For this seventh edition of International Handball Week, ihf.info hears from individuals across the six IHF continental federations involved with multiple disciplines of the sport, including beach, indoor and wheelchair.

For this feature, we head to North America and the Caribbean (NACHC) and speak in-depth to Martin Bilello in his role as Handball Sport Manager at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Dedicated to handball

The all-encompassing role of ‘Handball Sport Manager’ for the Los Angeles Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 (LA28) is another one to add to a very long list for Martin Bilello and arguably, his most important to date, it being one of the most prestigious roles you can have in the sport.

The 48-year-old lives and breathes handball. A former handball player who played his entire youth career in Argentina before moving to the United States of America in 2008, Bilello got involved in the coaching and organisational side of the sport once in the US, going on to set-up teams and coach at middle and high school, plus university levels as well and, since 2016, running the only youth handball league in the United States.

At national team level Bilello has also been part of the coaching set-up for the US men’s national youth and junior indoor teams and men’s U18 men’s beach handball national team, taking them to various IHF World Championships and IHF Trophy events around the world.

Bilello is also heavily-involved with USA Team Handball (USATH), currently with their Commission of Coaching and Methodology (CCM) and as a lecturer, plus he is also a member of the NACHC Coaching and Methods Commission and NACHC lecturer. In the past, he has also been involved with the USATH Youth Development Working Group and Youth Development Committee and was also a member of the Board of Directors for club side ‘SF CalHeat’.

 

Los Angeles comes calling

And it was as head coach of the USA during one of those world championships – the first-ever edition of the IHF Men’s U17 World Championship in Morocco last year – that he heard he was going to be working at the next summer Olympic Games.

“I found out I got the role on the same day that we played our first game in Morocco,” he said, referring to the USA’s 22:21 win over the host nation at the end of October.

“I was ecstatic. I was actually on the phone on the bus as we were going to the game and then when we got back to the hotel after the game I had an email with a contract, so it was kind of a nice day.”

But Bilello did not have chance to get his feet under his LA28 as following the end of that U17 world championships he was off to the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.

“A couple of weeks after Morocco I flew to Germany to shadow their event delegates in Dortmund, for the main round and quarter-finals of the world championship. I watched how the arena was put together, how everything was prepared and learned everything from them about the venue as they were the people running the event there, alongside those from the local organising committee,” explained Bilello, who is also set to attend the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship this coming January.

“We looked at everything, the timings, the things we need to look out for, the things we need to make sure are happening and what to do if they’re not happening on time. It gave me an overview of how things should go, so I have an idea of what I need to push for and what we need to happen for our own event – handball at LA28 – to be successful.

“It's not like I know everything now – I still need to go through things – but I'm looking forward to go to other events because when I go again, I want to see things in a different way.”

 

The work starts

And in those early days of his new role, Bilello took inspiration and support from those who had walked the same path as he is now.

“When I started in the LA28 role I put a list together of the names of the people who have done this role before in previous Olympic Games and tried to contact them all,” says a smiling Bilello. “I talked with several of them to get their experience; Michael Cavanaugh (Los Angeles 1984), Bryant Johnson (Atlanta 1996), Alex Gavrilovic (Sydney 2000, London 2012), Daniela Ribeiro da Silva Novaes Coelho (Rio 2016) – who also worked in a different with handball at Tokyo 2020 and Camille Guichard (Paris 2024).

“The one thing that came across was that the Olympic Games have changed a lot with so much more structure and organisation now compared to the 1970s, 80s and 90s. It was very useful – and funny – to hear all of their stories from over the years.”

Bilello then moved full-time to the LA28 offices soon after his German experience, making the change from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area to the ‘City of Angels’ as Los Angeles is known.

“After Germany and due to the festive holidays, I didn’t move to LA until January this year, beforehand I was going back-and-forth to the office, so I really feel like I didn’t get started properly until then,” explained Bilello who had visited the city as a tourist and coached handball there previously.

“When I arrived, I knew the place already, but I just marvelled at all the Olympic and Paralympic Games paraphernalia around the LA28 office; all the mementos, the logos and the pictures of the athletes too, but I wanted to engage the community there with handball as soon as arrived.

“One of the first things I did was to take a photo of my desk and then post it and ask the handball community to help me make it representative of handball so that everybody who walks by understands that this is the place for handball,” added Bilello, who volunteered at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as a results team member for both handball and weightlifting

“Of course, I have handballs there – without resin – and everybody who walks by wants to grab them and throw them around, so that’s good, but one of the ideas I haven’t actioned yet is putting a handball goalframe around my monitor, but I think I will do it pretty soon.

