Ready leader proposes drastic measures in Oslo football: – It is brutal

The short version

• Marius Moursund Gisvold, chairman of Ready, is calling for rules to reduce spending in children’s football.
• He believes that it is not the facility situation that creates the class divide, but a lack of solid clubs and too expensive academies.
• Gisvold proposes that the municipality supports weak clubs with salary funds and that municipal pitches should not be used for too expensive an activity.
• He receives both support and opposition.

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Marius Moursund Gisvold is calling for rules and attitudes that can slow down the money gallop in football for children under 15.

Specifically, he wants clubs not to be allowed to use municipal facilities for football academies, which cost too much.

Gisvold is chairman of Ready, a western club that offers academy for around NOK 10,000 a yearReady pays out a scholarship to cover the training fee. Last year there were 12 children who received support for the academy. In addition, a part was given to the broad activity. . He speaks as a private person and a long-standing sports leader.

Firstly, he believes that the class divide now seen in the capital has nothing to do with facilities.

VG’s focus on the number of pitches with under-heating gives the wrong impression that the condition is worse in the east than the west, he believes.

– The infrastructure situation in Oslo is terrible. Oslo is by far the worst municipality in the country. But it is in many ways the best GroruddalenOslo’s north-eastern districts: Bjerke, Alna, Grorud and Stovner.. The municipality has really taken hold, says Gisvold.

He shows the Oslo football circle his own report from last year. One of the wealthiest districts – Nordre Aker – comes out worst there.

Of the ten clubs that have the greatest need for more court capacity, none are from the very most exposed districts.

The clubs with the worst coverage in 2023

YMCA: – 4639 hours
Frigg: – 4138 hours
Hasle-Løren: – 2779 hours
Korsvoll: – 2361 hours
Upsale: – 2341 hours
Ready: – 2310 hours
Heming: – 2251
Ullern: – 2147 hours
Lightning: – 1921 hours
Manglerud Star: – 1716 hours
Based on the NFF’s facilities report. It shows the individual club’s need for track capacity in relation to real activity.

According to the report, Oslo municipality has an undercapacity of 27,676 hours. This corresponds to approx. 29 artificial grass pitches.

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The report measures the need for pitches in season, i.e. from April to November, based on the number of members in the clubs.

This way of calculating receives criticism.

– The construction situation is a complete crisis on the eastern edge, but this also applies to other areas in Oslo, says Frode Lia.

– The difference is that well-resourced clubs can buy training time on other pitches and thus retain members, who in turn come out “good” in the facility report to the Oslo football circuit. Clubs without these resources have to close teams and lose members. This is the report’s major weakness, says Lia.

– Gisvold’s way of calculating is wrong and unfair. The municipality must and must take the number of children who grow up in the districts as a starting point, and not the number of members in the clubs. Living conditions factors must also be given weight. Then the need is greatest in the east, says Omar Samy Gamal, former sports council in Oslo.

– We are completely aware of that weakness. And that is why we have prioritized construction in particularly Old Oslo, i.e. the city centre, because we realized that we cannot just look at the figures for active members, says Gisvold.

Until recently, Gisvold was part of the facilities committee in NFF Oslo. It is a body that analyzes the needs and negotiates with the municipality.

– I think it is right and important that VG focuses on the track situation in winter. There the differences are the biggest and after all it amounts to half a year of training. That is where the resource-rich move ahead of the resource-poor, answers Frode Lia.

Gisvold describes the Hasle area as “terrible” and Søndre Nordstrand, where Holmlia is based, as “demanding”.

– There are big differences between east and west, but the municipality and the Urban Environment Agency have really done something to ensure that it is not the facilities that cause it to be lopsided, he believes.

– What creates the class divide?

– There is not bad activity in Groruddalen, but if we look towards Søndre Nordstrand and that way, it is about the fact that there are no solid clubs. There is too little money to run a nursery, and there are too few parents who are interested.

– You need some adults who know what the sport is about, who can organize volunteering and run training. Therefore, the municipality should take responsibility for wages in weak clubs, says Gisvold.

He proposes an arrangement where clubs can apply for salary funds.

The financial threshold for participating must be low, believes Gisvold.

– It is clear that the rich clubs from our local area, who see themselves as top clubs, contribute to a class divide when they take 20,000 in training fees.

Gisvold asks the sport to take action.

– Oslo sports district and Oslo football district can at least do something, because they dispose of all the pitches in Oslo apart from two or three. It is safe to say that clubs that charge so-and-so much in training fees are not allowed to use courts owned by Oslo municipality for that type of activity.

– It’s brutal, of course, but it’s fair to say. I mean you can do it if you don’t go too far.

Tore Jarl Bråteng, head of NFF Oslo, says they will be careful about setting price ceilings for independent clubs.

– We should rather work in good dialogue with the clubs to keep the costs at the most reasonable level possible, so that finances do not become a barrier to participation, he says.

Frode Lia, on the other hand, supports the publisher.

– There is no reason why those who make business out of their clubs or academies should use municipal facilities. It should be considered pure commercial activity, says Lia.

Tore Jarl Bråteng believes more in strengthening the offer and volunteering in more resource-poor districts.

– One solution could be for the public to provide funds for employees in clubs. It is the most efficient way to ensure a good offer where there are also dedicated resources to work with the recruitment of volunteers, says Bråteng.

– If Oslo municipality had borne the costs of keeping the tracks open in winter, it would undoubtedly have been an important contribution to keeping costs down.

Gisvol also wants the NFF to crack down harder on clubs that break the rules in the pursuit of young players.

And if necessary make rule changes.

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Sindre Øgar

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Mikal Emil Aaserud

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