The atmosphere is like by the fireplace. Alingsås players sit in a ring listening to their Finnish fairy tale. Benjamin Helander is the center of attention.
The training is over and the players have gathered on the side of the field. Above them hangs a banner with the words Handball is a party in the blue and white colors of Alingsås and we are all invited.
Helander, who was chosen as the country’s best handball player last year, has kept a low profile in Finland and avoided publicity.
He has remained unknown to the general public, although his Bundesliga contract a few years ago was perhaps the most significant Finnish deal of all time in a major European ball sport.
– A healthy Benjamin is a more proactive person both on and off the field, and here I feel greater peace and freedom to be myself, says Karjaan, who grew up in Alingsås.
Now Benjamin Helander, 26, talks about growing up with his older brother Oliver’s in the shade. He tells what the Finnish national team needs to be able to dream of prestigious competitions and why he used to roll his eyes when someone talked about the experience.
Watch Sportliv’s mini doc from Alingsås:
Over here son! Do, sit down. Now we’re on TV. Sit down.
Benjamin Helander calls his dog Teo over. “Our baby”, like him and his common-law partner Get started affectionately call the soon-to-be six-month-old Labradoodle.
Helander has lived in Alingsås, which has around 40,000 inhabitants, for most of his adult life. Recently together with Alketa and Teo.
“It probably sounds sad if I say that I’ve left Finland and Karja behind, but if I have to choose one home, it’s Alingsås,” says Helander, continuing that Alingsås HK is the only club he really cares about.
“I guess I’ve become a traitor, I’ve become Swedish.”
Helander moved to the handball high school in Alingsås, located about 50 kilometers northeast of Gothenburg, at the age of 15. During his military service, he played one season in his childhood club BK-46, but after that he returned to Alingsås and made a big splash on the pitches of Sweden.
For the third time, he moved to Alingsås after spending two seasons in the Bundesliga before that. The big German club Rhein-Neckar Löwen bought Helander in the spring of 2021. The young Finn would grow to become a world star by Uwe Gensheimer double cloth.
“A childhood dream came true”, Helander describes a real giant transfer when viewed by all Finnish handball standards.
He slept restlessly for the first few weeks after the transplant was confirmed and had dreams in which his teeth fell out. Google said that dreams can mean that you feel insecure before a big life change.
Helander considers his two seasons at Löwen successful. Despite this, he will return to Sweden in autumn 2023.
The reason behind the decision was a combination of homesickness and age crisis. He longed for an identity outside the handball courts.
– When I only have sports, I easily feel cornered and claustrophobic. I felt that I wanted to go back to safety.
How important is it to be comfortable off the field in order to perform on the field?
– That’s half of the whole thing. I claim that there is a clear connection between well-being and self-confidence, and with good self-confidence, performances on the field come naturally.
“I have weeded out everything stupid and unnecessary.”
Although Helander took a step back in his career path, he feels that he has grown into a better handball player since his return to Sweden.
One reason for the development is simple. So simple that he and big brother Oliver didn’t even believe it was real before.
– We always rolled our eyes when people talked about the meaning of the experience. That it’s a cliché that’s only mentioned because it’s supposed to be.
Now both have understood the power of experience. Benjamin Helander has noticed a clear change in himself as a scorer.
– I used to score more spectacular and technically difficult goals, whereas now I focus on being as efficient as possible. I have weeded out everything stupid and unnecessary.
– I used to be a playful young virtuoso who loved to do funny things, test everything and be a bit cool. Now I’m a pretty boring 26 year old who simply does his job.
The drums in the stands rumble as Benjamin Helander runs through the blue and white curtain of Alingsås. The league match against the visiting Hammarby on Wednesday night in October is about to begin.
Helander doesn’t get many passes to his left wing, but sinks his two free throws in Alingsås’ home win. The goal production throughout the season has been significantly more abundant.
Helander has played over a season with an average of five goals. The average is even higher than in the peak season of 2020-21, just before the move to Germany.
Helander still has a way to the title of Alingsås’ all-time Finn. The first player in the whole club, whose shirt was lifted to the ceiling and whose game number was frozen, was from Hanko Teddy Nordling.
