Reistad’s game: “It's a lot about preparations before the game”

Reistad combined winning the EHF Champions League with Vipers with the MVP award at the EHF FINAL4 2021, and was also named MVP at two consecutive national team events — the EHF EURO 2022 then the 2023 World Championship. On top of it all, she is the two-time reigning IHF World Player of the Year, having taken the award for both 2023 and 2024, and was named best centre back of the season at the first EHF Excellence Awards, for the 2022/23 season. 

2022/23 was also the season Reistad nabbed the top scorer crown in the EHF Champions League, after netting 142 goals. She has passed the 100-goal mark in four straight Champions League seasons, including the current one, where she is the clear leader on the overall list and appears on track for her second top scorer title.

No doubt the 26-year-old can score. And she is also well-known for making a lot of assists, topping this list at the Women’s EHF EURO 2024, where she clinched the trophy with Norway. But of course, Reistad keeps working on developing her game — so what has she been focused on lately? 

“I feel like, at least now, the place I am furthest from being fully developed is probably my connection with the line player, so all of those small passes and small agreements with the line player. The stuff we can figure out, just with small agreements, is something I'm working on now,” says Reistad. 

“Of course, it's not taking my time fully, but I know it's a thing I need to have some more focus on to be dangerous at that point as well. 

“I feel like now I have a better overview of the play. My goal too, when I'm passing, it's always like finding the back players or wing players, so when I search for possibilities to play, I often look further than or like over the line player for the next station in a way. But I feel like if I can master playing with the line player as well, I’ll have a big advantage. 

“I really want to listen to the line players as well, like, in what way they want the ball and what can be the best timing for them to receive the ball in. Try to play on their strengths as well as mine so we can make the most dangerous combination for the defence. So, it's definitely a different dialogue with different line players.” 

Norway famously farewelled two key attacking players after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games — Stine Oftedal, who retired, and Nora Mørk, who has not announced her retirement but is pregnant and on at least a break for now. After Reistad debuted for the national team in 2018, she quickly established herself as the starting left back playing alongside Oftedal and Mørk. 

“Of course, I feel like playing with the best attacking players in the world has really helped me finding more easy solutions for myself. They are really good in the small details — that passing and getting the ball in the right timing,” says Reistad.

“I feel like knowing what situations is good for me and what situations I can put myself in with their help was, at the beginning, the major thing. And then over the years, I feel like I also started to build up some things in the play that I could contribute, like shots from the distance and do more to give them space as well.”

How Norway would rebuild their attack after the Olympics was a key question for the side. They answered it brilliantly, sailing to the EURO title with an unblemished record and the closest result a three-goal game won against eventual silver medallists Denmark in the main round. 

“I feel like we developed really good during the EURO and I think we managed to find our way to play almost after the tournament, because I feel like we played some of our best attacking games in the last games,” says Reistad. 

“We found solutions to each player, especially the back positions, but also the line player, because in Stine and Nora, we lost some of the best in the world to play with our line players, so we had to find a way of getting them into our play as well. And I felt like we managed that at least in a much better way at the end because we also could use them, just involve them more in our play — not necessarily to get the ball every time, but just to be involved, so it's a threat there as well. I feel like everyone contributed really good to develop that type of play.” 

One of the reasons Reistad is so dangerous for those defending her is her completeness — she is one of those few who can do it all, and she can do it all exceptionally. But she does have a certain strength that she favours. 

“My favourite thing is definitely one-against-one. I feel like that's a go-to in my play. But I also feel like all of the opponents know that as well, so I really tried to combine that with especially finding the shots from the distance,” says Reistad. “I can be good at it as well, but I just haven't had so much focus on it in a way, so I think one-against-one is definitely my favourite.

“But I think it's fun to try to find other situations as well, even though, especially with the line player, I haven't come that far yet, but I think it's fun to at least try to develop it.” 

Coming into a standard attack, what is going through Reistad’s mind? 

