Led by school teachers and convenience store workers, Greenland to defy all odds following historic qualification at 2023 Women's Handball Worlds
Despite not having a single full-time professional player in the team, Greenland will face reigning champions Norway in their first match at the 2023 Women's Worlds.
Handball
The excitement is palpable for the approximately 56,000 people living in Greenland.
For the first time in 22 years - and the second time in history - Greenland are about to compete at the World Women's Handball Championship.
“It is absolutely crazy that I get the experience of going to the World Championship as a Greenlander,” Greenland national team handball player Ivalu Bjerge told Olympics.com.
“Especially when it has been such a long time, since Greenland last participated. I don’t think I get to quite understand it, until I'm in the arena for the first game.”
Greenland will open their World Championship campaign against the reigning champions and favourites of Norway on Wednesday (29 November), and it will be a memorable start to the competition.
“It is the world's biggest handball tournament, and we must remember to be extremely proud and humble about being there,” Greenland coach Anders Friis said.
Greenland at the 2023 Nor.Ca. Handball Championship in June.
"A surreal" qualification for the Worlds
The fact that Greenland managed to qualify for the World Championship is history in itself.
How did a team of a taxi company owner, primary and high school teachers, convenience store workers, and university students qualify for the World Championship?
Greenland made history in June, when they claimed their first continental championship: they triumphed in the the Nor.Ca Women's Handball Championship final defeating Canada 17-15. A success which guaranteed them qualification for the World Championship.
The tournament took place on home soil in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, adding an extra layer of significance to the team's remarkable achievement..
“It was completely surreal,” recalled Ivalu Bjerge that works as an economic assistant in Denmark . “It was the third time I participated in the qualification, and we had come close before. The first time I played four years ago, we came in third place. Then two years later we finished second, and finally, this year, we won. It was very emotional for all of us.”
Bjerge played a decisive role in the final, where she gave Greenland a two-goal lead with just 19 seconds remaining. The 23-year-old left back was named the MVP of the competition.
Following the victory, the Greenland players and coaches were celebrated in a way that reminded the Danish coach Anders Friis of an event 31 years ago.
“It was probably almost like when the Denmark national football team won the European Championship in 1992. Cars drove in the streets honking and with the Greenland flag hanging out of the windows. And then there was all the attention we got from everywhere.” coach Friis said.
“It’s a very proud people. And when something like this happens, you can feel that there are some strong emotions involved and pride for the country.”
IHF World Women's Handball Championship 2023: “It will mainly be a mental task”
None of the players in the Greenland team are full-time professionals. Half of the players represent clubs in the third division in Denmark, while others play for teams in Iceland, the Faroe Island, or domestically in Greenland.
Friis, who has coached the team for six years and also works as the talent manager for the Danish team Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, classifies the team "as a really good 3rd division team in Denmark.”
In a group where Greenland will face Republic of Korea, Austria, and the reigning champions Norway at the World Championship, the expectations are modest.
“The group we got into is quite difficult,” Bjerge said, who plays for the Danish third division club NSK. “When you look at us, we don't have any full-time professionals, whereas if you just look at Norway everyone is a full-time professional. It will be difficult for us, but we just have to fight till the end and enjoy every moment.”
“It is a really tough group,” Friis adds. “In terms of results, we cannot expect anything in the three games of the preliminary round. It will mainly be a mental task.”
“We will try to set some small objectives like for example forcing Norway to have slightly longer attacks, so they cannot just make 50 counter-attack goals against us but try and keep the ball when we are attacking. It's probably not going to be particularly fun to get our ass kicked, but we have to remind each other, how big it is to be participating.”
All the fourth-place teams in each group will compete at the President’s Cup, providing Greenland with the opportunity to face teams that are more matched to their level.
However, on a team where players have had difficulties taking time off from their work and finding childcare during the World Championship, the results are not the most important.
“I’m really proud of representing Greenland, and we are all just looking forward to the experience, being on the court at the World Championship and feel the atmosphere. It’s going to be cool,” Bjerge concludes.