A new team is born in Denmark

When KIF Kolding director, Jens Boesen, got together with three former AG København players; Kasper Hvidt, Joachim Boldsen and Lars Jørgensen, earlier this month and announced the formation of a new team to be called ‘KIF København’, it was big news in Denmark and controversial for both experts and fans alike.

Since then the project has continued to develop, not under the banner of KIF København but ‘KIF Kolding København’, as there is already a sports club in Copenhagen using that name.

The concept however remains the same:  the creation of a team that will play its home matches both in Kolding and Copenhagen, mainly in AG København´s former home venue in Brøndbyhallen.

Apart from this, the team, which is includes former AG winger Stefan Hundstrup as well as Swedish right back Kim Andersson, is also going to organise some of its training sessions in the Copenhagen area – more than 200 kilometres from Kolding.

eurohandball.com talked to KIF Kolding director Jens Boesen about the background and the prospects for this new and quite unusual project.

eurohandball.com: How did the idea come up among you and the three former AG players?

Jens Boesen: After AG went bankrupt I was looking for new sponsors in the Copenhagen area. However, it proved impossible for us to sell sponsorship in Copenhagen, as KIF Kolding was seen as only a local brand which was not particularly interesting to potential sponsors in the capital. However, when Hvidt, Boldsen and Jørgensen heard what I was up to, they contacted me and we developed this project together.

eurohandball.com: Were you never afraid of losing local support on this? For instance, there are sky box owners who will only be able to use their sky boxes in your hall for half of the home matches now!

Jens Boesen: Of course I was afraid! Actually I shut myself away for an hour, asking myself: “Do I have the courage for this? However, as I got the green light from my board of directors, I saw no reason not to do it. 

And with regards to the sky boxes: If we get to play as many matches this season, as we expect, there will actually be more home matches in Tre-For Arena in Kolding than there were last season.

eurohandball.com: Not only is the team going to play half of the home games in Copenhagen, part of the training sessions are also taking place in the capital. Does that not cause some heavy logistic challenges?

Jens Boesen: Yes, it does, but I am sure we can solve that. People who live their lives playing handball can probably find out how to cope with that.

eurohandball.com: You have said that this project should last for the next 20 years at least. However, contracts with players as well as with sponsors expire. How do you plan to secure the future?

Jens Boesen: You just have to look at the past 20 years and see how many players and sponsors have changed within that time! If you want to be a sports organisation at the top level, you have to adjust and develop and to maintain continuity.