Sport in Norway is an enormous organisation divided into many levels. This ranges from the executive board and administration of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) to national federations, regional confederations, regional federations, sports councils and sports clubs. The highest body, the General Assembly of NIF makes decisions about how sport will be run in the future. Each level has its own tasks to ensure that people can take part in sport in Norway.
The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) consists of 55 national federations, 17 regional confederations, 375 sports councils and 10,787 sports clubs, which have a combined membership of nearly 2.1 million. The General Assembly of NIF, which is held every second year, makes decisions about how sport will be run in the future. The executive board of NIF implements the decisions made at the General Assembly. The national federations, such as football, skiing and volleyball, organise and lead the various sporting codes and are responsible for the competitive activity and development of their sport both nationally and internationally.
The staff at the NIF administration perform a variety of tasks on behalf of the national federations and the regional confederations, such as contact with government agencies, applications and allocation of gaming funds.
The regional confederations serve a specific geographical region. Their task is to promote cooperation between the regional federations, the individual sports clubs, the sports’ organisations and the county council. The regional confederations also provide guidance to the sports clubs about financial, administrative and organisational matters.
Each national federation has regional federations responsible for administering the various sports in the counties. Their most important tasks include arranging various training courses as well as matches, competitions and events, etc. within their sport. For instance, the Troms Football Federation is responsible for setting up the fixture lists for all the football divisions in Troms. This includes arranging referees for the matches.
The sports councils consist of all sports clubs that are members of NIF within a specific municipality. According to NIF’s regulations, any municipality with more than three sports clubs must have a sports council. The sports council’s tasks include communicating the sports clubs’ needs concerning sports facilities to municipal authorities, distributing the funds from the state subsidy scheme to local sports clubs and associations, and working to improve inclusion at the sports clubs. The sports councils in some municipalities have staff, but most sports councils consist of volunteers from various sports clubs in the municipality.
The sports clubs in Norway are independent organisations with personal members. Each club is run by a democratically elected board and the annual meeting is the club’s highest authority. No one can own a sports club because the clubs are self-owned. The purpose of a sports club is to arrange and take part in sport. Anyone who wishes to apply for membership of a sports clubs may do so. It’s important to note that if you want to compete in a sports event, you must be a member of a sports club.
Certain procedures must be followed. A sports club must elect members to necessary positions on the board, nomination committee, audit committee and any tasks and positions decided by the annual meeting. The people elected must be eligible members of the sports club. In other words, they must have paid for their membership fee, be at least 15 years old and have been a member for at least one month.
Some sports clubs are dedicated to a single sport, while others have several sports sections are known as multi-sports clubs. Corporate sports clubs recruit their members from workplaces and various professional organisations.
