Regina Catholic's Thor Olso has made an impact on the soccer field since move from Norway

As he took the practice field for the first time at Regina Catholic, Thor Olso felt a sense of nervousness.

It had been about six months since he last competed in soccer and was new to Regina, a program that made the Class 1A state semifinals last season.

“I kind of wanted to get back to what I used to be before I quit soccer for half a year, then I also tried to get to know the players and try to impress them a little,” Olso admitted.

Five months prior, the exchange student made the move from Norway to Iowa to fully immerse himself in American culture.

Olso was raised in a small village just about an hour outside of Trondheim, Norway, a city where soccer and cross-country skiing are two mainstream sports.

Soccer turned out to be his true calling.

“As a kid, my dad always tried to push me to go skiing and I found it interesting, but I just found soccer to be my thing rather than skiing,” Olso said. “I just liked being able to work as a team and play in a more active sport.”

Olso, the middle child of three siblings, saw his older brother compete in soccer, and it piqued his interest. He joined a team for the first time when he was 6 years old and carried that interest throughout his childhood years.

His hometown school didn’t have soccer programs, so Olso relied on local clubs to fulfill his interest. Soccer served as an outlet for building communication skills and staying in shape.

“I really learned to communicate with people a little more and I also learned that practice is everything,” Olso said. “Soccer motivated me to go outside more and even in my free time, I would go get a couple of friends; we would just go down to the field and play soccer.”

Olso's playing days were put on hold after his hometown team shut down due to a lack of players. Coincidently, it was at a time when he became interested in experiencing American culture.

“My mom's American but I haven't really lived in the U.S. that much. I kind of felt like I was falling out a little with the American culture and how things are here nowadays,” Olso said. “I wanted to come over and kind of experience what American teenagers are doing and see the differences between Norway and the U.S.”

With family in Iowa City, he enrolled at Regina Catholic as an exchange student and arrived a couple of days before the start of the school year. One of the main goals for Oslo's move was to determine if he wanted to make a full-time transition to the U.S. as an adult.

It not only allowed him to experience the American lifestyle, but also dust off his soccer cleats for the first time in about six months.

Before the start of the regular season, Olso suffered an ankle injury that affected him for a few weeks as he was trying to get back in shape. He admitted it was a discouraging setback, but it served as an opportunity to study Regina’s style of play while sidelined.

The junior said it took some time to adapt to the team, but he recovered from injury and familiarized himself with his new teammates and their system.

“Obviously, last year we lost a couple of players, we’ve changed formations but with (Thor) it just brings out a whole new play style,” said Regina senior Eddie Petersen. “Last year we couldn’t really play long balls as much because we had more check-in strikers and wings, but with him, we can look for the long ball a lot more.”

As of May 8, the Regals (12-3) are the No. 7 team in Class 1A. Olso has contributed seven goals so far this season— tied for third on the team, according to Varsity Bound. He’s also earned two assists to add to his scoring.

Petersen, a leader on the team, praised Olso for his speed on the field, ability to be coachable and his effective communication with his teammates.

“Since [meeting him], I’ve been very surprised about how good and how much of a unique player he is towards us,” Petersen said. “Great teammate too, just with the fact that he doesn’t say much but he listens so well to coach and to all of the players that have just a little more experience than him.”

Each time Olso steps onto the field, he tries to support his teammates, whether it's by sharing knowledge from Norway or just encouraging them.

"I feel like I've gotten to be pretty good friends with most players if not all of them," Olso said. "I try to talk with the other new kids; the freshmen, sophomores and other kids that haven't played soccer that much. I try to help them and teach them what I know (and) I try to implement what I learned in Norway to show them what we used to do and make things a little better."

Olso plans to return to Norway in the summer, but his goal is to help the Regals win another state title, adding to their eight previous championships.

“When I leave, I want to feel like I did my very best,” Olso said. “I don’t want to leave and feel like I never tried my best and I could’ve done a lot better. I want to feel like I was really a part of the team and contributed to the stuff that we achieved.”

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Norway native Thor Olso wants to help Regina boys soccer win state