Two days remain before Bjaaland will present next year’s edition of Team Elon Vest, the Ski Association’s regional team. Now he is without one of the team’s best players. He has reported a transfer to Team Aker Dæhlie – after what Bjaaland believes has been a “trash, poorly handled” hunt for athletes who have been associated with his team. – The team has been withdrawn. It creates a lot of additional problems. It’s damn boring to lose the best runners. I am quite pissed off, thunders Eivind Arne Bjaaland to news. DAMN: Eivind Arne Bjaaland in Team Elon West. Photo: Privat He emphasizes that the athletes are not responsible. They have followed the book. But he gives the private team little credit for the way they have gone about recruiting for their all-round team. Bjaaland points out that a Swedish long-distance team contacted him before they started talking to the athletes, while Aker Dæhlie went straight for the athletes. – They haven’t done anything illegal, but I feel they lack respect, says Bjaaland, who was named coach of the year in Norwegian cross-country skiing in 2021. Invites dialogue The private team’s general manager, Knut Nystad, understands the frustration. He has not been directly involved in the recruitment of Elon runners, but is clear that they have not intended to step on anyone’s toes. – This is the second season Team Aker Dæhlie has existed. We have not been aware of a policy that we should call Team Elon, clubs or others to get approval to speak with the athletes after the season. We apologize for this, says Nystad to news. – Perhaps we should make it publicly known that we are looking for new performers. I have great respect for other teams being frustrated, but we also have to get runners for our team. In recent weeks, runners have been selected for national teams, recruit national teams and regional teams over the weekend. Nystad believes they do not have time to wait for all the teams to be selected. – I thought “Silly Season” belonged to the Premier League, but it clearly applies to cross-country skiing as well. Our desire is only to give runners an attractive good sporting offer that they can evaluate against other good offers, says Nystad, and extends a hand to Bjaaland: – We have not known that our dialogue with athletes was a problem, but we invite everyone who think we have done something wrong to dialogue. – We stand back, Bjaaland claims that Team Aker Dæhlie has picked up one runner and is trying for more. – Viewed in isolation, it is a file case, but for us this means a lot. We stand back. We lose NOK 200,000 from the Skiing Association out of a budget of NOK 1.5 million. It is very difficult for us, sighs Bjaaland. In the 2022/23 season, Team Elon West boasted runners such as Gjøran Tefre, WC reserve Sivert Wiig and Vebjørn Turtveit. Bjaaland believes they will not be able to replace the runners who are on their way out. – We don’t want to act rude or unsportsmanlike or to spoil anyone. We want to bring everyone together in one environment, in order to develop ourselves as best as possible. We cheer on all skiers, coaches, lubricators, parents and support staff and wish everyone only the best, even if they do not represent Team Aker Dæhlie. Fortunately, we all have the same goal, and that is to offer more people the opportunity to become the best version of themselves, concludes Nystad.
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