PLAYING BALL

“Let’s try to keep the interview as short as possible.” A stressed-out looking man has set a tight timeframe for this interview and hurriedly gestures to Tryggvi Snær Hlinason to have a seat. He’s not a particularly short man, but in this crowd, we all look tiny.

Iceland’s national basketball team has just finished warming up for a match that might bring them one step closer to playing in the FIBA Basketball World Cup next year. The room is filled with remarkably long arms and legs shuffling about. Perched on top of perhaps the longest legs and torso on the team is Tryggvi’s calm, good-natured smile. He’s currently on a short break in Iceland from his current position in Zaragoza. He’s relieved to skip the heat.

Words by Gréta Sigríður Einarsdóttir Photography by Golli

Born: 1997 Height: 216 cm (7’1’’) Weight: 118 kg (260 lb) Playing position: Centre Team: Casademont Zaragoza &

Icelands national men’s basketball team

TAKING THE HEAT

“I’d take -5°C over the 35°C we’ve had recently any day of the week,” Tryggvi says, shuddering at the thought of the Spanish heat. “It went up to 42°C a few days after I left.” Despite having lived in Spain for a few years now, Tryggvi still seems like he’d be much more at home in a mountainringed valley in North Iceland than in the Mediterranean heat. There’s a stoic kind of solidness to him, the same you might get from a farmer that can’t be too bothered about politics and such like, when he’s got much more important things to worry about, such as if it’s going to rain during haymaking season.

That’s where his roots lie. His family farm is at such an altitude that even though haymaking season starts in early June in South Iceland, it doesn’t arrive in Bárðardalur until late July. It’s an hour’s drive to the nearest grocery store and the local “metropolis,” Akureyri, where the kids go when it’s time to get their education, has a population of about 20,000 people.

HOW TO BECOME A PRO BASKETBALL PLAYER

Tryggvi’s demeanour is patient and friendly, but when asked to tell the story of his origins as a basketball player, you can tell he’s been asked many times before. He’s nice enough to repeat it anyway – and it’s a good story. “I didn’t start playing until I started secondary school. I was sixteen and came to Akureyri straight off the farm. I had been there for half a semester and had gotten pretty bored with not doing much physical activity. I was used to being active on the farm, where there’s always a job to do.” Tryggvi thought he’d find a sport to play and wasn’t sure whether football, handball, or basketball would be the best fit for him. He’d never trained in any of them before. “I ended up trying basketball first, it was the one I was most excited about.” On his way to his first practice, he got lost and had to call the coach, who came and picked him up at a gas station. A few weeks in, he met the coach for the under-18 national team. “Shortly after that, I joined the team. Then I played for the under-20 team before moving on to play on the national men’s basketball team. So it happened pretty quickly.”

Tryggvi started playing with the local club Þór in 2014 only a few weeks after picking up a basketball for the first time. “It quickly went from being something to do to keep in shape – to the most important thing in my life. I was travelling every weekend for matches and school started taking a backseat. But especially after I was chosen for the U18 and U20 teams, there was only one way forward. Going pro, or playing college ball. I ended up signing with Valencia, which was pretty insane.”

He tells the story matter-of-factly, and it seems like in most things, he keeps his head level. “I never had a plan, I was just playing basketball and trying to get better at it. The larger steps forward I took, the more fun it was.” One of his favourite things about playing at this level is the people he’s met along the way. “That is one of the most enjoyable things about this life, you meet interesting people from all over the world. It’s so interesting to learn more about everyone and everything. I must be pretty annoying; I ask so many questions. But I love meeting people, and I’ve made some great friends.”

STAYING FOCUSED

His Cinderella story of a farm boy turned pro baller has gotten him some attention as well. “I’ve told my story a few times. It’s especially interesting to see it written about by someone I haven’t actually talked to, they tend to embellish a little. I saw an Italian article on me once that made my dad into a villain who forbade me from playing basketball. I’ve been asked some strange questions about Iceland as well. Like if we have electricity. But if you don’t know, you don’t know. And I don’t know everything about every far away country, so maybe that’s understandable.”

Tryggvi’s success doesn’t go to his head, but with each step of his journey, he found an appreciation for how far he’d come. “I remember showing up for my first national team practice and being shocked at how much better ball these guys were playing. Then after that, playing for Valencia for the first time, I had an even bigger shock. It took me a while to catch up to these pros, some of the best players in Europe, but I think I’m playing at their level now.”

LATE TO THE GAME

Despite his late start, Tryggvi’s game now rivals his peers and then some. To begin with, however, there were some things he struggled to catch up on. “To this day, I worry that I can’t catch up to players who got into the sport at five years old. But I’ve spent many hours and years working on it, and I think I’m getting there. Both in terms of technique and also knowing what’s going on in the scene. When I was starting out, I didn’t have any idea about any of that.”

