Lillehammer Olympic Legacy Sports Center, with support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, has developed an international leadership program for Norwegian and international sports leaders. This year’s edition had participants from Jordan, Zimbabwe, Peru and the United States, among others.

– We had a really great weekend with committed participants who really took advantage of the opportunities this program provides. The wide geographic and cultural spread of the participants has elevated the workshops and discussions to a level of their own, says enthusiastic project manager Nora Kaalstad.

Extended network
Of the 36 program participants this year, about half are from Norway, while the rest are young sports leaders from far and near.

– This program will provide new knowledge and inspiration for further involvement in sport, while we are also very interested in creating networks between participants. Norwegian participants, for example, share rooms with foreign participants, and we have separate social programs with the aim of creating friendship and rapport throughout. We believe and hope that this relationship will be useful in their future leadership positions in both Norwegian and international sport, said Kaalstad.

Nice visit
The Legacy Center and LYLP are a direct legacy of the Youth Olympics in 2016 and build on the promise of youth that Youth Olympics represents in Norwegian sport. Thus it was very inspiring for attendees when Youth Olympics chairman, Tomas Holmesstad, stopped by to share his leadership experience during Friday’s professional program.

– Tomas’ presentation was one of the highlights of the weekend, and it was very inspiring for attendees to hear how young leadership shaped the 2016 Olympics. We are both proud and humbled that we can manage this legacy further with young sports leaders as the main target group, said Kaalstad.

Tomas was one of the many talented contributors who contributed during the professional portion of the 9-12 LYLP collection. February.

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Tomas Holmesstad, who was manager during the Youth Olympics in Lillehammer in 2016, shared his leadership experience from those Games.

By young people – for young people
Over the past three years, more than 120 Norwegian and international young leaders have participated in the Lillehammer Young Leaders Programme. In collaboration with the Swedish Sports Confederation, a project group has now been formed to develop the program further in the coming years.

– The feedback from participants over the past three years has been absolutely fantastic, and we believe this is exactly the program that Norwegian and international sport needs. The entire program is based on a “by the youth, with the youth, for the youth” mindset, and all the youth sports leaders who have been involved in the planning and implementation so far deserve great credit. As we now see further enhancements to the programme, we are proud to have brought together young Swedish and Norwegian leaders in this work, said Lillehammer Olympic Legacy Sports Centre’s general manager, Per Erik Mæhlum.

Facts about the Lillehammer Young Leaders Program

• Held for the third time in winter 2023
• A total of 60 Norwegian participants and more than 60 international participants from 29 countries have participated since its inception
• This project was financed through the support of DNB Sparebankstiftelsen and the participants’ own share