A Faroese world champion in handball

PLEASE NOTE! This article was written and printed in Atlantic Review #4 in 2019. Not all the information is therefore up to date. For example, Jóhan á Plógv Hansen now plays handball for TSV Hannover-Burgdorf in Germany.

Written by Kári Durhuus

Sunday evening, 27 January 2019. The scoreboard in the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning reads 31–22, and the Danish men's national handball team are world champions for the first time in their history. In the squad is the young Faroese player Jóhan á Plógv Hansen. At 24 he has become a world champion in handball – just eight years after leaving the Faroe Islands for Denmark at the age of 16 to develop as a handball player.
It is a moment the young man from Tórshavn, who plays day in and day out as a right wing for Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, BSV, will of course never forget.
“That was the biggest moment of my handball journey so far, and it felt slightly unreal. My thoughts went back to all those hours in Høllin á Hálsi, where as small boys we would sometimes quietly dream of a professional life as handball players. And now here I stood with World Championship gold,” says Jóhan á Plógv, looking back on that cold and yet so warm and still winter evening in Herning.
A good month later we meet him at a training session in Bjerringbro, where he greets us gently and openly with a broad smile – ready to tell his story. It is plain that here is a young man who is thriving. A focused young man with a positive outlook and a will of steel. Those same words come back when we talk to people around Jóhan á Plógv Hansen.
The Faroese handball player in the Danish national team is known for his speed and for an outstanding jump, as well as for shooting with his left hand. Through focused training he has also acquired the right technique and the tactical mindset, points out Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen, head coach at BSV. Jóhan's good personal qualities are reflected on the handball court, the coach says.
“Jóhan is obliging, with a bright and open nature. He is mentally strong and hard to impress, which also makes it difficult to knock him off his feet in tight situations. He is aware of his own potential for development,” says Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen.

The road into the national team
Jóhan á Plógv Hansen's journey towards World Championship gold really began a good eight years earlier. He went to Skanderborg Håndbold Elite Akademi at the age of 16, at a time when he was also part of the Faroese U23 national team. At Skanderborg he quickly became a fixture at right wing – first in the U16 side, then the U18 and in the top division.
At 21 the young man from Tórshavn was named the world's best right wing at U21 national team level during the World Championship finals in Brazil, where he was part of the Danish U21 squad. Shortly before that he had also had the chance to try himself out for the Danish senior national team against Lithuania and Bosnia. He played for a spell in the top division with Skanderborg, until he became a regular in BSV's first team.
“When I was younger I never set myself the goal of, say, becoming the world's best U21 right wing or of playing for the Danish senior national team. My goals have always been shorter-term. But perhaps the short-term goals meant that as I reached them, I set myself new and higher ones. And it is probably a gradual process that has brought me to where I am today,” says Jóhan á Plógv Hansen thoughtfully.

Forced to choose a national team
Choosing the Danish national team originally came at a price, because under the rules in force it is then impossible to return to the Faroese national team. Jóhan á Plógv was 17 years old when he decided to aim for a place in the Danish U21 side, having already played one official match for the Faroese U23 team. That U23 appearance brought with it a three-year quarantine before the Faroese player could step into a Danish national team. If he was to hold out any hope of a high-level career in Danish handball, a decision had to be taken. It was taken on the basis that Faroese national team work had virtually come to a standstill at that point, and that he genuinely saw the prospect of a professional handball life in Denmark.
“It was not an entirely easy choice, but there were fewer opportunities in the Faroe Islands back then, and for me the national team is not a question of politics. It is a question of sporting experiences. I do not feel any less Faroese because of it. On the contrary, I feel like a representative of the Faroe Islands in international handball,” says Jóhan á Plógv Hansen, who is grateful for the great support and the many greetings he received from the Faroe Islands during the World Championship.
Julian Johansen was Jóhan's youth coach right before he moved to Denmark, and Julian fully understands why the young handball player chose as he did.
“Jóhan always sacrificed everything for handball, and he wanted to go far. There were too few opportunities for him in the Faroe Islands at the time, so however difficult the choice must have been for him, it was probably easier to make up his mind precisely because there was too little here for him,” says Julian Johansen.
The Danish international Nikolaj Øris Nielsen, who is also a friend and a team-mate of Jóhan's at BSV, sees a Faroese player every day who burns both for the Faroe Islands and for professional handball.
“I know that Jóhan is closely attached to the Faroe Islands, so choosing a national team was hard. But in purely handball terms he had to decide where he could develop most. That choice fell on Denmark at the time, and it has probably had a lot to do with how good he has become. I also know that he follows handball in the Faroe Islands closely, and that he is delighted by the great progress Faroese handball is making these days,” says Nikolaj Øris Nielsen.

