The Swedish Volleyball Federation has registered 1,000 new competition-licensed players just this autumn. At the same time, table tennis clubs in major cities have between 2,000-3,000 children waiting to start playing.
We're growing so much that we're experiencing growing pains. The Olympic Games successes make us visible and heard to a much broader extent than before. So we're noticing an enormous pressure on our clubs right now, some are full and can't take in more, and finding hall times is extremely tough in major cities, says Simon Dahl, Secretary General of the Swedish Volleyball Federation.
"Working hard"
It's really sad that people have to stand in line. But we're aware of the problem at the political level and are working hard to solve it. From the federation's perspective, we decided, in connection with the Olympic Games, to redirect a lot of our project funds to get table tennis into schools. That way, we'll reach the young people where they are, instead of chasing people into halls that are already full, says Thomas Buza, Federation Manager of the Swedish Table Tennis Federation.
Anders Svensson, club manager at Spårvägens BTK, testifies to the great interest in table tennis:
There's an enormous pressure right now, I've never experienced anything like it in 45 years. We have masses of queues, from young people to pensioners. Stockholm also has a major hall problem, there are far too few table tennis halls. It's a major concern for all clubs and the federation.
The importance of Olympic profiles
Both Buza and Dahl emphasize that the Swedish Olympic profiles are crucial for the increased interest in the two sports.
Such successes mean everything. It's incredibly important for the sport. You can really see what this means for the community, says Buza and continues:
Role models are incredibly important. It's a big part of making the sport bigger, how we work with them and utilize them in the best possible way.
It's an incredibly important part for us. We have the privilege of having incredibly good role models, we can and want to highlight them in all possible contexts, says Dahl about Åhman and Hellvig.
Gold:
Sarah Sjöström, swimming, 100m freestyle
Sarah Sjöström, swimming, 50m freestyle
Armand Duplantis, pole vault
David Åhman/Jonatan Hellvig, beach volleyball
Silver:
Victor Lindgren, shooting
Rebecca Netzler/Vilma Bobeck, sailing, 49er FX
Truls Möregårdh, table tennis, singles
Truls Möregårdh, Anton Källberg and Kristian Karlsson, table tennis, team
Bronze:
Tara Babulfath, judo, 48 kg
Jenny Rissveds, mountain bike
Anton Dahlberg/Lovisa Karlsson, sailing, 470
