Kathmandu: In every sport, the coach acts as the main pillar of the team. A coach plays a vital role in strategy, dedication, and hard work for the team.

And Sarina Wiegman is one of those coaches who not only work for the team, but also for the nation. Better known as England’s Lionesses Women’s football head coach, under her mentorship, the team succeeded in bagging the first women’s trophy in 2022.

Then, the Lionesses also beat Brazil in a tiebreaker to become Finalissima Champions, 2023 at Wembley Stadium. Weigman’s guidance also led the Lionesses to the first-ever Women’s World Cup, beating host Australia by 3-1 goals in the semi-final at Sydney.

The Lionesses participated 6 times at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023. However, in the final, they lost against Spain by a 1-0 goal.

Sarina’s journey from an enthusiastic Dutch footballer, Physical Education (PE) teacher to a UEFA Pro License holder coach is astonishing. Sarina believes communication is a key formula of success for a team.

Talking about her coaching approach, Sarina said, ‘Start to talk with each other and ask questions on and off the pitch, and also tell a little bit about yourself. And then you learn about players and every player, as every human being is different, so it’s good to learn about each other, so you can also adapt your approach to the player to get more out of her.’

Sarina emphasizes on to follow the calling of the heart. Believing in oneself, having confidence, and working hard are some of the formulas of Sarina for success.

Despite her contribution to England’s women’s team and historical achievements, Sarina’s role as a torchbearer for the Dutch Women’s Football Team established her as one of the best mentors.

Sarina’s Early Life

Sarina was born on October 26, 1969, in The Hague, Netherlands. As a child, she loved to play football. At around 6 years old, Sarina began playing football with her twin brother. It was a different scenario back then.

During that period, girls were banned from playing football. But Sarina’s love for football didn’t hold back, as her parents also supported her to chase her dream. She even cut her hair short to join her twin brother’s local team, ESDO.

But it was not easy to play along with the boys always. Sometimes, it was a nice reaction from the people that a girl was playing along with the boys. But sometimes it was a challenging atmosphere to cope with.

Remembering those days in an interview with the Guardian, Sarina said, ‘As a little girl, when I was 5 or 6, girls were not allowed to play football, but I just liked football and my parents never made any fuss. ‘ Her parents used to say, ‘If you want to play football, you’re going to play football.’ That was a huge back force that Weigman could get at that time.

Though the first recorded women’s football match dates back to May 7, 1881. It was a match between Scotland and England at Easter Road in England. But the proper governance for women’s football took time.

According to the FA, it was in 1971 that UEFA recommended that the women’s game should be governed by national associations, then numbering 32, across Europe. The FA made their announcement on recognizing the Women’s FA (WFA) on 29 February 1972.

And UEFA’s decision even paved the way for the upcoming women’s footballers. Sarina also became one of the players to benefit from the decision.

Sarina joined her first women’s team, HSV Celeritas. Later in 1987, she joined KFC ’71 (Women’s football club, Delft, Netherlands), where she won her first domestic game KNVB Cup. In 1988, at the age of 18, Sarina was part of the Netherlands squad invited by FIFA to compete in the Women’s Invitation Trophy in China.

Sarina’s lessons from American football

When Sarina was in China in 1988, she met Anson Dorrance, head of the USA Women’s soccer program at the University of North Carolina.

In a meeting with Dorrance, she expressed her interest in playing in the US. Sarina said that she felt like women’s soccer in the Netherlands was fighting for their place and wasn’t accepted, and she knew that the US was better for women’s soccer.

Dorrance offered Sarina a sports scholarship and invited her to study at the University of North Carolina and play for the North Carolina Tar Heels under Dorrance’s coaching. It was not just a piece of cake for Sarina. She had never been far from her family for a long time.

With a lot of confusion and nervousness, Sarina boarded the plane to the USA. She was afraid. Sarina kept asking herself repeatedly whether she was doing something good or not. She was fighting hard to reflect upon her decision.

But she found that her worry was just useless. She received the correct guidance that she was seeking. And, Sarina got the opportunity to expand her knowledge of football in the USA.

Far away from her country, Sarina played alongside US big names like Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, and Carla Overbeck. Sarina fell in love with the football culture of the USA. She felt like finally getting the right environment to nurture the craving for football.

