Christian Berge

Christian Berge
Berge with the Norwegian national team in 2016
Personal information
Born (1973-07-19) 19 July 1973 [1]: 177 
Trondheim, Norway
Nationality Norwegian
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current club Kolstad (manager)
Youth career
Team
–
 Charlottenlund Spkl
–
 Trondheim HK
Senior clubs
Years Team
1995–1999
 Viking Stavanger
1999–2006
 SG Flensburg-Handewitt
2007–2008
 Aarhus Håndbold
2008–2011
 Elverum Håndball
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2006
 Norway 63 (251)
Teams managed
2007–2008
 Aarhus Håndbold (assistant coach)
2008–2014
 Elverum Håndball
2014–2022
 Norway
2022–
 Kolstad
Medal record
Head Coach for  Norway
World Championship
2017 France
2019 Denmark/Germany
European Championship
2020 Austria/Norway/Sweden

Christian Berge (born 19 July 1973) is a Norwegian former handball player and current coach of Kolstad Håndball.[2] He won eleven titles at club level playing for teams in Norway and Germany. Berge was previously the coach of the Norwegian national team, with whom he placed second at the World Championship in 2017 and 2019, and third at the 2020 European Championship.

Berge made 63 appearances and scored 251 goals for the Norwegian national team between 1997 and 2006.[3]

Playing Career

Berge started playing handball at Charlottenlund Spkl, and later joined Trondheim HK. In 1995 he made his senior debut for Stavanger HK. In 1999 he joined German team SG Flensburg-Handewitt. Here he won both the DHB-Pokal, Handball-Bundesliga and EHF Cup Winners' Cup.

In October 2004 he was diagnosed with lymphoma and Ménière's disease.[4] He made his comeback on the court in January 2005. In March 2005 he had a setback however, which kept him out until December 2005.

The following summer he concluded that playing in the Bundesliga caused him too much trouble, and he therefore joined Danish team AGF Håndbold.[5] A year later he retired and became a coach at Aarhus GF.[6]

National team

Berge played 63 matches for the Norwegian Men's National Team.[7] His best result was an 8th placed finish at the 2000 European Men's Handball Championship.

Coaching Career

After retiring he was the assistant coach at AGF Håndbold for a season before returning to Norway, where he became the head coach of Elverum Håndball.[6] In his first season he led the team to the Norwegian Cup final, where they lost to IL Runar. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 he won the Norwegian Championship with the club. In 2013 he became the assistant coach to the Norwegian Youth National team in addition to coaching Elverum.[8]

In February 2014 he became the head coach of the Norwegian Men's National Team on an interim contract.[9] From February to November he thus coached both the Norwegian national team and Elverum.[10] In July 2014 he signed a permanent contract as the Norwegian head coach.[11]

He did not manage to qualify the team for the 2015 World Championship, but at the 2016 European Handball Championship he guided the team to the semifinals, where they eventually achieved a 4th place.

At the 2017 and 2019 World Men's Handball Championship he won silver medals at both occations. At the 2020 European Championship he won bronze medals with Norway. These were the only medals, that Norway has won at any major international tournament.

He left the team in February 2022 after finishing 5th at the 2022 European Men's Handball Championship, as he wanted to return to club handball. He did originally have a contract with the Norwegian Handball Federation until 2025, but the federation was willing to let him go.[12]

In March 2022 he became the head coach of the Norwegian club Kolstad IL.[13] With Kolstad he won the Norwegian double in both 2023 and 2024.

Private

In 2008 he published the book I kampens hete – og kreften er ennå ikke overvunnet together with Norwegian journalist Tore Sæther about his life and career with cancer.[14]

Honours

Player

Manager

References

  1. ^ a b Sæther, Tore (2017). Ubuntu. Christian Berge og Håndballgutta (in Norwegian). Trondheim: Communicatio forlag. ISBN 978-82-8324-014-6.
  2. ^ EHF profile
  3. ^ "Landskampstatistikk. Totaloversikt for Berge, Christian" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Norsk landstræner er afhængig af det aggregat, konen har lavet" (in Danish). TV2 Danmark. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Christian Berge klar for Århus GF" (in Danish). Tv2 Østjylland. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b "Christian Berge forlader Århus GF" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 7 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  7. ^ Landskampstatistikk: Christian Berge
  8. ^ Christian Berge trainiert nun auch Norwegens Junioren
  9. ^ Norwegen gibt neuen Nationaltrainer bekannt
  10. ^ "En rørt Christian Berge ble hyllet av Elverum" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Berge ny landslagstrener". Mer håndball. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Norge skal have ny træner - Berge tæt på stort projekt" (in Danish). TV2 Danmark. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Christian Berge blir Kolstad-trener" (in Norwegian). handball.no. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  14. ^ Norwegian National Library
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