Jens Boesen: It has been a fantastic journey

Since 1985, Jens Boesen has been synonymous with KIF Kolding, now KIF Kolding København. First as chairman, and in recent years as director. Actually, he has been with the club much longer, as he was guarding the goal of the team for 14 years before joining the management of the club.

In fact, KIF is a bit of a “family business”. Boesen's son, Lasse is still a backcourt player in the league team, and his youngest daughter Mia has a previous career in the women's league team.

In the late summer of 2012, Jens Boesen was also one of the driving forces when the controversial new team, KIF Kolding København was formed.

Controversial, because the team got two home ground with a distance of more than 200 kilometers between them, Koldinghallen and Brøndbyhallen.

And controversial, because the project had to unite the mentality of the Danish capital Copenhagen with the one in the province – not least among the fans. And controversial, because a project like that had never been seen in Denmark before.

Today, 61-year-old Boesen, can see the new project heading for success. In the second season of its lifetime, KIF Kolding København are not only very close to booking the ticket for the knock-out rounds of the VELUX EHF Champions League, they even have the chance to win Group B.

Their master pieces have been the two wins against KC Vive Targi Kielce over the past two weekends – 29:24 at home and 26:25 away. In the Danish league they are number one already, in spite of a surprising 27:27 draw away against SønderjyskE and a sensational 25:27 defeat away to Skanderborg.

Before KIF Kolding København was established, KIF Kolding had already written sports history in Denmark by winning 12 Danish championships between 1997 and 2009.

“It has been a fantastic journey, but not without trouble. The last five years have been tough, mainly due to the global financial crisis, but we have managed to survive that too, and our success on the handball court has contributed more to that, than many people probably imagine. Victories can pay many a bill!

"A director in the football club Brøndby once told me: If you are number seven and you have a profit of € 200,000,- people say “Is that all?” – but if you are number one and you have a deficit of 1-2 million, people say: “No problem!” Of course it has been tough from time to time, but this is what I am dedicated to and enthusiastic about, and I must say that it has been worth it all, not least due to the success on the court,” Jens Boesen told ehfCL.com.

“Without KIF Kolding København we would not have been here today”

Despite the fact that KIF Kolding managed to overcome the financial crisis and even stay in the top of Danish handball, the director claims that the forming of KIF Kolding København was a necessary step in order to secure the future.

“Without the founding of KIF Kolding København, we would not have been here today,” sounds the categorical statement from Jens Boesen.

“It would not have been possible to maintain a team who could be in the top in Denmark and also be successful in Europe based on the financial potential in Kolding alone, and even though it has been a challenge to get sponsors in the Copenhagen area, where the competition is keen, time has proved that we did the right thing last summer,” Boesen says about the construction which was made possible by the bankruptcy of AG København earlier that summer.

KIF Kolding København was founded by Jens Boesen together with the AG players Kasper Hvidt, Joachim Boldsen and Lars Jørgensen who are all playing in the team today.  

“We can compete with Kiel”

In their first season, KIF Kolding København missed the trophies. In the EHF Cup they were sent out in the quarter-finals by Danish league colleagues Team Tvis Holstebro – and in the finals for the Danish championship they lost clearly to Aalborg Handball.

This season the success really seems to be coming their way, though, as the teams is well on the road to the round of the last 16 in the Champions League and on top of the Danish league. The basis for ongoing success on the handball court also seems to be there, as the situation has also been stabilised when it comes to the financial resources.

“We have managed to turn our deficits from recent years into a profit now, and even though we anticipate a small deficit this season, our accounts should at least balance in future,” Boesen expects.

This means that he also looks to the future with confidence when talking about the chances on the court. KIF Kolding København was founded with the purpose of reaching the top of Europe, and the director firmly believes that it is possible to reach that goal.

“Our aim is to be able to compete with THW Kiel, which means being in the top eight of Europe constantly, and I believe that this goal is realistic.

"Already this season, we are on our way to proceed to the knock-our rounds of the Champions League despite a lot of injuries, and within two or three years, I consider it realistic to reach the quarter-final or even – with a bit of luck – the Velux EHF Final4. Maybe even sooner, depending on the draws we get,” Boesen added.