Renate Blindheim

Renate Blindheim

Personal information
Full name	Renate Køppen Blindheim[1]
Date of birth	(1994-03-17) 17 March 1994 (age 30)
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 the 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 of 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 at the 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. 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. 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.