Our history
Where it all began (1650-1919)
Academic sport has long traditions.
Particularly in England, at universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, the sport took on a form that has given important impulses to the whole of modern sport.
In 1850, students in Kristiania took the initiative to have a gymnasium built at the Royal Frederick University.
The Storting granted 13,000 spesidaler, and the building was completed in 1856.
Gymnastics, fencing, skiing, athletics and rowing become the first student sports.
Norway’s first student sports team, Norske Studenters Gymnastikk- og Fekteforening (N.S.G. og F.) was founded on September 16, 1882.
September 1882.
Along with N.S.G. and F., Kvinnelige Studenters Idrettsklubb (1896), Norske Studenters Roklubb (1897), Norges Landbrukshøyskole Idrettsforening (1902), Kadettenes Idrettsforening (1908), Norges Tekniske Høgskole Idrettsforening (1910) and Studentenes Skiklubb (1912), Studentenes Idrætsklub (1914) were the pioneer clubs in Norwegian student sports.
The Norwegian Student Sports Association was founded on 5.
December 1913 as the Norwegian Students’ Sports Association.
The initiator of the meeting was Dr. Peter Torgersen, the most active advocate of student sports at the time.
Among other things, he was
involved in the formation of several student sports teams in Oslo.
The invitation was sent to all student sports clubs in the country.
It was the Norwegian Students’ Gymnastics and Fencing Association (OSI), Norwegian Students’ Rowing Club (NSR), Studenternes Skiklubb (OSI), Norges Landbrukshøgskole’s Idrætslag (NMBUI) and Norges Tekniske Idrætsforening (NTNUI) that took the initiative.
According to the association’s annual report from 1913, NSI was founded simply because there was a need for an overarching body with more financial insight than the Oslo teams themselves felt they had. “Mens sana in corpore sano ” – a healthy soul in a healthy body – became the association’s motto.
In 1918, the first national student championship in athletics is held.
This is the first student championship to be organized under the auspices of Norway’s student sports federation.
Both amateurs and Olympic winners participated.
More student championships were held in the years to come, with Helge Løvland setting a new Scandinavian record in 1919 as one of the major highlights in retrospect.
From the Crown Prince to the Resistance 1920-1945
Over the next 20 years, student sport flourishes with several games and Crown Prince Olav as the most famous ambassador.
The Crown Prince is a central figure in student sport and participates in student jumping championships.
He is regularly seen at several student sports events and is a member of the Cadets’ Sports Association.
In 1939, Crown Prince Olav opens the 6.
International Academic Winter Games are held in Trondheim and Lillehammer, with the Norwegian Institute of Technology’s Sports Association as technical organizer.
During World War II, the foreman of NSI was Knut Møyen, who was also head of Milorg.
The head of the student cabin was Gunnar Sønsteby.
Under their leadership, NSI became the organizer of the students’ voluntary military training with Studenterhytta in Nordmarka as a base.
Gunnar SønstebyI'd much rather spend my life at Studenterhytta than sitting in the reading room at the university. That's where I met both Per Mørland and the student leader Knut Møyen, people who became central to the resistance struggle. In many ways, it was in the group around Studenterhytta that the foundations were laid for Milorg.
1950-1988
After the war, Nordic cooperation is good and Nordic championships are organized several years in a row.
The championships are great and become a good recruitment arena for NSI in the years to come.
From 1960, membership in student sports flourishes in line with the number of students in Norway.
From 1973 to 1988, NSI increases by 43 member teams.
In 1988, the first national conference is organized under the auspices of NSI and the Student World Orienteering Championships in Trondheim are held.
Famous student athletes
1988-2013
In 1996, the Norwegian Student Sports Federation was admitted as an ordinary federation in the Norwegian Sports Confederation.
NSI regularly participates in the major international student sports events.
Norges Idrettshøskole’s sports team wins bronze at the European Student Futsal Championships in Croatia in 2010.
At the Summer Universiades in Shenzhen 2011 and Kazan 2013, NSI participates with record-breaking delegations.
In 2013, the squad will be over 100 athletes.
The Student Games are established in 1999, and reach the 6th edition.
The Student Games are organized by NTNUI in 2013, with over 2000 participants, the event stands as a symbol of Norwegian student sport’s eventful first 100 years.
Contact us
If you want to know more about NSI’s history or perhaps have something to add that we have not included, please contact Yngvild.