Twenty years ago in Bryne, a small Norwegian city near the North Sea, a group of elementary school-age kids gathered most weekends to play pickup games at an indoor soccer field.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The soccer dome was often left unlocked, allowing local kids year-round opportunities to play.The kids later told researchers that they would often would break themselves into teams and imagine they were playing someplace much bigger than their hometown of about 11,000.
They referred to their game as “World Cup.” One of those kids from Bryne was a tall, blond goal-scoring whiz named Erling Haaland, who grew up to be one of the most prolific and famous goal-scorers in the world.On Tuesday, Haaland will lead Norway into the real World Cup — the country’s first appearance in 28 years.
There is no denying the role of Haaland’s pedigree in his rise to stardom.His father played in England’s Premier League and for the last Norwegian national team that made the World Cup in 1998.
But Haaland is also the product of a Norwegian youth sports system that is considered the most progressive in the world.Its focus on developing children through sports has produced sky-high participation rates — but also gold-medal-winning success unparalleled for a country its size.
The foundation of Norway’s youth system is built on eight principles that form the country’s “Children’s Rights in Sports.” Since they were adopted 40 years ago, those principles establish that children have a right to participate in sports no matter their family’s finances; to compete for fun, in training designed to foster friendship and solidarity; to play in safe environments; and to have their opinions heard by coaches.How many sports a child plays is up to them.
Though kids can start playing for local teams at the age of 6, they can’t travel for regional competitions until they are 9.Results and rankings...