Ope IF's G15 team debuts in Gothia Cup: "A rewarding experience"

Ope IF's now 15-year-old girls have never played in Gothia Cup.

Therefore, they're really looking forward to this summer's debut in the world's biggest youth football tournament.
– It's a fun and rewarding experience that we will get to share together, says the leader Pelle Hollsten.

Ope IF has more than 1 100 members, just over 650 players from the age of seven up to senior team level and 140 leaders in various roles. Ope IF is a good example of an equal club as the club consists of as many girls as boys.
– It is a constant pursuit of equal conditions and fair conditions and that with a board and a management staff that can reflect the equal strategy. We are primarily a broad-based association where the goal is for as many people as possible to be active in the association for as long as possible. This can then mean that you play for a long time or stop playing and instead stay in the club as a leader, referee or something else, says the club director Maud Stålhandske.

Pelle Hollsten explains why Ope IF has registered its G15 team for Gothia Cup 2023.
– Like most teams within Ope IF, we have been to the Hudik Cup and also played in our own Storsjöcupen. However, we set a goal quite early in our girls' soccer practice to go to the Gothia Cup in order to have something fun and exciting to strive for and look forward to, but also to keep as many girls as possible in soccer. We feel that it is a fun and rewarding experience that we will get to share together. We also see it as a good opportunity to face other teams with a different opposition that we don't face otherwise, says the leader.

It will be the team's Gothia Cup debut.
– We as a team have no previous experience, but in our team there are leaders who went to the Gothia Cup with other teams. They have had good experiences, which has played a big role in our choice of the Gothia Cup.
The girls in the team are looking forward to a lot.
– A good week with a lot of football. We also see it as a good, team-building trip. We think that the team will gain knowledge about strengths and areas of development. The girls - apart from football - are looking forward to being in Gothenburg together, shopping and going to Liseberg, says Pelle Hollsten.

Between Östersund and Gothenburg it is not a direct walking distance. Ope IF will travel by bus together with two other teams. It will also be a trip that will strengthen team spirit.
– The trip is probably what the girls think is hard because it takes so long. When we've gone by bus before, the girls are usually very good at getting the time to go and occupy each other. There is usually a lot of singing and a lot of laughter, which I am convinced that there will be lots of during this trip as well. The whole trip can be seen as team building as there will be a lot of time together in different group constellations, says the leader.