One year in the USA played a vital role in changing her mindset regarding football. She not only learned the art of making a player but also enjoyed the process of treating the player as part of a family.

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In her stay in the US, she learned about the determination, which she wanted to apply the same in her home country, the Netherlands. But when she returned Netherlands, she was frustrated after finding out that it was impossible to make a living by playing or coaching in women’s football and thought of even quitting football and finding another sport.

As she couldn’t see the potential in women’s soccer, as she didn’t see any female coaches and she pursued her studies in physical education (PE). While playing football and working as a PE teacher at Segbroek College, Hague, which helped her learn more skills in organisation, communication, and relationship-building.

However,  in 1994, she joined the women’s team for Ter Leede, where she played for 9 years, helping to win 2 Dutch Championships (2001, 2003) and the KNVB Cup (2001). In 2003, Weigman retired after becoming pregnant with her second child.

Coaching Career-

Hopelessness to Champion

After retiring from football, Sarina began coaching because she wanted to improve women’s football and want to make a lasting impact. She worked with young children, coached girls’ teams in boys’ competitions, and also worked for the Dutch Federation with regional teams, where things began to change.

In 2007, when the Dutch Women’s league Eredivisie was launched, Weigman was asked to coach the new team ADO Den Haag on a semi-professional basis, but Sarina refused the offer until the team gave her a full-time job.

Later on, when the team agreed,  she had to leave her teaching job as well. It was still a risky decision for Sarina, as the coaching scenario was still struggling for women’s coaching. But she was eager to explore the coaching scene and formally began the journey as a coach in 2007.

Under her management, the ADO Den Haag won the title of Eredivisie title in 2012. The team also won the KNVB Cup in 2012 and 2013. She coached the club for seven years till 2014.

With time, she planned to step up to the next stage of her coaching. She started to explore herself for coaching the national team. And towards the journey, Sarina got the opportunity to assist Roger Reijniers.

It was a different experience for Sarina to serve as an assistant coach. Rather than leading, she was now following someone else’s lead. This created an opportunity for Sarina to learn a different perspective on coaching. And her proactive nature helped her to learn different football philosophies.

After 2014, Sarina served as assistant coach of the national team, working under Roger Reijniers and Arjan van der Laan. In 2015, Sarina was looked upon as a potential. The Dutch were 10th ranked, after reaching the quarter final of the World Cup in Canada. But failed to pass the round of 16 after facing a defeat against Japan. But the team showed a potential of holding its place.

This triggered Sarina to get the highest coaching degree. Then, after the World Cup, she decided to complete her Pro-License Course. She believed that the highest degree would open up an avenue to practice coaching wherever she wanted.

Her enrollment in the course opened up an opportunity for Sarina to intern with Sparta Rotterdam. It was her first time working with a professional men’s football team. Under the coach Alex Pastoor, she got an opportunity to prove the potential of a women’s coach.

After the 2015 World Cup, her experience with the national team faced huge challenges. Though the team was showing great potential to become part of the Olympic Games in Rio, the team was facing problems in achieving a proper finish. There was some work to do for the improvement.

After Coach Reijners left, she had some experience handling the team for some time. Then, even after Van der Laan’s departure, she looked after the team on her own.

But in January 2017, the team lacked a head coach. The Netherlands was about to host the Euros after six months, but the team didn’t have a head coach. Hence, Sarina found the right opportunity to show her coaching skills.

After getting the responsibility as the head coach, Weigman worked on arranging counterattacks, transitions between attacking and defending. And worked on to change the mindset of the players to clear their insecurity and make them able to believe in their potential.

With a lot of friendly matches and attempts to make a strong mindset of the players, the Dutch team succeeded in defeating Denmark by 4-2 to become the champions. And it was about 30 years after returning to the Netherlands from the USA that Sarina was able to contribute to making the Netherlands a Euro Champion.

Just after returning from the US, Sarina was about to quit football and jump into other sports. But she chose to kindle the potential of Dutch women footballers. And the journey helped Sarina gain respect and recognition as a head coach. The way Sarina mentored Dutch women’s football team, through the darkness to the Champion, establisher her as a torchbearer of the team.