Åheim in Vanylven is a small village with a cornerstone company within the quarry and a school. And one traffic light that regulates traffic over a narrow bridge. Now the village with around 300 inhabitants can also boast that they have two football professionals. This week Vilde Hasund (25) became cup champion with Hammarby in Sweden. – It is one of the biggest things I have experienced so far. It was a lot of fun, says midfielder Hasund. Local resident Anna Aahjem (23) plays for Lyn and has scored the second most in the top league. What is the secret behind the success? Played on three teams at the same time Vilde Hasund plays for Swedish Hammarby and became cup champion Photo: Anne Karin B Ringdal Vilde Hasund started playing football as a 6-7-year-old, with the aim of becoming better than his brother. Apart from that, there weren’t that many other leisure activities to take part in that interested her. In such a small village there is no struggle to be on the team. On the contrary. It is a battle to have enough players so that you can sign up for a team. – For some years I had three matches a week. It was hectic, but a lot of fun, says Hasund. She actually played on three different football teams at the same time and thus there were extremely many training hours. She played on teams with girls who were a year older, with boys who were the same age as her and boys who were a year younger. – Training together with the boys can give an advantage, both technically and physically, says Hasund. No follow-up as big clubs Anna Nerland Aahjem plays at Lyn, at the same time as she studies to become a police officer. Photo: Terje Haugnes / news Anna Aahjem does not think it is negative to come from a small village. There are not many reserves to take off, so that means a lot of playing time. She only played on one team, where she got to frolic on the field. She also started as a 6-year-old. – I got the opportunity to play a lot. In addition, it is perhaps luck and embarrassment that determine whether you will be good, says Aahjem. She sees that big clubs have a completely different opportunity to develop talent than in small clubs. At Åheim, it was the parents who were the coaches, but both girls were allowed to develop through zone meetings and regional meetings where players from several clubs met. – We did not get the same follow-up as in big clubs, so we have done a lot on our own. We played football at all hours of the day. That was basically what we did, says Aahjem. But 65 kilometers north of Åheim lies Ulsteinvik with the successful sports club Hødd. This became a gateway to football at a higher level for both Vilde Hasund and Anna Aahjem. The mayor was coach Lena Landsverk Sande is the mayor of Vanylven. She is proud of the two football professionals. Photo: Trond Vestre / news Lena Landverk Sande, mayor of Vanylven, is not at all surprised that the two Åheims women became professionals. She has followed both closely throughout her upbringing, since she herself was a soccer mother. – I was actually Vilde’s trainer for a while, but I should take no credit for that, laughs Sande. She characterizes both women as unparalleled hard workers. – When you look at it statistically, it should be well done to get two at such a high level. I am very proud of them, says the Liberal mayor. Here at the Åheim stadium, Vilde Hasund and Anna Nerland Aahjem put in thousands of training hours. Photo: Janne Brit Aasen / news Dreaming of the national team Vilde Hasund has always dreamed of becoming a football professional. She had a training stay in Røa as a 17-year-old, and saw that her dream could come true. There she got her first contract. Her advice to children with the same dream is to put in hours on the football pitch. – It’s just a matter of continuing to train hard, have fun and set yourself small and big goals on the way so you can get even better, says Hasund. Now he will have to focus on the series with many important games ahead. For Anna Nerland Aahjem, one of the goals is to become the top scorer in the Norwegian top league. – It would have been fun to achieve that, but we take it one game at a time, says Aahjem. Both dream that in time there will be two women from Åheim on the Norwegian women’s national team.
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Vilde Hasund and Anna Nerland Aahjem from Åheim became football professionals – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
