By Teemu Virtanen
The first week of summer has just started and many pro teams are having their dryland training kick-off camps as we speak. At the same time, they are finalizing their future plans and signing new sponsor agreements. The excitement is in the air as new partners are entering the long distance ski world championship arena, and the pro tour keeps growing each year.
Team ParkettPartner, hailing from Norway, had a good solid season last winter by finishing 9th in the pro team competition. The team’s male skiers managed to get many top 30 places and Simen Engebretsen Nordli’s 9th place in Jizerska 50 was the highlight of the season. But the strongest player in the team was a Swede, Maria Gräfnings, who did six individual races and placed herself in the top 10 in all of them except Birkebeinerrennet. Vasaloppet’s 5th place was her greatest moment of the season.
Next season, the team will be even stronger as they have a new partner whose support will ensure that there will be enough resources for these skiers to aim high. ParkettParnter AS will continue as their faithful partner, but Destinasjon Sjusjøen enters as a new main sponsor along with the existing one. The company is Norway’s most important and largest cross-country destination offering the team a perfect place for training. The team is also changing their name to Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen.
The team’s director Arnt Nyborg is very pleased to have two big and serious companies as their partners. He believes that his team has a better chance to reach greater heights, and not just next season but in the years to come.
“It’s very gratifying to have Sjusjøen in the team, and both main sponsors have a long-term perspective with an option for extending the agreement after each season. These agreements will give us more resources in the future both for our Visma Ski Classics runners and our support system. Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen will also focus on recruiting new skiers to the team and recruitment programs together with other players. Hopefully, for the season 2019-20 we will climb another few places upwards compared to the 9th place we achieved last season of the 32 teams participating in Visma Ski Classics.”
In addition to these two big sponsors, Team ParkettPartner Sjusjøen has 15-20 other partners, which should give the team the opportunity to stabilize their position among the top 10 teams and push them even higher up in the standings. The team is ready, and now it’s up to the athletes to do the job.
