Niels Henrik Nielsen

“Some go to gymnastics playfully, and others go to work. The game makes you develop, but the work mentality can repeat until it is stuck – and if you do not know both, you get nowhere. “

Niels Henrik is both a high school teacher and a gymnastics coach right down to the bone. He was not born into a gymnastics family, but it became part of his life as a 13-year-old, and although Niels Henrik is originally from Zealand, he has been to many places along the way. When he himself went to Ollerup, it was almost by chance – his friend had happened to go here, and thought it was a good place. That should prove to be quite lucky. Since his stay, Niels Henrik has been a gymnast, became an instructor on the World Team and when it together opened the door to the teaching profession at Ollerup, he became Gunnar B’s last employment – and Uffe Strandby’s first.

“To get better, you have to start over. In the gym, we always see that if you want to get better, want to change something, you have to go back and practice something right – to change the conditions. And you have to do that all the time – and not just in gymnastics ”

When you ask Niels Henrik what the secret is to stay at the forefront as a teacher and trainer for so many years, the answer comes quickly: There is no one. No secret spice. You must be able to perceive people as very different and be able to see the hall, the teaching and the folk high school from the perspective of all students in order to be able to follow the students. Even as an instructor on the World Team, Niels Henrik believes that it is about teaching with gymnastics and not only in gymnastics – he is, according to his own statement, high school teacher first, and gymnastics instructor then.

By the way, Niels Henrik also believes that the concept of “sustainability” is something that everyone should take a close look at in life. The green, environmental sustainability is of course part of that belief, but must be understood in such a way that one should not take more than one gives. This applies in its communities, in its work, its gymnastics and in its entire context, where everything is built on mutual relations, because sustainability arises when something can be repeated, and preferably gets better along the way.

“Edison did not make any mistakes, he just found 10,000 ways to do something that did not work. So do we. It is a constant evaluation to tear down one’s foundation and rebuild it better. “