Tryggvi accredits Iceland’s strong league to a large roster of nurturing coaches bringing up the young players. Playing professional ball for some years now, Tryggvi is getting more familiar with the players in Europe, facing some of the best players out there. “I’m pretty bad at keeping heroes. Bojan Dubljević who plays for Valencia is pretty cool. Such a talent and a nice guy who I respect greatly. I’m always a fan of Hlynur Bæringsson as well. I love how he played, and it’s still fun to watch him fighting

IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR, TRYGGVI WAS THE KEY PLAYER IN ICELAND’S NATIONAL TEAM’S MATCH AGAINST ITALY, WITH 34 POINTS, 21 REBOUNDS, AND FIVE BLOCKS, AN UNPRECEDENTED EFFICIENCY RATING OF 50 THAT BROKE THE EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS’ PREVIOUS RECORD OF 37 AND BROUGHT ICELAND ONE STEP CLOSER TO THE FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP.

on the court. Fun to watch. But I don’t see players as stars. I’m just doing my thing, trying to be better than those guys.” Tryggvi isn’t the excitable type, but his appreciation seems sincere as he talks about coming home for a while. “It’s always an honour to play with the national team. I love these guys, and it’s always fun to see them.” It also gives him a little bit of a break. “It’s important to take breaks. Charge the batteries as my mother would say.”

HONEST WORK

Life in the countryside tends to revolve around the work you’re doing, and the measure of a man comes down to his productivity. While Tryggvi may be far from the farm, playing ball in the heat in Spain, he still has a deep appreciation for a good, honest day’s work. “Back in secondary school, when I was trying to get everything done before I left for Valencia, I was doing my courses at double speed and sports on top of that, morning practices and everything. My week was so densely packed that I had half an hour on Fridays where I got to do something else. Sit down and play a video game or watch some videos or something.” While Tryggvi sounds calm while describing it, he admits: “It was a little crazy. Then I got to Valencia and all of a sudden, I had all this extra time. I just sat down and thought: what do I do now? And by now I’ve become pretty good at doing nothing. As silly as that sounds. It was a little bit of a shock to leave an Icelandic farm to do this.”

On days when the team is not travelling, Tryggvi has about 4-6 hours of training. A recently-qualified electrician when he left for Spain, he now spends his free time studying business at the University of Akureyri long-distance. His girlfriend of five years, Sunneva Dögg Friðriksdóttir, spends time with him when she can. Sunneva is an athlete herself, a swimmer who’s competed internationally and is now studying nursing at the University of Akureyri. “She has to be in Iceland for her practical courses. I try not to get too bored when she’s away.”

FEET ON THE GROUND

As Tryggvi starts talking about his goals and dreams, successes and losses, he starts to paint a clearer picture of his imperturbable outlook on life. “I have some dreams, for sure. But I take it one match at a time, one season at a time. My current goal is to join the EuroLeague. That may be two years away or more, I don’t know. But that’s my goal. And I think I’m at a good place right now. We’ll see how it goes this year.” Not even the mention of playing in the NBA gets him going. “They’re they tend to have shorter players now, less of the tall guys. They’re playing less of my style of basketball over there. I’m not too fussed about it, but if I ever got the call, I’d go for it.” Tryggvi is taking things one step at a time, always trying to get a little bit better, and working on the things within his reach. “The Euroleague is my goal right now. After that, you never know. I’ll just see what happens.” When talking about life on the farm, his family, his girlfriend, and his journey toward becoming a better basketball player, he gets a little glint in his eye and a certain warmth in his voice. When the talk turns to the politics of the business, his eyes glaze over. “They always have some drama, some struggle going on. Especially when there’s money involved, there will always be politics and fights. It’s all part and parcel.”

When asked about his popularity in Spain and his career, he puts it down to his physique. “I stand out in a crowd in Spain. People notice me, especially people who love basketball. And especially when we’re winning. I’ve been in Zaragoza for three years, so people recognise me around there. It’s usually fun, they want to get a picture or just have a quick chat.” When asked how he keeps his calm, he has a characteristically stoic answer. “I guess it’s the way of life on the farm: you don’t take things too seriously. I tend to think that if I can’t change it, there’s no reason to get stressed out about it.”

Later that day, Iceland’s national team wins their match. In the stands, 22 members of Tryggvi’s family who have made the journey from North Iceland to watch him play scream themselves hoarse. “My grandmother has often said that if someone had told her 10 years ago that she’d be an avid basketball fan, she would have laughed,” Tryggvi smiles. “I’ve introduced a great deal of my folks to basketball. They’re invested now, they love it.” It only makes sense to ask him if he wants to get back to the farm at some point. “I’m not sure my girlfriend will let me. My farm is an hour away from Akureyri. That’s too far to drive for work. We’ve made a deal to live somewhere in the countryside close to Akureyri. We’ll see. But that’s far enough in the future that I don’t have to worry about it just yet.”

Our time is up.