This Girl Kicks and Landvetter IF found each other thanks to the Gothia Cup
Friendship is what Gothia Cup is all about. Just ask This Girl Kicks from UK and Landvetter IF from Sweden.
This Girl Kicks and Landvetter IF found each other during this year's edition of the Gothia Cup. Later this month, the Swedish team will travel to UK for a tour.
The friendship between This Girl Kicks and Landvetter IF started with a friendly fixture prior to the Gothia Cup 2022. Due to issues with flights being cancelled twice from Manchester and Bristol, This Girl Kicks arrived in Gothenburg three days early via London, to Copenhagen and then to Gothenburg.
– This additional time enabled us to play a friendly game with Landvetter IF that was a lot of fun as we got to meet great people and play at their fantastic facilities. We had food after our game and a friendship started, says Gary Barrell, coach for This Girl Kicks.
The teams supported each other during the tournament.
– This friendship blossomed, and the idea of us hosting Landvetter IF for a tour to England in October became a vision. Originally Landvetter IF planned to go to Spain but they changed their plans, says the coach.
He's been in Sweden for three days. He's visited Landvetter IF and also BK Häcken, the heart of the Gothia Cup.
– I have spent time with Landvetter IF, coaching their Seniors, U18s and U15s and have been very welcomed. I've been spending time with the coaching team to plan their U18 girls tour to England, where they will play two games against This Girl Kicks North and This Girl Kicks South, as well as go sightseeing in London, watch West Bromwich vs Sheffield United in the EFL and West Ham vs Arsenal in the WSL plus much, much more! It will be a very fun trip for Landvetter IF, says Gary Barrell.
In June and July 2023, This Girl Kicks will be back in Sweden taking a U18 side to the Piteå Cup and also bringing a U16 side to be hosted by Landvetter IF for a four-day tour as well as bringing their U17s to the Gothia Cup.
– Through the Gothia Cup we have a fantastic partnership club and are creating amazing opportunities for friendship and travel thanks to football! This Girl Kicks loves spending time in Sweden and we thank the Gothia Cup for allowing us this opportunity, he says.
Landvetter IF is very happy about the friendship with This Girl Kicks.
– We are inspired by this collaboration. It is only in the start-up phase, but I believe that the collaboration gives us many opportunities. Our girls get a chance to play matches against really good opposition from England, says the coach Jon Högström.
He continues:
– There are opportunities for girls from Landvetter to go to England to play football and to go with an English team to cups. In the same way, we get the opportunity to take care of a girl or several girls from England who might want to accompany one of our teams to a cup or camp.
Landvetter IF and their teams get the opportunity to learn annually to be a good host and take care of their friends from England.
– It makes parents, leaders and girls collaborate around a common activity. And we also get an opportunity to go on an annual trip, to be inspired to keep playing football.
Another positive thing is that the Swedish and English girls get to experience things together, they get to meet new people and create relationships that give them the confidence to dare to believe in themselves in more contexts. The friendship also means that the clubs get a good chance for networking in the different countries.
– And us, the coaches, get inspiration on ways of thinking about football, physical and mental training and people who can develop us into better leaders, says Jon Högström.
