"My father's advice was crucial"
Norway's Isabell Herlovsen is one of her country's all-time top goalscorers, thanks in part to her father's almost daily presence with her on the training pitch during childhood.
The enormous wealth of experience my father kai-Erik has still means a great deal to me today. He played in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach for seven years and earned 34 international caps, so he's passed on a lot of the knowledge he gained to me. He was also my very first coach and trained me for eight years at my club in Begby, which is a small village close to Frederikstad.
That's where I grew up.Begby was my first club and I joined them when I was six. We used to live just a few minutes away from a playing field, so every day I'd go down there with my dad and we'd practice playing football. I always did so voluntarily because the better I've become the more I've enjoyed playing. When I was 14 I had to leave the boy's team and my first women's side was kolbotn IL.
My father was a defender and although he's still a role model for me, I became the current international goals tally is 43, which is more than the number of appearances he made for Norway. I don't view it as a contrast but rather as a systematic development. I started out playing in midfield and later became a striker. When I was a girl I used to practice passing a lot with my dad, and we'd always work on shooting too.
That was waht I enjoyed most. That early period was a defining time for me. In the team in Begby it didn't take long before I was moved from midfield to attack because I was quick and very dangerous in front of goal - all thanks to my father. He always had a few useful tips on how I clould improve, and stilldoes today. We frequently have intensive discussions about my games and the advice my father gives me is still extremely voluable to me. I wouldn't want to go without those conversations. As a defender it was always his job to nullify his opponents, so he knows exactly how strikers behave and what defender can do to combat them.
Those chats are a huge help when it comes to continuing to develop the way I play and perfecting my skills. Sometimes my father's advice suddendly comes to me in a specific situation the middle of a game, and he ghosts into my head with a proposed solution. At times like that it's craazy how close he is to me; it's almost as if he were a part of me. My dad and I have always had a close relationship and I'm proud of that.
I believe the intensive conversations with my father and the frequent training during my childhood were crucial for me to be able to reach the level I'm at today. They've also had, and will continue to have, a huge influence on my career. Without my father's input, who knows if I'd have become the youngest ever goalscorer at a European Championship at the age of 16, or whether I'd have finished as top scorer in the Norwigian league three years ago.
Exclusive,
Isabell Herlovsen was speaking to Rainer Hennies