Club legend Nordling was also the one who once recommended Alingsås to the Helander family.
Handball meant everything and a little more to young Benjamin, and he moved west to be able to fully invest in the sport.
He says he was a childish and wild teenager who grew intellectually enormously during his high school years.
– I mean, my God, I don’t know what the guys in the dorm would say. There were unwashed pots everywhere, and all around terrible chaos, Helander laughs.
– For the first time, someone other than mom or dad reached out to me, and I had to learn to behave. I had like seven older brothers in my dorm who were tutoring me.
And he also had a real big brother.
“If Oliver can do it, I guess I can too”
One of the world’s best javelin throwers, Oliver Helander, was also a much-hyped handball promise as a junior.
When Benjamin decided to move to Alingsås handball high school, Oliver, who was barely two years older, followed along.
– There has never been any malice or conflict between us, says Benjamin Helander.
– But it is clear that it has some kind of psychological effect on the athlete when someone else gets more praise than he does. And Oliver seemed to be the better of the two of us. He was the one who appeared in the media and was called a mega-talent.
The brothers lived together in Sweden in an apartment of about 15 square meters until Oliver returned home after a year and a half. Little by little handball was left, and over time Benjamin was able to step out of his older brother’s handball shadow.
– For better or for worse, my self-image has always been that I am skilled and deserve respect. I have always been driven forward by the idea that I too want recognition.
Benjamin insists that Oliver has done nothing wrong. On the contrary, the big brother has always supported when the little brother has felt neglected.
– When I was younger, he was one of the few who said I would earn more. He gave the recognition that many others did not.
He says that, above all, he has felt proud of his brother.
– My motivation has never been based on the fact that I should be like Oliver or that I should get as much or more recognition. More generally, it has acted as a carrot. If Oliver can do it, I guess I can too.
Superlatives for teammates
Helander admits that his strong need for recognition has occasionally erupted into frustration. He describes that he has grown from an “18-year-old victim” to a more rational adult.
– Perhaps the biggest difference is that I have learned which battles are worth fighting and which are not.
Earlier in his career, Helander’s physical side was questioned, which he never understood. On the contrary, he has always considered physics to be his strength as a handball player, and he calls the criticism “absurd”.
Many in Alingsås agree.
“Benjamin is perhaps the fastest and most explosive player in the entire league, and can win games for us with just his energy and athleticism,” says the team captain Johan Nilsson.
“Benjamin is fantastically skilled. He is very strong on counter attacks and a really skilled and fun finisher. He knows all the twists and turns. Definitely one of the best wing players in the entire league,” says the teammate Alexander Regen.
“True winning character. No one is as disappointed when things go badly, but he has learned to deal with that side better. He is calmer and more sure of himself. More aware of who he is as a person,” describes the head coach Mattias Flodman.
One controversial incident in which Benjamin Helander was involved almost six years ago involved the national team.
Finland’s head coach at the time Kaj Kekki claimed that Helander refused the national team invitation, which the 20-year-old himself denied.
Now Helander states that the dispute was caused by insufficient communication on both sides. In Helander’s opinion, the matter took on unreasonable proportions, and he says that there has never been any doubt about his willingness to represent the national team.
Helander feels that the Finnish national team has recently even overperformed relative to its player material. In order for Europe’s handball dwarf to be able to seriously start fighting for a place in the prestigious competition, according to Helander, Finland needs to develop in refining its talents.
– The young people brought in must be motivated and continue to develop. It’s easy to be lulled into the fact that an 18-year-old is already doing pretty well, but they have to take the next step in their development so that we as a national team can move forward.
Helander emphasizes the ages 18–23 as crucial on the journey to the top level of adults.
He himself spent almost all of this time in Alingsås, where he was able to fully invest in handball. It is the privilege of the few in Finland.
– In Finland, it often happens that you develop until you’re 19. After that, it’s difficult to keep training continuously, because work and studies come into play when the compensation you get from handball is so small, he says.
– It is easy to drift into delusions, which is completely understandable. There is more to life than sports. But if you want to succeed as a top athlete, you have to put yourself in the gym to the fullest.