I had more than my far share of injuries on court as well. Alongside a few small concussions, there was one major concussion. Dealing with that was a dark period for me but it is something you cannot dwell on as a goalkeeper.
Handball is moving fast, players are getting stronger, getting a better grip on the ball and shooting much harder than at the beginning of my career. This makes being a goalkeeper more difficult and dangerous but that is part of the game and at the end of the day, I do not think twice about which part of my body I use to stop the ball – a save is a save.
By 2014, I had gone through seven surgeries on one of my knees, taking a variety of problems, it was not improving and I could not stay in Holstebro. I was not really considering quitting at the time but the thought was there. Maybe I simply would not fulfil my dreams and my talent.
Then out of nowhere, Larvik called. I was genuinely shocked, I could not understand what this team of stars wanted to do with me. They told me they could help with my knee and could turn me into a top goalkeeper,
So I took the chance.
My move up to Norway changed my whole career. Everything changed right away and, on my first day off, I called home and said that I felt no pain in my knee. I felt liberated from the worries these injuries had given me and since then, touch wood, I have never had a problem with my knee again.
The way they trained was different. They took really good care of our bodies, and it was crazy for me to suddenly be on the same team as all of these stars and working with Ole Gustav Gjekstad, the coach. I was so shy at the beginning and I felt I had to do my best in each and every training session to show I belonged here. If I am going to play with Gro Hammerseng-Edin and Nora Mørk, I have to live up to that standard, right? Every training session was like a final for me.
But my new teammates were so supportive and the only thing they told me to do was yell a little bit at the defence when they were not doing their job, but they were so good, who was I to tell Karoline Breivang and Marit Malm Frafjord what to do?
The first year there was a dream. We got to the final of the EHF Champions League in Budapest, I was the All-star goalkeeper and my level that year sky-rocketed, all thanks to the support of those amazing players at Larvik.