Author: Emilie Faarup Storvik
Photo: Iris Natten Frydenlund/NTNUI Blits, archives
Hip hooray for us at NTNUI! Our club is celebrating its 114th birthday today, and we hope you’re celebrating with green buns and yellow cake. Let’s take a little journey back in time and reminisce about NTNUI’s exciting beginnings and how we have grown to become Norway’s largest sports association!
NTHIs (NTNUI) first Main Board
From small to large
It all started on October 25th, 1910, when students at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) gathered to establish the Norwegian Institute of Technology’s Sports Association (NTHI). Scientific assistant Olav Holst called a meeting in Auditorium 4 of the Main Building at Gløshaugen, where the first steps toward what we now know as NTNUI were taken. When NTH opened its doors, there were only around 100 students—but that was more than enough to start a sports association.
At the first general assembly on November 7th, 1910, Thorgeir Killingland was elected as the association’s first chairman. He remained in the role until 1914 and is actually the only person to have held the position for four terms.
The first sports
In the beginning, the sports offered were divided into three main groups, which included a good mix of summer and winter activities:
- Skiing, shooting, and tennis
- Gymnastics, athletics, fencing, and boxing
- Football, ice hockey, and skating
Creative finances and community
Running a sports association with its own cabin was no small financial feat, but the leaders at NTHI were creative. One of the more unusual sources of income was selling so-called “shares” to the students’ parents—shares that did not guarantee any dividends. Although some parents raised an eyebrow, this was a necessary measure to keep things running.
But NTHI wasn’t just about sports. At the time, there were few social offerings for students moving to Trondheim, and for many, NTHI became a social hub. The social aspect was so important that the Student Cabin in Bymarka was already completed by 1913, just three years after the founding. This became a place where students could meet, both to train and to form friendships.
A club for all seasons
From the start, NTHI—and later NTNUI—had the goal of “promoting camaraderie and the spread of healthy sports, both summer and winter.” This is something we still stand for today. In winter, skiing, skating, hockey, and sledding became popular activities—with sledding accompanied by “torches and ladies.” Summer brought athletics, football, tennis, swimming, and shooting, and students organized group trips to build camaraderie.
114 years of sports joy
NTNUI has truly come a long way since then. From a small group of eager students at Gløshaugen to Norway’s largest sports association with thousands of members. Although times have changed, community, sports joy, and the opportunity to try new activities remain the cornerstones of the club.
So whether you’ve been part of the NTNUI adventure before or you’re thinking of joining, there’s only one thing to say: Happy birthday to all of us—and we look forward to the next 114 years!
Sincerely, NTNUI’s unofficial history group