Sour Smell: Norwegian Teenager’s Sports Journey – NRK Sport

– I have a guest room and it is full of things. And then I have a store where there are collections from different years. But I’m not going to leave it to rot in a store, then I’d rather take it and deliver it to someone who needs it more, says Norway’s captain Vetle Eck Aga to NRK.

– So you can simply secure an Aga suit?

– It is entirely possible. I have a lot in the cupboard, so if anyone wants it, just ask.

There are a lot of overcrowded cupboards and stalls with training clothes that are no longer used by the Norwegian stars.

As a rule, there are new collections for each championship.

For the Norwegian goalkeeper, Torbjørn Bergerud, who made his debut on the Norwegian national handball team back in June 2013, it means box upon box of clothes that have been put away.

– It’s more at home with mum, I think. They run and clean the house now, so I think some of it is simply thrown away. But at least I hope the suits will continue.

Thomas Solstad has taken action. Or, that is to say, he got help from his girlfriend.

– Fortunately, I now have a boyfriend who has gone through and sold quite a few things. So now I’ve actually got rid of a lot, says Solstad.

Stop giving out free clothes

In a room at the Norwegian national team’s player hotel, it looks more like a sports shop. Here are t-shirts, training pants and socks in stack after stack, sorted by size.

Here you will also find the Norwegian uniforms that the players wear during the championship.

– It’s a bit more work for us, but it’s going well, says team administrator Beate Sødal, who is one of the people who ensures that the players always find their size and that there is always clean and complete clothing available.

The handball association has been fed up with large quantities of training clothes lying around unused.

During the EC this year, for the first time, free training clothes will not be distributed to the players. Instead, they can only borrow what they need.

– Firstly, it has an economic perspective, but then we also see it in a context of sustainability, says Erling Strand, who is administrative manager for Norway’s national teams.

The initiative has all been tested on younger national teams. Here they were given two t-shirts, a hoodie and training trousers for a week’s trip.

– It went well. But it is clear that at the end it smelled a bit like a sour Norwegian teenager, says Strand and laughs.

Reduces the number of national team kits

But it’s not just the training clothes that are tightened. The international confederations have long had a requirement that each team should bring three different kits in different colours.

This year, Norway has been successful because it is enough to take two with you.

For the men, it means a championship in red and white suits, while the classic blue has been left at home.

– There will be quite a few suits, so to speak. Each player usually brings three suits from each set. The defensive players and linebackers may have up to four sets of each suit. But it is rare that there is a need for three different colors in a championship, says Strand to NRK.

In other words, it has not been unusual to have between 170 and 200 uniforms for a team in a championship.

As the clothing for the national team players is part of the association’s sponsorship agreement, Strand will not go into how big the clothing budget is for the various national teams.

But he has no doubt that this is more profitable for both the environment and the economy.

– The value we have of cloth is considerable.

Don’t wash yourself

The national team players NRK have spoken with praise for the new move.

– Fantastic! It’s very nice that we players don’t have to travel with a lot of luggage and have to keep track of it, when we travel so much back and forth, says star player Sander Sagosen and adds;

– And it is also good for the environment that we can reduce the use of training clothes. That a bag doesn’t just disappear here and there.

Norway’s goalkeeper champion Torbjørn Bergerud is happy that there is less for them to think about during a busy travel day.

– Recycling is probably a good thing. One thing is the calculation part, but then we always have some “surrehats” who lost their clothes. It is better that those who have a little more order than us take care of it.