How can a sports club and an IT consultancy encourage children to read more? For Softhouse and Luleå Basket, the answer started with something that already inspires engagement: team spirit, brought to life through a digital reading challenge. The pilot resulted in thousands of minutes spent reading, both in the classroom and at home, and now the initiative is expanding across the entire region.

The initiative, “Read as a Team with Luleå Basket,” combines digital and physical elements in a reading challenge where selected fourth-grade classes in Luleå were encouraged to read for at least 15 minutes every day for four weeks. What the children chose to read mattered less. The important thing was that they read and developed a routine that made reading a natural part of everyday life.

With the help of inspiring role models from Luleå Basket and an app based on Softhouse’s previous collaboration with Växjö Lakers, students could track their progress and experience reading as something they do together. This project is where technology meets community engagement, and where local sports stars become a natural part of students’ daily lives.

“For many years, we have worked closely with schools across the region and met students to talk about sports, goals, and perseverance. With this project, we wanted to create engagement between those meetings, and Softhouse’s technical solution made that possible,” says Anna Jonsson, Club Director at Luleå Basket.

When Reading Becomes a Game, Motivation Grows

In the app, students followed their reading journey visually across a basketball court. Every day they registered their reading, they moved one step closer to the basket—from the starting line, through center court, all the way to the final shot. The digital experience, where the motivation and team spirit of basketball became part of students’ reading habits, is a clear example of how gamification can create long-term engagement.

“Together with Luleå Basket, we found a strong connection between team sports and reading books. In the digital solution we developed, students could meet their sports role models and receive recommendations for great books to read,” says David Granström, Project Manager at Softhouse.

Simplicity was a key success factor. Students could read whatever they wanted—books, comics, magazines, or other reading materials—as long as they read for at least 15 minutes. This lowered the threshold and made it easier for every child to find their own path into reading. Along the way, students received video greetings from Luleå Basket players and daily reading challenges that unlocked new parts of the experience. As a result, reading became more than an individual activity—it became something the entire team participated in together.

Several classes also chose to actively work with the challenge during school hours, creating a shared rhythm in the classroom and strengthening the sense of teamwork even further.

Strong Results – Both in Numbers and Reading Joy

The reading challenge took place over four weeks during spring 2026 in collaboration with three pilot schools in Luleå: Nya Läroverket, Porsöskolan, and Midskogsskolan. In total, 82 students participated.

The results clearly demonstrate the impact that technology and team spirit can have together:

• Nearly 500 hours of reading
• Strong consistency, with some classes reaching almost 80% active reading days
• Reading took place both during school hours and at home

However, the most important outcomes cannot be measured in statistics. Students consistently reported that the challenge was fun and increased their motivation to read. Many discovered new favorite books, started reading more at home, and some even chose to read to younger siblings. Others made up for missed reading days to help keep their “team” moving forward.

A Shared Finale Brought the Challenge to a Close

The challenge concluded with a shared experience for all participating classes. As a finale, students were invited to experience Luleå Basket live at Luleå Energi Arena when the team faced Malbas. Before the game, they also had the opportunity to meet some of the players they had previously seen in the app’s video greetings, making the experience both personal and memorable. The fact that Luleå Basket went on to win the Swedish Championship shortly afterward was, of course, an added bonus. The finale served as a way to celebrate four weeks of collective effort and give students the chance to see their achievements become part of something they had already built a connection with.

“It was fantastic to meet the students again after four weeks of reading and hear how the initiative had positively influenced their reading habits. This autumn, we aim to expand the project so that even more classes can take part,” says Calle Norrbin, Project Manager at Luleå Basket.

The Collaboration Continues to Grow

The pilot was initially designed as a test. But it quickly proved its value. It is now confirmed that two additional rounds of Read as a Team will be carried out. The initiative is expanding across the entire region, giving fourth-grade students throughout Norrbotten the opportunity to meet their sports role models, discover the joy of reading, and experience the power of achieving goals together as a team while developing their reading skills.