and EHF Champions League title holders, Vardar is the most successful handball team in Macedonia and, as of late, among the world's most successful. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Marko shares with Bini insights from his daily life at the top of international handball. The two also recall meeting each other for the first time in Dammam in Saudi Arabia at the IHF Super Globe in 2019, despite spending countless summers just 30-minutes apart.

Divine Jackson is among the most successful American handball players ever and was recently appointed Northeast Regional Director by USA Team Handball. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, Divine and Bini discuss the US handball trajectory leading up to the Olympics in LA in 2028. They also relive a few memories from their careers, which they have mostly spend as fierce competitors. They did, however, play side-by-side, most notably, at the Big Apple tournament in NYC, where they almost did the impossible against the European All-Star team.

David Degouy is an integral part of the talent development in Montpelier, the most successful handball club in France. He runs their handball academy and works as an assistant coach to legendary Patrice Canayer. In this episode of Straight Handball Talk, David and Bini discuss what it takes to develop talent for an international top-level handball club. They also talk about New York City HC’s preparations for the 2019 IHF Super Globe, which brought the two together in Montpellier.