– Ludvik has played a lot outside and featured prominently in last year’s EC U16, EYBL and Scania Cup. A 2.10 is rare fodder for us, and it’s great that he’s getting the challenge he needs, said Brent Hackman, sporting director at the Basketball Association of Norway.

The invitation has been sent and communicated by the NBA and FIBA​​through the NBBF.

– It also shows that Norwegian basketball is seen and followed. We are getting more and more players performing at a high level internationally, said Hackman.

This is the 20th time that the NBA and FIBA ​​have hosted an Unlimited Basketball (BWB) camp. This year’s European camp has been added to the WKK Sport Center in Wroclaw, while talent from North, Central and South America, Africa and Asia have held their camps in Montreal, Johannesburg and Abi Dhabi.

In addition, there are so-called “Global Camps” for boys and girls, which are being held in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas this summer.

Sjølund in 2016 and 2017

Since its founding in 2001, BWB has hosted 64 camps in 40 cities across 30 countries and six continents, with 3,700 participants from 133 countries.

Kristian Sjølund was selected for the camp in Kisakallio in Finland in 2016 and the following year the current national team A player moved up to the “Global Camp” in New Orleans.

Ludvik Bergseng and other participants get flights and accommodation, all transportation, food and insurance are covered during the camp. They are met at the airport and have their own guide and security officers who always accompany the players.

Coaches and players from the NBA and clubs in Europe will lead training sessions, and participants will also undergo leadership training and be known as “across national borders”.

– I only found out about the camp the other day, says Ludvik Bergseng.

– I think I just went to Aris.

To Greece

Greek top club Aris had invited Ludvik to a one-week training camp in Thessaloniki, but with the NBA’s invitation, the 16-year-old and his parents had to change their plans, as the camp in Wroclaw collided with the first weekend in Thessaloniki.

Now centers Sandvika and Bærum traveled directly from Poland to Greece, paid for by the NBA and FIBA, and spent the final five days with Aris.

– I am very excited to get to know the outside world and where is the level in Europe, how am I doing, he said.

– The level will be higher than what I have participated in before, here the best of the countries in the A-EC meet, emphasized Ludvik, who has received many inquiries from the club after his season with Sandvika in the EYBL Europa League and especially after he became MVP and top scorer at the Scania Cup in Södertälje at Easter this year, when he led Sandvika to bronze.

Bedridden by kissing sickness

But then the summer turned into a nightmare.

– I got sick a week before the Nordic, and must have been sick before too. I was so tired after my workout and had huge lymph nodes and all kinds of symptoms. But I practiced without knowing it was a kissing disease, I thought it was just the heat, he said.

Instead, he was bedridden for a week and a half and missed the Nordic and B-EC Championships with the U18 national team – a very weak team without 2.10 players and guaranteed goalscoring, rebounds and blocks.

– But when they played the last match of the European Championship, I just started training again. It started with going for a walk and doing some light strength sessions where I was barely lifting air. “After six weeks I’m completely healthy, and having a rest after a long season is also a good thing,” said Ludvik.

– The shape is getting better, slowly but surely I’m recovering. I responded well after training with Bærum started at the end of last week. “I feel like I’ve taken back what I lost and hope I’m in pretty good shape for camp,” he stressed.

Bærum or abroad?

Whether there will be a game with Bærum in BLNO or a new daily life abroad next season, he doesn’t know.

– We’ll see how it goes at Aris, but it’s quite possible to succeed in Poland and get other offers. I have to open as many doors as I can, and I also have fun in Bærum, with a good day of training and school is no exception, says the 16-year-old, who is scheduled to start second grade at NTG.

– I especially want to come to a place where levels and everyday life are better than what I had in Norway, but I will consider carefully what is best for me and will not jump to the first and best offer.