It smells like liniment and the squeak of rubber soles against the hall floor penetrates the music up to the stands. There, a green and white sea of handball-thirsty children spreads out. They have finally got the chance to see idols and national team stars like Elin Hansson and Daniela de Jong in place.
Skuru is chasing his second straight Swedish Championship gold and the semi-final against H65 Höör has attracted a large audience – but it is not at home in Nacka, but on Södermalm, in Eriksdalshallen. The event is unusual and expensive, but also highly necessary for Skuru to function as an elite association.
When we play in Nacka, we do not dare to invite the youth team because the places are not enough.
The real home arena Nacka ball hall is not even close to what SHE requires. While competitors such as Sävehof and Lugi play in arenas with room for 4,000 spectators, Nacka ball hall has a ceiling of 300 spectators – 1,200 fewer than the requirement – and no opportunities for TV broadcasts. Skuru therefore plays on dispensation during the course of the season, but during the semi-final game, Eriksdalshallen becomes a temporary arena.
– It is always extra special when we get to matches here in Eriksdalshallen and fun that the young litters get to see the first team. When we play in Nacka, we do not dare to invite the youth team because the places are not enough. It’s sad that it has to be this way. If Skuru is to take the next step, we must have a new hall, says sports director Thomas Björk.
The hall question has been on the agenda for as long as Björk can remember. The current hall is old, lacks the right facilities and does not allow Nacka’s largest elite association to have all operations in the same place. In addition, the association has been forced to say no to the European Games in part because the hall does not meet the requirements.
The association has despite them difficult conditions been a constant in women’s handball. This at a time when several Stockholm clubs have disappeared from the highest leagues in several team sports.
According to DN’s latest survey, the highest league in women’s handball is one of the series that has lost the most Stockholm clubs. But Skuru has belonged to the elite series (formerly Allsvenskan and now SHE) since 1986.
– It’s probably because there’s something sitting in the walls here. We are not in the top half of the league if you look at the financial part, but we have a tradition and culture in the association. In addition, we have a strong youth activity with many children and committed parents, says Thomas Björk.
Chairman Jonas Johansson pays tribute to the coaching staff with Magnus Oscarsson Söder who recently chalked up for three new years at the club.
– There is a stability and a knowledge of our coaches that I think is unique. We have placed great emphasis on having the best possible training environment, says Johansson.
The club has become Swedish champion four times during the 2000s. Last year and again this year, the team has a chance at gold.
But the successes and calls for a new hall have still not accelerated the process at Nacka municipality. Skuru first made an attempt to take matters into his own hands and began planning his own construction – but realized that it would not be financially sustainable.
If it had been about a municipality down in Skåne, a hall would have been ready a very long time ago.
Now lies instead the hopes on a multi-hall financed by the municipality. It will be built at Järlahöjden in Nacka. There, the municipality is planning a new area with housing, workplaces and sports halls. But the project is “dormant” due to the delayed subway construction and the slowdown in the housing market.
– It is clear that we want a new hall tomorrow, but the cooperation with the municipality right now is great. They involve us in the process and it feels promising, says Jonas Johansson.
Sports director Thomas Björk is less optimistic.
– I think I have time to retire before there is a new hall here. And there are 15 years left. I think if it had been about a municipality down in Skåne, a hall would have been ready a very long time ago.
Gunilla Grudevall-Steen (L)municipal councilor and chairman of the leisure committee, hopes that the hall can at best not be ready until four years from now.
– At present we can not promise anything, but our hope is somewhere around 2026. It depends on so much else that happens at Järlahöjden, says Gunilla Grudevall-Steen.
Why has nothing happened before?
– It’s about logistics – we can not demolish any building until the new one is in place. And there was a shift in the industry when construction stopped throughout Sweden. It became a slower pace, and it has meant that things have shifted for two years. We have to deal with it. Our society must be able to cope with all the new buildings.
Shouldn’t the hall be a high priority given what Skuru has meant to Nacka?
– They mean a lot. When they won last year, we had a big reception for them at City Hall. So we try in every way to help them and influence them as much as we can, to show how important they are. They are amazingly talented and have been for a long time.
She continues:
– And that is what makes us also want to have a hall for a long time with higher audience capacity. But it takes time and I understand that there is frustration in the association. But I feel that we have a strong collaboration and strive in the same direction. Of course I also want a new hall, preferably yesterday.
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