The future in the national team
Jóhan á Plógv Hansen came into the Danish national team as the third choice for the World Championship, after Hans Lindberg picked up an injury. Jóhan was on the threshold of the national team alongside Patrick Wiesmach, whose club side is Leipzig in the German Bundesliga. Jóhan was picked ahead of Wiesmach, and there he took his turn alongside Lasse Svan Hansen, who like Lindberg has been a fixture in the national team for many years.
“I got eight matches, and that was far more than I had hoped for. Hans Lindberg's injury was what got me my chance just then. Bad luck for Lindberg and good luck for me, that is the cold reality, but for Lindberg's sake I am very glad that he was there for the final itself against Norway,” says Jóhan á Plógv Hansen.
Svan and Lindberg are 11 and 13 years older than Jóhan respectively, and although there is always a scramble for a place in the Danish national team, the question is whether Jóhan has established himself firmly enough in the side to be first-choice right wing in the years ahead.
“I hope so, of course, but there are also plenty of good players breathing down my neck. All I can do is keep training and keep developing. Then time will have to show what happens,” is Jóhan's conclusion.
When others around Jóhan á Plógv are asked the same question, the verdict is rather less hesitant. The former Danish international line player Michael V. Knudsen, who is also a friend and a team-mate of Jóhan's at BSV, reckons that at the moment there are hardly many who can threaten Jóhan on the right wing.
“For Jóhan it is about staying free of injury and continuing to build on the level he has reached in handball so far – among other things being a safe finisher when the attacks come to an end. But that also demands focused, hard training as well as discipline, and Jóhan knows that very well. He has it in him,” says Michael V. Knudsen.

It started at Kyndil
At the age of four Jóhan started mini-handball at Kyndil, and as a small boy he also played football for HB. Football and handball filled his days right through his childhood and teenage years, and as the years passed he was also rated among the best footballers.
“My aunt took me along to my first handball training session, because she coached the little ones. She played in goal herself, and so I wanted to be a goalkeeper. I kept goal up to and including U10, but when we got to U12 I moved to right back, and that is where I played for all my remaining years in the Faroe Islands,” Jóhan á Plógv Hansen explains.
His parents, Aibritt á Plógv and Jákup Egholm Hansen, saw their son thrive at both handball and football.
“He lived for ball games. It took up so much that he rarely had time to come with us on family outings or to other events,” his mother says.
In the early years Jóhan thought he was better at football than at handball, but several handball coaches had seen his talent on the handball court, and it was judged sensible for him to choose handball over football.
“Jóhan took that decision after a tournament in Dronninglund, where he was named best player, and after that he went for handball with real purpose,” his father recalls.
His parents remember well the time when their son and his friends began to develop seriously in handball.
“The coaches were good, but the boys also trained a great deal together outside the ordinary training times. They often helped the caretaker at Grønahøll, and in return they were allowed to train and play in the hall themselves – often late into the night. We were never worried, because we knew they were in the hall,” Aibritt á Plógv explains.
Høgni Klein Olsen, a friend and team-mate at Kyndil from their childhood years, also remembers that time well.
“We often trained on our own in the hall, and today I do not doubt for a moment that it gave us a great deal. It was outside the ordinary sessions that we got to play freely with the ball and try every trick imaginable. I reckon that was an important part of Jóhan's development during his teenage years,” his friend explains.

