– Turn the game around guys. Good, shouts coach Odd Einar Molnes. On the track in the cold hall on Haramsøya, the football players sweat. They have played fewer games than they should this autumn. The reason is that the opponents have canceled and thus the islanders have received three points on the walkover. Don’t want free points Eric Longva Husevåg plays on both the 14- and 16-year-old team. He thinks it’s crazy that matches are cancelled, even if they get the point. – We don’t want the point for not playing a match, says Husevåg. He thinks the opponents come up with a lot of excuses. – It may be that they have other things to do and are not that interested in football, says the 14-year-old. Eric Longva Husevåg plays both at G14 and G16. He believes that a few players mean that the rest of the team does not get to play matches and has to cancel. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Suspects that the journey is too long Coach Odd Einar Molnes is frustrated. On the Nordøyane, they put a lot of work into the home games with speakers, kiosks and even pyro effects. Often the cancellation comes the night before or on the day of the match. Molnes thinks that the travel distance to the islands may be a contributing factor. From Ålesund, the car journey takes one hour and involves high toll rates. – I make no secret of the fact that we are speculating about it. That it’s a long way to travel and therefore somewhat easy to cancel, says Molnes. Odd Einar Molnes is a football coach for two teams. He believes travel distance is a contributing factor to opponents canceling matches. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news The coach for G19, Per Olav Vedeld, is also disappointed and disappointed. The team has had three games canceled so far. He demands a change of attitude from the players. – It can be bad weather, far to travel and you have other plans. But every single player has to go to himself and turn up for the agreed match, says Vedeld. He believes the players must sharpen up and stand up for what they have committed to. Bjørn Oskar Haukeberg says that there are fewer football players after the pandemic, but about the same number of registered teams in the series at Sunnmøre. Thus, the club lane is more vulnerable. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Registering too many teams Bjørn Oskar Haukeberg in the Sunnmøre football circle understands that the teams on the North Islands are frustrated. So far, 25 matches have been canceled in the entire circuit. Six of them on the islands. – They have an unusual number of matches that have not been played there. Naturally, we find that very sad, says Haukeberg. Sunnmøre football club does not believe that the travel distance is the reason for the cancellations. They learn that many clubs have difficulties fielding teams, due to few players. – After the corona, there is a decrease in the number of players, which makes it even more difficult to field teams. Maybe exaggerate the club a bit with registrations, says Haukeberg. The club often registers many teams to ensure that everyone will get to play enough. The circuit also sees that there is a lot of juggling with dates for the matches to be played. Out of 8,000 matches, over 1,500 have been reframed. Alf Hansen in the Norwegian Football Association says that young people have many activities to choose from and the organization of the league game is important. Time consumption is a factor that can be negative. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Time-consuming away games Alf Hansen, director of development and activities, in the Norwegian Football Association, says that they are aware of games being canceled due to long travel distances, but that fortunately this is rare. – It happens from time to time that opposing teams do not follow up the away game when there is a time pressure, but we do not think it is a major problem, says Hansen. He still believes it is serious for the young people who experience this repeatedly. The junior team has played three fewer games than scheduled due to cancellations. Photo: screenshot Got injuries G 14 Sif/Hessa was one of the teams that canceled the match against the team from the North Islands. Team manager Geir Aksel Hansen says that they were looking forward to playing the game, but could not field a team. He refutes that it is about travel distance. – We were unlucky and suffered injuries. We also considered bringing in players from the litter below, but their goalkeeper was also injured, says Hansen. Hødd G19-2 was also unable to field a team and had to cancel. – Yes, it is a long way to travel, but that was not the reason. We had sickness and injuries in the squad, says coach Bjørn Falk Skodjevåg. Hødd wanted to postpone the match for a week, but is said to have been refused. Should loan players At Haramsøya, the coaches understand that there can be both illness and injuries. They themselves have had to move the date of the match due to injuries and difficulties in fielding teams, but they have not cancelled. They think big clubs with many players should mobilize. – Of course you want to, you can field a team. They can bring in players from the age group below so that the match is played as agreed, says Molnes. Odd Einar Molnes believes that big clubs should bring in younger players to complete the match. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news
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Football coach Odd Einar Molnes suspects that teams are canceling matches due to long travel distances – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
