Reistad revels in "amazing feeling" after winning the 2023 IHF Female Player of the Year award

26 Mar. 2024

Reistad revels in "amazing feeling" after winning the 2023 IHF Female Player of the Year award

Over the last three decades, Norway have been a true powerhouse in women’s handball, winning the IHF Women’s World Championship four times, the EHF EURO title nine times and the Olympic Games two times. The success on the court for the Scandinavian team has translated into individual success for its players, with six Norway players securing the IHF Female Player of the Year title.

No other country had more success in winning the IHF Female Player of the Year award, with Hungary winning it five times, Romania winning it four times, as Denmark, Brazil, Austria or the Republic of Korea won it two times each.

Now, Norway upped the ante and secured its seventh award, with Henny Reistad following in the footsteps of Trine Haltvik, Cecilie Leganger, Gro Hammerseng, Linn Kristin Riegelhuth-Koren, Heidi Løke and Stine Bredal Oftedal, enshrining her name into the history of handball, after a magnificent year in 2023, for both club and country.

Reistad, who is 25 years old, is one of the youngest recipients of the IHF Female Player of the Year award in history, but it was a long time coming for the left back, who has been nothing short of amazing since making her debut for Norway women’s national team in 2018. Since that moment, she scored 324 goals in 79 matches, becoming a world champion in 2021, an European champion in 2020 and 2022 and a bronze medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“I was on my phone and then, when the announcement came, because I was tagged in it, everything started to blow up, notifications. I felt incredible. It is an incredible feeling to win this and secure this award, because it is something that is very, very hard to achieve. This is why I was very, very happy,” says Reistad.

The left back announced herself in the younger age categories, by being a key player in Norway’s team at the 2016 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, helping her side finish fourth, and two years later, at the 2018 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, when the Scandinavian side ended up on the second position, securing the silver medal. In the latter competition, Reistad made the All-Star team as the top centre back.

Her progress has been well tracked over the last years, as Reistad first delivered some instant performances in the EHF FINAL4 in 2021, for Vipers Kristianstad, scoring 12 goals in the final against Brest, on her way to the MVP trophy.

Just a few months later, the left back was selected in the All-Star team at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, where she won the gold medal, scoring 38 goals. Then, she was the MVP of the EHF EURO 2022. And one year later, Reistad doubled down with the MVP award at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship.

One of the performances in the latter competition, her 15-goal outing in the semi-final against Denmark, which helped Norway mount a sturdy comeback and win in extra-time, was deemed to be one of the most dominant in the history of the competition by a single player.

“It is always nice when you get in the zone and deliver such performances, because it is an amazing feeling, in front of sold-out arenas, to be able to play like that. I remember that match, of course, I wanted to win, we wanted to win, and it became an amazing match, which, in the end, we did win and earned the tickets to the final. I cannot explain it, to be honest, because it just is like that, I am always focused in such matches to play my best,” says Reistad.

With an average of 4.1 goals per match for Norway, Reistad has one of the best ratios in history for the star-studded Scandinavian team and at only 25 years old, she has plenty in front, despite winning almost everything and being a key player in each of those title-winning teams.

But now, Reistad had become even better, morphing into one of the faces of handball, a player which seems unfazed, and has more than one weapon in her arsenal, being as good a facilitator as she is a scorer.

“Following in the footsteps of other players from Norway which won this award feels like a dream. For example, I am teammates with Stine Oftedal and I remember when she won it how big it was for her, therefore I am just happy to be here and to be selected by the people who voted,” adds Reistad.

The Norway left back was instrumental not only for her country, but also for her club, Team Esbjerg, where she has been plying her trade since 2022. Reistad was just 10 goals shy of beating the record for the largest number of goals scored in a single season in the EHF Champions League Women, but with 142 goals she was still the top scorer of the season.

The only thing Reistad missed in 2023, though, was a trophy, with Esbjerg finishing fourth in the European premium competition, while Norway ended up on the second place at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship, conceding a loss in the final against France. 

Nevertheless, Reistad is still eyeing new trophies in the future, with the first chance being the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she can add the only gold medal missing in major international competitions. But like the recipient of the 2023 IHF Male Player of the Year, Mathias Gidsel, the 25-year-old star loves handball, not trophies necessarily.

“Going to training, playing the matches… This is what handball is all about. And I enjoy it, I love it every day and I love doing this on a daily basis. What comes after, it is a bonus. This is what I love to do and what I see myself doing,” concludes Reistad.