At the end of November, the Grassroots Coach of the Year 2022 will be chosen under the auspices of the Norwegian Football Association. In the final there are now five candidates. Maria Alexeeva and four men. A ratio that is representative of the proportion of female coaches in Norway. – The ladies don’t think they are good enough, says Alexeeva, who is a football coach for girls 13 in Kirkenes football club. Soccer coach Maria Alexeeva is this year’s grassroots coach in Finnmark. Video: Christine Galschjødt – Proud and happy And she may have a good point. Figures from the Norwegian Football Association show that there are still most men who take on the task of football coach. Both in top and broad sports. Fresh figures from 2022 show this distribution: 84.9 per cent are men and 14.1 per cent are women But one region stands out positively. In Finnmark, there are twice as many female coaches as the national average. Here the figure is 23.2 per cent, which is the highest in the country. And if we look at children’s sports, the figure is even higher. Here, there are 31.4 per cent female coaches, compared to the national average of 17.4 per cent. – I must say I am extremely proud. We have many women on our coaching courses and that is very gratifying, says Vidar Johnsen, responsible coach developer in Finnmark football circle. Vidar Johnsen is a coach developer in the Finnmark football circuit. He is very proud that Finnmark tops the statistics on the number of female coaches in Norway. Photo: Mariam Eltervåg Cissé / news He is not quite sure why the country’s northernmost football circuit is at the top of the country in this area. – I don’t have the definitive answer, but perhaps it is the fact that we have been working with women’s football for a long time that is now yielding results, he says. Strong women’s environment Johnsen refers to Porsanger IL, which has a women’s team that plays in the first division, while Sør-Varanger is also asserting itself at national level. Both of these teams have female coaches, or women on the coaching staff, according to the coach developer. – Many of the environments in Finnmark are built on the fact that there are strong female coaches in the clubs, and not least female managers in the clubs, says Johnsen. Bo Folke Gustavson, responsible for children and young people in the Norwegian Football Association, would like to see more women on grassroots coaching courses. Bo Folke Gustavson is responsible for children and young people in the Norwegian Football Association. He welcomes more women as trainers. Photo: Norwegian Football Association Today, the proportion of women who appear on the courses is around 20 per cent. Gustavsson believes that many women believe that they must have long football experience and a lot of expertise in the field of football in order to stand up as a coach. – We use a bit of fluff to say that if you have organized a few children’s birthday parties in your life, then you can be a football coach for the youngest. It’s primarily about facilitating good football activity, and you learn that on our courses, says Gustavson. Meet on Tik-tok and snap Maria Alexeeva has good football professional qualities after having played football herself for a number of years. But when she has to create well-being for the girls’ team she coaches, the social interaction is at least as important. In order to meet the girls on their half of the court, Alexeeva has created Tik-tok, and shared snapchat forum. – In order for them to have confidence in me, I have had to learn this. I quickly realized that if I sent an SMS they didn’t reply, but when I send a snap they reply right away, she says. Maria is also keen to find out what could be behind it if one of the girls performs poorly or lacks motivation. – Maybe something has happened at home. They are in a vulnerable phase and having a good dialogue with them is important. Maybe I even have to contact the home, she says. Mina Flå-Jørgensen loves playing football and believes that the relationship with coach Maria is important for her to thrive. Photo: Privat – She is almost like a bonus mum to me, says Mina-Flå Jørgensen. The 13-year-old believes that the good team feeling that Maria creates is crucial for her to enjoy playing football. – I think it is very important to have a coach you like. Maria takes care of everyone and cleans up everything really, says Mina. The important talk Not long ago, the whole team gathered in the evening to watch women’s football on TV and eat pizza. Alexeeva believes it is important to see the girls and acknowledge them. – For them, it is not enough that they have played a really good match or made a really good pass. You have to hear it too, says Alexeeva. Not least, it is important to talk about all the things that the girls felt did not go well. – Otherwise they go home and feel that they didn’t get to the training. The boys like to think that they didn’t make it because the others were bad. But the girls don’t think like that. They take it home with them, she says. Maria Alexeeva from Kirkenes is competing to become the Grassroots Coach of the Year in Norway. Photo: Privat Alexeeva has her own daughter on the team. It helps when you have to clear time to be on the football field several evenings a week. – I feel like I have an extra group of 12 youngsters, but it’s worth it, she says with a laugh. In order for more women to take coaching responsibility, Alexeeva believes that women must make demands on their better half at home. – More girls must dare to say from home that: “Now the work tasks in the house must be distributed, because now I will be a football coach”.
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Only 14 per cent female football coaches, but one county stands out positively – news Troms and Finnmark