“I'm thinking a lot of things because I like to take responsibility in what I do individually but also in what system we are going to go for in the attack and how to put other players in good situations. Of course, it's a lot about preparations before the game, so I know I have some things that will be in a way my default plan in the game, which I have prepared for. But also see which players are on the field. How aggressive are they in the defences. In a way, it's everything about how a game develops and how it turns out to be and what works in the game, so it is a lot of things I’m thinking. But coming to one attack, it's just a combination of what we have prepared and what system I want to start the attack with and what my chances are as well in that attack.” 

While Reistad is sometimes off court when defence is being played, coming on as an attacking specialist, she does also participate on the other end of the court. There, she is very tactical as well.  

“Of course, attack has been my main focus for many years, but I also like playing defence. I know that in both Esbjerg and the Norway national team, I need to have more focus on the attack, but I think it's fun to play defence that can make it difficult for the opponents — in a way that’s not just tackle and try to stop them physically, but also work with the feet and make them insecure and try to destroy the rhythm. I like more to use my feet and movement than the physique, and if we have the chance to play that kind of defence, that's definitely something I like.”

Reistad debuted in the EHF Champions League — and won the trophy — with Vipers, starting with the side in 2018/19. In 2021, she moved to Esbjerg in Denmark. At both Vipers and with Norway, she has played alongside the legendary goalkeeper Katrine Lunde, who holds the record for most titles won in the EHF Champions League Women. 

“Katrine — I think she's really one of a kind in helping the defence and telling what she wants. And just her reminding us on what's important and which way she likes it, so you have something you can focus on in defence, and what messages she is giving — I think that's probably one of the things that's best with Katrine. Of course, she's a goalkeeper, so she has like been in the defence before, so it's probably from other defenders I learned more about positioning and stuff, but I think from the goalkeepers it’s like how we can stand so they will get the best opportunities to save,” says Reistad, before commenting on who she might have learned the most from as a defender — which she found difficult to identify, but came up with another of her national teammates who stands out to her in this respect.

“Stine Skogrand, watching her play defence, I really get inspired, because she's really good in finding the right timing to stop especially one-against-one, but also stop the flow in a way. She knows exactly where to be at the right timing, and she's really good in reading the play, so she knows when to go all in for a pass to the back player or the line and then stop it in that way. I think she is probably the one I get fascinated about almost, when watching the defence.”

Turning back the clock, a younger Reistad was originally inspired most on an individual level by a somewhat unexpected source. Many Scandinavian players of today, particularly female players, name someone from the Norway or Denmark women’s sides as their biggest role models. Reistad did always follow the Norway team eagerly as she dreamed of being part of it, but her biggest individual inspiration came from much further south. 

“When I was a lot younger, when Ivano Balic played, I think it was really fun to watch him, in the way that he was really creative and finding not only the trick shots, but his movements — he was able to do a lot of things in three steps. That was probably one I looked up to technically, but watching the national team — when I was younger, that was also one of my favourite things to do, so I really love to look after some of the players there as well,” says Reistad. 

Back to the court today. Reistad knows what it takes to win a close match. For her, handling crunch time is all about the preparation before the game and maintaining composure in the high-pressure stages. 

“I think some of the good things I brought with me is the preparations I've done before, so I feel safe in some solutions that I prepared myself for in the play. And I think it's a lot of experience as well, having been in those situations many times, to be able to be calm,” says Reistad. 

“It's very easy said than done. But I at least know if I'm not calm and I get maybe too focused on myself, that can make me stressed in a way. I know all the times that happened, I never come out of it in a good way. So, knowing from experience that being like that doesn't help me probably is the best thing I brought with me.” 

Reistad also comes back to her preparation when defining the tricky concept of where her creativity on court comes from. 

“In the preparations, I see how the defenders are playing in a way, so it makes me think about some solutions beforehand. So, when I see those defenders are on, I remember some of the solutions I already thought about. And some is also intuition, in a way, so I can't explain it properly. It's just, do something!”  

Photos © nhcfoto.dk (Team Esbjerg); Kolektiff Images (Norway)