In Bodø Spektrum, the ball flies between the players. Although this is only training, the sweat and intensity of the players shows that handball is important to them. But playing the sport they love is not free. According to Bodø Handball Club’s (BHK) own calculations, the parents of the youngsters who play in the 16-year-old team must come up with up to NOK 40,000 in their own share this season, per player. The club, the parents and the young people themselves believe this will be too expensive. Girls 16 in BHK training in Bodø spectrum in Bodø. In order to do the sport they love, both they and their parents have to shell out large sums in travel costs. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news – I think it is very expensive. Children’s sports should be for everyone, and finances should not play any role, says BHK player Markus Emilian Klyver (15). Region nord stretches from Ålesund to Alta Morten Samuelsen is both a coach for G16 and a parent of one of the players. He says that the training fee and club fee are not large sums, but that travel is expensive for the team. Markus Emilian Klyver says it’s awkward if someone can’t join because of the family’s finances. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news – We are traveling to Oslo, Trondheim and Tromsø. Then it becomes very expensive during one season. In order for the teams to rise, they are dependent on facing good opponents. Then they have no other choice but to travel, explains Samuelsen. – After all, we do this both so that the boys can have fun and be the best they can be. If they are to have that opportunity, we have to leave the city, he says. As a coach, he tries to arrange as cheap trips as possible. – We sleep in schools and take the bus where possible. – Fortunately, we didn’t get any matches in Alta this year, we were a little afraid of that, says Morten Samuelsen. Photo: Matilde Mørk Nevertheless, the journeys are long. The series for the northern region extends from Ålesund to Alta. – I simply think we must have more support from the handball association. They have to accept that we live where we live. Samuelsen explains that in conversation with teams from other places in Norway, he gets the impression that they have not thought about the distances in the north. – They are used to almost taking the trike to away matches. – Something has to be done. Handball should not be a rich man’s sport. – Uses the confirmation money on sport – Handball is a sport that brings the nation together, but now only half the nation is represented on the national team. That’s what Katrin Kummernes, parent contact for J16 at BHK, says. – I only have one young person who plays handball, but I know of parents with several children who play the sport and then it becomes expensive, says Katrin Kummernes. Photo: Matilde Mørk She believes that the Norwegian Handball Association must be involved in finding a solution that can be good for the whole country, preferably through subsidies to the northern Norwegian teams. Kummernes tells of young people who have to pay their deductibles themselves. In addition, parents contribute with various services. – I have heard that the confirmation money has been used for deductibles. I have heard that they work in their spare time. Kummernes is not critical of young people contributing, but not if it comes at the expense of school and sports. – There must be opportunities to play handball and follow their dream on the same terms as they do in Eastern Norway. I believe expenses go hand in hand with achievements Tuva Kummernes Strandem and Markus Emilian Klyver play in Bodø Handball Club on the 16-year-old teams. They agree that something must be done with the deductibles, because they go beyond the development of the teams. – It is too expensive. If it had been cheaper for young people to play the sport they love, then there would have been more talent, says Strandem. Klyver says that it goes beyond the social welfare of the young people if they have to quit because of costs. – The handball boys that we call ourselves, they are the ones on the team. There are probably many who are kept out because they cannot participate, because of this with the economy, says Klyver. Strandem tells of youth players who have had to pay a lot themselves. – This affects our recovery and takes away the time when we should relax. Because now I really only have time for handball and school. The fact that people manage to squeeze in work is sick. After all, we only have 24 hours in the day, says Strandem. And if it becomes too difficult to carry on with handball in the north, it may affect recruitment. – What happens to the players if they lose their teammates along the way because it will be too expensive, asks Erdahl. Photo: Matilde Mørk / news That’s what Barbro Stavang Erdahl, who is chairman of Bodø Handball Club, says. She can understand that parents and players think the deductibles are too large. The young people take part in voluntary work, but even though this is part of handball and social activities, it can be too much, says Erdahl. – We have parents who say that it cannot be done. BHK has now invited the Norwegian Handball Association to Bodø to discuss what the solution is for the northern clubs. – We believe that the Norwegian Handball Association must look at how they organize the development of clubs and playing facilities in their own region. Rikard Bakke Olsson says the club wants to spend more money on developing the club. Photo: BHK Media She is supported by BHK’s general manager, Rikard Bakke Olsson, who says that BHK has had close to NOK 2 million in travel expenses this year. – You are trying to find resources to develop the club, but right now we are using all the money we can find for travel. Dilemma what the association should spend money on Kristian Valstad is section leader for club service in the Handball Association Region North. He agrees with BHK that the deductibles the parents have to pay are large, and says Region Nord wants to be part of the solutions. Kristian Valstad says the association wants to keep costs as low as possible. Photo: Svein André Svendsen / The Valstad Handball Association says that Region Nord wants to take action to increase activity in dense geographical areas. – So it is that at the age of 16 there are several teams that want to get a better sporting offer. Then the dilemma becomes; should the sporting offer be increased locally, or should the teams travel. When the Handball Association visits Bodø, they are ready to discuss solutions. He says the association already has a number of measures to equalize the costs between the clubs in northern Norway. Among other things, it is the case that in several of the series the expenses are shared equally between the clubs. The Bring series and the regional series are set up like this. – Here we want to stand up to have a meeting with the club to hear what challenges they have and what the clubs actually want from us, says Velstad.
ttn-69
Handball has become an expensive sport for young people and parents – news Nordland