To Denmark
When Jóhan was 15, the road led to Denmark for a trial.
“We expected that he might go to Denmark at some point later on, but immediately after the trial he was offered a place at Skanderborg Håndbold Elite Akademi for a year. So suddenly there we were, having to make a decision,” says Aibritt á Plógv.
His mother is more than a little moved when she thinks back to the 16-year-old son who left the country. Like so many others, though, his parents expected it to be only for a year, and that Jóhan á Plógv would then come home again to play for Kyndil.
“We treated it as if he were going to boarding school, and we had been assured that good people were looking after him in Skanderborg. So when a year later he chose to stay on in Skanderborg, we had grown more used to having him in Denmark,” his father explains.
Coach Julian Johansen points out that players usually went abroad for a year, but it turned out differently with Jóhan, because he wanted so much from handball.
“Jóhan had a courage and a “drive” that you rarely see. There are young players today who are better than Jóhan was then in purely handball terms, but he has an attitude that can take you an awfully long way. He is always positive, and you never hear him moan,” says Julian Johansen.

Quick to adapt
His parents soon saw that Jóhan had the ability to adapt to his new surroundings.
“He is at ease with himself, and we have never noticed that he was homesick, or at any rate he has never shown it. He has a particular gift for living in the moment and taking things as they come,” his parents agree.
Everyone who has contributed to this article has pointed out that Jóhan has a positive attitude and is, so to speak, always in a good mood. But does he never get angry? Here is his own answer:
“Of course I can get angry, but I am not going to shout and yell. I think I get more upset, and I try to get over it quickly. Because there is only one thing to do, and that is to get back on the horse.
He is described both as a sociable person and as a quiet one. At first he was perhaps too quiet,” reckons his friend and team-mate Michael V. Knudsen, who is 15 years older than Jóhan.
“The age gap between us has naturally meant that I have allowed myself to give him some good advice. I have said to him now and then, when he was thinking about the national team, that he should be less quiet and show more of what he wanted,” says the former Danish international and BSV team-mate.
Alongside handball Jóhan has taken both an HH diploma and a BA in finance. It was at the business college that he met Astrid Juhl Kyhn, with whom he has lived for six years.
“I met a nice boy who was completely down to earth, but who had handball as his top priority. He did not say much, and I knew he was Faroese. But even then he sounded – frighteningly enough – like a Dane. You could not hear that he was from the Faroe Islands. I have watched a quiet boy turn into a focused, grown man,” Astrid Juhl Kyhn explains.

The future
“Jóhan does everything for the team, and he is easy to get on with,” Michael V. Knudsen continues.
The BSV coach Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen also points out that Jóhan is always ready to lend a helping hand – off the court as well. But the question is how long Bredsdorff, Knudsen and Øris can expect to keep Jóhan in Silkeborg.
“I wish him the best possible career, of course. But there is no guarantee that happiness is to be found abroad. The most important thing is to have a good everyday life,” says Peter Bredsdorff-Larsen.
Jóhan himself has that question near the front of his mind. Big clubs in both Germany and France have made enquiries about Jóhan á Plógv Hansen, but for the time being he is staying at BSV.
“It would take something special to tempt me out of Silkeborg. It would take a top team to lure me away. There would really have to be something to go to. Money is not everything in this connection. It is also a question of, for instance, the relationship with the coach, what role the club lets me have, and how much playing time I get,” states the Faroese player in Silkeborg.
On top of that, it is a question of Astrid also thriving in a new place and in new surroundings. He says this is a big decision.
“Astrid does not want to hold me back. Naturally I want her involved in everything. If she is not happy off the court, that of course affects me on it too. Hopefully we will find a place where we both want to be, if we do move. Perhaps we will go abroad for a while and come back to Silkeborg later, where we are very happy indeed,” says the Faroese BSV player.
“I am proud of him and I support him in everything. He has masses of energy, and the handball school in the Faroe Islands earlier this year, which he put together in the space of a week, is an example of that,” says Astrid.
Jóhan has a strong interest in organising handball development for children – in the Faroe Islands too. He is keen to give something back to the society that gave him so much.
The handball schools run by Jóhan and HSF sold out quickly, and the children took part excitedly alongside him and all the other well-known players from both the Faroe Islands and Denmark. His parents can well understand why Jóhan is so popular with the children.
“He has a way with children. Here in the family the children love romping about with Jóhan, and we have no doubt that he has a great deal to pass on that can benefit coming generations of handball players,” Aibritt á Plógv and Jákup Egholm Hansen agree.
“Hopefully I have 15 years left in handball at a high level. That gives me plenty of time to think about the next steps in life. The most important thing is to thrive in what you do. I am so lucky that every day I am allowed to do what I love – namely to play handball,” says Jóhan á Plógv Hansen with a broad smile.