Estonia's first ever women's football conference takes place in Tallinn
Last week, Estonia's first ever women's football conference took place at the Estonian Football Association's (EJL) headquarters in Tallinn. The conference brought together experts from both Estonia and abroad to discuss the most topical issues related to the sport.
On behalf of the EJL, the conference was organized and hosted by Estonian Women's Football Coordinator Maria Sootak.
With the conference celebrating 30 years of women's football in Estonia, Sootak gave participants an overview of the most significant events that have taken place during the last three decades.
"Women's football is run by extremely hard-working and enthusiastic people," said Sootak. "It's just a joy because people are doing things with passion and all the activities are aimed at developing girls' and women's football in Estonia."
One of the external experts who spoke at the conference was Judith Tillemans, head of sponsorship relations at Euronics International.
Tillemans discussed the reasons for Euronics' decision to lend support to women's football across Europe.
According to Tillemans, one of the reasons for initiating the partnership was the huge potential and growth of women's football, which is happening all over Europe – even in those countries whose teams are not yet regularly achieving success in the European Championships or Champions League.
"In some markets, you just have to look a step down and focus on the grassroots level, for example, as has happened here in Estonia with the Euronics girls' football camps. This is a great example of how to activate a sponsorship relationship," Tillemans said.
In a presentation by UEFA Medical Research Adviser Evert Verhagen, a number of myths related to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in women's football were debunked. According to Verhagen, one of the main messages to take away from his presentation was that although ACL injuries do happen and have long-lasting effects, they are not endemic in the women's game.
"There are a lot of good programs out there that are worth using, because they have proven their effectiveness in preventing injuries. Just play football and enjoy it. You are much more likely to stay in good health than to pick up an ACL injury," said Verhagen.
Other experts, who spoke at the conference, included Mariet Louhento, who works on a day-to-day basis for the Finnish Football Association as head of the country's top women's league.
In her presentation, Louhento outlined the journey taken in Finnish women's football towards having professional clubs and leagues. She also highlighted insights and experiences that could inspire other countries with similar football cultures to do the same.
Among the local expert who spoke, was youth coach and Estonian Football Association trainer Kärt Mere, who shared her experience of developing girls' football in a smaller community using the example of Estonian club Saue JK.
Mere explained how the Playmakers project was successfully launched in the Saue community and opened up ways for similar initiatives to support other football clubs in their efforts to popularize football for girls.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion on "Players' Experiences Abroad," featuring Estonian national team and JK Tabasalu goalkeeper Karina Kork and football agent Harri Ojamaa. The discussion, which was moderated by Maria Soota,, explored the ups and downs of an Estonian female footballer's time playing for a foreign club, while also adding an agent's perspective.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm, Michael Cole