– We feel little wanted, little seen and rejected. We feel low-priority and treated badly, says the letter, which news has gained access to. The content is reproduced with the consent of the player group. The team is in fourth place in the 3rd division so far this season. On Tuesday evening, they will have a meeting with the board of the club. The coaches for the team have also sent a similar letter to the board. – This is a last wish that something be done, before we feel that this is something that should be shared with Football Norway, the letter from the players concludes. Chairman: – It shouldn’t be like this. The letter was sent to the board before the summer and addresses a number of topics the players are dissatisfied with. They request information about what they actually get back for the training fee, whether the club has a sporting plan for the women’s team and why the women’s team does not get the same opportunities as the men’s team in the same division. AWAY TRACK: Skeid’s women’s team has two training sessions a week at NIH. Here, they do not have their own changing room and the pitch is some distance away from their original training area. Photo: Anne Rognerud / news One example is how the women’s team believes they are being given lower priority on the best pitch the club has, Nordre Åsen. The A team on the women’s side claim they only have one regular training session on this pitch per week. Here the board disagrees. They say the team has two regular training sessions. On the men’s side, both the A team and the recruit team (who also play in the 3rd division) have all their training on this pitch. The women’s team is often referred to other courts. For example, they have trained at both Muselunden and NIH, courses they believe hold a much lower standard. – It is a big surprise what this 4,500 NOK (the player’s fee, editor’s note) goes to. It should also be mentioned that it is said that it goes to track hire and training times at Nordre Åsen. We in Skeid Damer have had many training sessions at Muselunden this year and last year. We do not feel that we are prioritized ahead of either G15 or above to train at Nordre Åsen, says the letter. The team writes that they have tried to address these challenges with the club management, without feeling that they have made any progress. Therefore, they proceed with the matter to the board. Chairman Jørgen Wilhelm Bjerke understands the women’s frustration, but points out that the team also gets to train on the club’s best pitch. – In this period, where we are rebuilding an entire track behind here, we are lacking in everything. And it is perhaps children’s football that is being affected the hardest now. Then we have bought time at the Norwegian Sports Academy (NIH), so that the women’s team can train there twice a week, completely undisturbed by the circuit scheduling matches there, says Bjerke. CHAIRMAN: Jørgen Wilhelm Bjerke in Skeid football, in front of the club’s main pitch, Nordre Åsen. Photo: Anne Rognerud / news On Tuesday evening, he meets the women for a meeting. He thinks it is sad that the team experiences the investment the way they do. – It hurts to hear that they don’t feel seen and prioritized at all. It was one of the things that people reacted to. Here we have to sit down and talk, because it shouldn’t be like this. Then we have not done our job in terms of telling and explaining where we want to go, says the chairman. – Still a challenge in Norwegian football news has been in contact with several of today’s players Skeid. They do not wish to comment beyond what is stated in the letter. Neither do the coaches for the team. news has also been in contact with two former players who have left Skeid. Elise Gullhav Kvandal was in the captain’s team and helped write the letter to the board in Skeid, before she announced a transfer to Sarpsborg 08. EX-PLAYER: Elise Gullhav Kvandal was among those who wrote the letter to the board. She has now changed the club to Sarpsborg 08, where she really enjoys it. Photo: Anne Rognerud / news – I felt good in the meeting with the club, the general manager and the coach we had, so they didn’t have a goal and you didn’t feel you were taken care of. We felt that you did not get anything back for what you paid for, perhaps. Both in blood and toil on the field, but also in sum of money, says Elise Gullhav Kvandal. Regarding the objectives, the chairman replies that it is important to have a team consisting of Skeidjenter who have come up through the club’s systems. – It is important to have a good development arena – Skeidjenter must have an A-team to play on, so we have said that it would be nice if we could establish ourselves in the 3rd division and fight to be at the top there, says Bjerke. Hege Jørgensen often hears the experience that the women’s teams are not invested in. She is the general manager of Topfotball Kvinner, and does not know the situation in Skeid specifically, but speaks in general terms. – It is clear that this is still a challenge in Norwegian football. We, in our organisation, unfortunately keep getting inquiries and testimonies that this still happens. So even though we have come a long way, there are a lot of positive things that have happened, unfortunately some of this is still happening in Norwegian football, says Jørgensen and adds: – It is about everything from training times to changing rooms, to have no wardrobes at all, or worse wardrobes. It’s about the feeling of not being valued, the feeling of not actually having the same value as what the boys have. The main sponsor requires action Skeid’s main sponsor is OBOS. In recent years, they have invested heavily in women’s football in Norway. WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: Both CEO of OBOS, Daniel Siraj, and CEO of Topfotball Kvinner, Hege Jørgensen, have long been clear voices for equality in Norwegian football. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB The CEO, Daniel Siraj, contacted Skeid himself when he heard about how the women’s team felt treated. – I think that the clubs out there know that if they are to work together with OBOS, then they must ensure that they work systematically and well also on the women’s side, based on the prerequisites they have, says Siraj. Skeid will now address that, including with tonight’s meeting with the women’s team. – I completely agree with Daniel. Therefore we take this very seriously. We have invited the player group close to us. Unravel the tangles, misunderstandings. If there is injustice or discrimination, we must of course rectify it immediately, says chairman Bjerke.
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