Winning mentality in women's football

Lessons from a leading athletics coach, the prevention of injuries and the future of UEFA women's competitions as well as refereeing issues were on the agenda during the second day of the 1st UEFA Women's National Team Coaches Conference in Nyon, Switzerland.

Multi-sport experience
Tuesday's session at UEFA headquarters was opened by Dr Frank Dick, president of the European Athletic Coaches' Association (EACA), the British athletics coach during the era of Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Cram and Linford Christie and personal coach to the likes of Boris Becker and Gerhard Berger. He talked about what it takes to be a winner and the responsibilities of a coach in helping their charges perform to their best and plan to realise their dreams. An emphasis was placed on being prepared to take risks to succeed, Frank Dick stating: "The difference between winning and losing is tiny, the consequences are big."

Competitions
UEFA competitions director Giorgio Marchetti then spoke about the development of the UEFA European Women's Championship, the new UEFA Women's Champions League and the UEFA European Women's Calendar, and took feedback from the coaches. The delegates later split into discussion groups to debate other topics involving women's football, including promotion of the game, player development and coach education.

Injury prevention
Dr Mogens Kreutzfeldt, the former Denmark national team doctor, now 3rd vice-chairman of the UEFA Medical Committee, gave a talk about the UEFA Injury Study. Since the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League this project has sought to discover what kind of injuries result in different tournaments and how they may be prevented, for example by new training programmes. Following the study at this summer's UEFA European Women's Championship final tournament, a decline in overall injury risk since the 2005 edition was noted, a trend also reflected in successive UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championships. Dr Kreutzfeldt concluded by emphasising the importance of co-ordination between clubs, coaches and medical staff in helping prevent injury risk.

Refereeing
UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh reviewed aspects of refereeing at UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™, from the preparation to the matches themselves. He reported positive feedback from the referees about the conduct of the players and coaches in Finland, and highlighted UEFA's policy of appointing female referees for matches in all European women's competitions.

Goals vote
The results were revealed of votes taken by the delegates about the best goals from UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2009™. Ksenia Tsybutovich's header from Elena Morozova's corner early in Russia's Group C game against England was elected the best set play. Kelly Smith's turn and shot for England in the final against Germany was named best goal from open play.