“Then a few weeks later – and this is encouraged from all the sport managers – I did a handball sport initiation for the sport team here where we organised four teams of LA28 staff to play recreationally,” he continued.

“We had a lot of people attend with everyone really happy and really engaged. Since then, they have all been asking; ‘when can we do another one?’ I’m always preaching about handball; telling people when there’s an event or a competition going on they can watch. I'm always telling everybody about it and every time anyone asks me about handball, I start talking and they need to stop me. I'm a handball preacher for sure.”

Aside from being the biggest advocate for handball at LA28, Bilello’s role is jam-packed, including, but not limited to; liaising with the IHF for the development and design of competition and training venues, acting as the subject matter expert for handball within LA28, developing the competition schedule and training schedules, working on the equipment requirements, test events, liaising with timing, scoring and results plus managing and training up the workforce, including volunteers that will support the LA28 handball competitions.

“There's no typical day in the LA28 role as you're always jumping from one thing to the other,” he said. “I am still building our handball staff to deliver the event, and we are constantly interacting with all the other functional areas who are responsible for the services that we need to run the event, like food and beverage, transportation, cleaning and waste, logistics, medical, anti-doping. Every day is about talking and negotiating with one or several of them about different things.”

 

Working together for now and a future legacy

As Bilello pulls together his workforce from his LA28 office, which also includes a special ‘Athletes Fellowship Program’ lead by the Athletes department featuring former Olympians and Paralympians (“really cool”, he says), the exciting news is that this International Handball Week the ‘LA28 Volunteer Program presented by Delta Air Lines’ is now open for registrations for both Games-time roles and community volunteering with the Games now less than two years away.

“We’re excited the volunteering programme is now open for applications this week and looking to engage the community to volunteer for handball, starting by reaching out to the handball community here in the US to get involved,” he explains.

“For anyone thinking of volunteering for LA28 in any capacity I would just say to them that it is going to be the biggest Olympic Games ever and maybe even in the future too – that’s the thrill for them: to be part of the biggest event in Olympic history in the biggest Olympic city in the world.

“Being part of that is not only amazing in itself, but you can also be part of the handball event and help us to make a big splash and show off handball and what can be possible for the American public.”

And Bilello revealed that to help with that splash he is taking inspiration and support from the past.

“I talked to some of the Atlanta 1996 Olympians who played for both the US men’s and women’s handball teams 30 years ago as I know some of them,” he said. 

“I haven't talked to all of them, but I really want to engage all the handball Olympians that we have here in the US to get them involved in one way or another, for sure. It's about recognising the people that came before us and all the achievements they have. We especially need them because they are the ones that can tell the new generation what it feels like and why it's important to be an Olympian.

“Handball is coming back into the fray here in the US and I'm hoping that LA28 will spark more participation and new qualifications for our national teams moving forward,” he added. “Our handball community is doing a lot to rejuvenate the sport and bring more people, especially young people, into it. I'm positive that LA28 will have an impact on that and I'm hoping that we can sustain it after the Games have ended.”

 

Showcasing the sport to existing and new fans

12 men’s and 12 women’s teams will be taking part in the handball competitions at LA28, which take place across 46 sessions over 12 matchdays starting on 12-13 and continuing to 15-28 July.

All 76 games will be played at the Long Beach Arena in the Long Beach Zone and, like previous Olympic Games, tickets for handball are likely to be some of the hottest to have, with the second round of ticket sales opening soon in August.

So, for anyone thinking of coming to handball at LA28, why should they?

“Handball is going to be in a really nice arena and, with every session ticket for the preliminary group games, you get two high calibre games featuring the best teams in the world. But you’re also going to have a party in the area around the arena as well. There’s going to be lots of activities going on; entertainment, shops, food and drinks, for example. You’re going to have a great day,” he explains.

“I saw how it was at Paris 2024 and I would like to have that at LA28, but to make it really American like how we have it here in the US for big sporting events. It’s going to be amazing. Getting the arena to be a party, full of people for every single game: that's what drives me.

“But we are not isolated in the arena; we are part of a sports park,” he added. “We’re next to the beach, so we’re based in an environment where sports are going to be all-around, sports like artistic swimming, water polo, beach volleyball, climbing – you’re going to be part of a whole Olympic Games environment if you come to handball.”

And as we celebrate International Handball Week, Bilello took time to reflect on how his work with LA28 can help the sport he loves so much continue to develop around the world.

“Handball is my passion,” he states clearly. “What I did for handball is what I am going to be remembered for. So whatever legacy I leave is going to be through handball. That's how important handball is for me. I want to do my piece to try and make handball as big and as developed as possible while I can.”