Renate Blindheim
Personal information
Full name Renate Køppen Blindheim[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-17) 17 March 1994
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Sotra (manager)
Youth career
Sandviken
International career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009 Norway U15 2 (0)
2010 Norway U16 1 (0)
Managerial career
2020– Sotra

Renate Køppen Blindheim (born 17 March 1994) is a Norwegian football manager and former footballer who is currently manager of Norwegian 2. divisjon club Sotra. In June 2020, Blindheim gained attention for being the first female manager to manage a professional Norwegian men's football team.

Early life

Blindheim grew up in Bergen and aspired to be a professional footballer from a young age. She represented Norway 3 times at youth level, featuring alongside future Norway senior international players such as Guro Reiten and Caroline Graham Hansen.[2][3] Blindheim struggled with injuries and, at the age of 17, retired from football after a serious foot injury. After this, she decided to focus on coaching her younger sister. Her father was a football manager at this time.[4]

Managerial career

Blindheim first worked as a youth coach for Gneist and then later for Olsvik. After her spell at Olsvik, she worked as a player development coach at Åsane.[4] It was during this time that she decided to aspire to be a manager in the Eliteserien, the top tier of Norwegian men's football.[2]

On 19 June 2020, it was announced that Blindheim would be the manager for 2. divisjon club Sotra, meaning that she would be the first female manager to take charge of a professional Norwegian men's football team.[5] The news of her appointment led to significant international media coverage of both her and the club.[6][7] After six league games, Sotra were undefeated and top of the league table with five victories.[8] Following that spell, however, the team's form worsened and they had one draw and seven losses, meaning that they were seventh in the league.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Renate Blindheim". PlaymakerStats. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 Bløndal, Thomas; Becker, Mia (10 March 2020). "Blindheim (25) vil bli den første kvinnelige treneren i Eliteserien" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. ↑ Renate Blindheim at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
  4. 1 2 Parzonka, Aleksandra. "Renate Blindheim – "przypadkowa" trenerka z norweskiej wyspy" (in Polish). TVP Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Binner, Andrew (21 July 2020). "Renate Blindheim breaks new ground for female football coaches in Norway". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Renate Blindheim og Sotra blir omtalt verden over: – Det har vært intenst". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 31 July 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "Blindheim etter historisk kamp: – Det har vært mye oppmerksomhet". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). 22 June 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  8. ↑ Duesund, Tommy (21 August 2020). "Oppturen fortsetter for den historiske kvinnetreneren". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  9. ↑ Tørre, Michael. "Renate Blindheim (26) ble historisk og fikk en drømmestart i Sotra. Nå sliter laget tungt: - Satser på at jeg ikke mister jobben". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 February 2021.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.