Lars Tore Ronglan

Lars Tore Ronglan is a Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH), affiliated with the Department of Sports Medicine. His career spans academic research, elite handball coaching, and leadership roles, including serving as NIH's rector from 2017 to 2025. Ronglan's work bridges learning and leadership, sports sociology, and coaching pedagogy, with a focus on Scandinavian team sports culture.

• Education: Minor in sociology (University of Oslo), PhD in sports sociology (NIH, 2000).
• Experience: Former Norwegian handball player (99 international caps), coach for women's national team (1994–1996), and developer of handball techniques through programs like Neptun.

Research Interests:

• Sports Coaching: Contextual approaches, humor in coaching, and the sociocultural dynamics of Scandinavian team sports.
• Talent Development: Ecological models, incremental leadership, and youth athlete pathways in handball and football.
• Sports Sociology: Team dynamics, policy legitimacy, and identity formation in exercise and elite sports.

Key Trends in Publications: Recent work explores organizational cultures in Scandinavian handball, crisis communication in elite football, and pedagogical innovations in teacher education. Earlier studies focus on humor as a balancing act for coaches, collective efficacy in teams, and game analysis in youth football.

Advising & Grants: Collaborated extensively with scholars like Christian Bjørndal, Mats Hordvik, and Ann MacPhail across 20+ publications. His research often involves mixed-methods studies, longitudinal analyses, and interdisciplinary approaches, supported by projects like PAPA (Promoting Adolescent Physical Activity).