Wild West in Oslo

– Chaotic, describes Christian Madsen.

The Bergen native is a coach for Ready’s ten-year-olds on Oslo’s west side. On the grass pitch below Holmenkollåsen, he goes over each individual player with clear instructions – like a light version of Pep Guardiola.

Among those who get to hear it are the twin sons Edvard and William.

Ready, best known for the bandy community, is based in one of Oslo’s most affluent areas. Neighbor Heming IL has perhaps the capital’s best football facility, described in VG as an oasis in Holmenkollen.

But on Gressbanen, space for the width is tight.

– We are approximately 90 footballers on half a pitch, says Christian Madsen.

In the article series “The divided football city”, VG goes in depth on the differences in Football-Oslo. Madsen would like to show that the lanes are narrow, also in the west.

– Our half is divided into several zones. We have short sessions in one zone before we rotate. It will be fragmented and of little quality. We lack both goals and equipment, he says.

– If we include the whole field, we are 160-170 children on the field at the same time.

With hoe and spade

VG counts more than 130 children on a Wednesday at the end of April. Fortunately, a team is playing a match elsewhere in the city, which gives a little more room to frolic than usual.

Ready solves this by dividing the track into many different zones:

At ground level it teems. A trainer goes looking for vests. Another cannot find a target. A child is unhappy because they don’t have time to play “match” before they have to move to a new zone.

– It is difficult to get the flow and to teach them to play together, says Madsen.

– Half the year the pitch is iced and used for bandy. In April, we have to dig out the targets with a pick and spade. The team then gets one hour and a quarter a week on an eighth-grade football pitch, he points out.

– We never play home games here. There is no room. Throughout two seasons, we have played with too many goals at home games.

– Where is the NFF?

The cardboard coach is critical of the Norwegian Football Association (NFF).

– I wonder where they are and what they are doing. What do they put up with? What is our membership fee used for? We get an email that it is possible to sign up for coach development, and then they set up a series for us. Otherwise, we organize everything ourselves, sighs Madsen.

– Each child here pays NOK 2,600 a year, and then we borrow this little spot once a week.

– What do you think the NFF can do?

– They can help us with lanes, and they can be a little more visible. They can add up to several free cups.

Refers to the municipality

Tore Jarl Bråteng, leader of the Oslo football circle, responds to the criticism from the Ready coach:

– We have a construction crisis in Oslo, and we have had that for many years. We need new tracks, we need to rehabilitate tracks, and not least we need more tracks that are operated by the municipality also in winter.

Bråteng says that the board of NFF Oslo is responsible for the work to develop the best possible facility situation for the circuit’s clubs.

– The board has appointed a construction committee with a mandate for the practical follow-up of the circuit’s construction work. But it is still the case that it is the municipality that owns the facilities, operates the facilities and, not least, can set aside sufficient land to meet the need for facilities, he says.

– Unfortunate professionalisation

Ready also offers academy i “AKS time”AKS stands for activity school, and is Oslo’s after-school program – i.e. a paid offer for students after school hours. Several academies offer training for children during this period.. Three training sessions a week cost NOK 9,868 a year. For families struggling to pay, the club has created a scheme where they can apply for funds.

Christian Madsen does not like this professionalisation, which he has also read about in Heming and Ullern.

– I do not share their view of the development at all. If you train too much in a single sport and get bored, you have invested all your social capital there.

– Unfortunate professionalisation

Sporting manager in Ready, Are Bakken Steigum, says that the training fee of NOK 2,600 in children’s football, among other things, goes towards registering teams in series games, as well as equipment, pitches and salaries for the manager of children’s football

– We are happy about volunteers, but we believe in a combination of volunteers and staff who can organize children’s football. We do not want to be the price leader in our area.

He nevertheless understands the frustration of the coach for the ten-year team.

– The circle’s facilities report shows that Ready is one of the clubs in the whole of Oslo with the worst facilities in relation to the number of members. Now our one pitch is out of service for two years, and then we are left with one pitch for 1,400 footballers. That would have put us right at the top of undercapacity, he says.

The track that is currently being upgraded is a nine-lane track. It will eventually help the situation, but the undercapacity in the club will still be large, according to the Ready management.

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Journalist

Journalist at VG Sporten. Mostly works with football, but also other sports. Feel free to let me know about news or issues we should dig into: [email protected]

Journalist

Covers all sports, but primarily cross-country skiing and the Premier League in the last year. Educated at Kristiania University College.