Chapter 22 - Bend it like Beckham...

I really wanted to share with you all a bit about Birna´s soccer career, as I think it is very impressive and soccer has obviously been a big part of her life. Birna is very modest about this stuff and it´s only through my curiosity that she told me a lot about it...

Soccer is a huge sport here in Iceland, as it is in the rest of Europe. Birna played club soccer for Valur (one of the best women´s clubs here) and also played on the national women´s soccer team – as Goalkeeper. Soccer has taken her to many different countries, playing club and national games in Sweden, Portugal, Denmark and Finland.

In 1996 Birna knew that she wanted to do two things... she wanted to go to school in America and she wanted to play soccer... so she thought to combine the two. And how´s this for resourcefulness and initiative... Birna got on the internet and looked up all the head soccer coaches in about 20 different colleges in the US. She put together a package which was like a full soccer resume, and included a videotape of all her career highlights. She put this tape together herself – by organising with one of the Icelandic TV networks (who had recorded and shown many of her club and national games on TV), to use their editting equipment and edit hours and hours of footage so that the final product was a half hour tape featuring her career highlights. Then she sent this package off to the head coaches of the 20 different colleges she was interested in attending.

She got a good response and was talking seriously with about five colleges, before being offered two full scholarships by two different universities. She ended up choosing the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and attended this Uni for three years (1997 – 2000), and then she spent a further year at Barry University in Florida (2001). How´s this... The University of Mississippi´s football stadium seated 70,000 people!

Birna´s team were the “Ole Miss Lady Rebel Soccer Team.” The training schedule was very rigorous and they trained up to three hours a day, six days a week...and more during Pre-Season! They travelled all over the US to play matches and Birna has been to 26 out of the 50 states. Birna had her own Goalkeeper coach who is now a member of the US national team soccer coaching staff.

Birna showed me a folder full of newspaper and magazine clippings / articles (from both here in Iceland and the US) which she has featured in – articles where she has been interviewed... articles about her player profile and career stats... articles about her and her team´s achievements and things. I also saw a lot of video footage of her career in the US as the games were broadcast on Fox Sports on US TV. Very impressive!

(Whilst she was playing soccer, she also completed a BA in Journalism and a Minor in International Studies at Ole Miss, as well as studying photography in Miami).

The soccer did take a toll on Birna´s body though... countless muscle injuries... three operations on her left knee (with a fourth operation due this October to repair a torn Miniscus)... and about five serious head concussions. When she returned from the US, she was quite tired of the game and her injuries prevented her from continuing to play professionally – so now she only plays the odd game of indoor soccer and backyard soccer... in which she kicks my ass!

I feel really proud of Birna for her achievements, determination and motivation in fulfilling her soccer dreams and goals. She is a pretty amazing person (even if I am a little biased!)