Since the 1990s, Björklöven has run an elite ice hockey sixth-form college in partnership with Umeå Municipality. Initially, the partnership was with one of Sweden’s largest schools, Dragonskolan, but in 2020 the council spun off Umeå Elitidrottsgymnasium into a completely new school, Maja Beskow.

Umeå Elite Sports Upper Secondary School is one of Sweden’s largest elite sports upper secondary schools, with 15 NIU and 2 RIG classes, totalling around 400 NIU and RIG pupils. The local authority has worked with the school to create dedicated NIU/RIG classes to provide the best possible conditions in terms of timetabling and the opportunity to combine elite sport with studies, as demonstrated by the results in both sport and academic performance.

Here at Björklöven, our aim is to prioritise retaining and developing players from within our own ranks. By ‘our own ranks’, we mean those who are already part of the club. However, this will not be at the expense of quality. At Björklöven, we have around 13 places on our NIU per age group, divided between goalkeepers, defenders, forwards and centres. The exact number of players taken from within our own ranks versus those from other towns or clubs varies depending on our needs and the quality of the age group in question.

Applications to Linköping Elite Sports Upper Secondary School are made in two stages. Firstly, during the autumn, you must apply for a sport via the relevant national sports federation and be accepted; secondly, you must apply for an upper secondary programme (during the period January–February or during the re-application period April–May). Please note: You must have been accepted onto a sport for your application to a programme at the Elite Sports Upper Secondary School to be valid.

Applications are made online and the application period runs from 1 September to 1 December. You can find application forms and further information at: Applications & Admissions