Junior Senior with Norway's Julie Blakstad and Maren Mjelde
Thursday, July 7, 2022
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Do players a generation apart have different experiences? We ask the Norway pair about their journeys and the stars they looked up to on the way.
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Midfielder Julie Blakstad is 20 years old and one of the youngest members of the Norwegian squad. She has appeared for the national team throughout the youth levels and made her senior debut in 2020.
After spending the first four years of her club career in Norway, she moved to England and Manchester City in January, where she faces international team-mate, Maren Mjelde of Chelsea.
Mjelde is 32 with over 150 international appearances to her name. Having made her Norway debut in 2007 she is preparing for her fourth Women's EURO and has also experienced club football in Sweden and Germany as well as her homeland.
How did you take your first steps in football?
Blakstad: I guess from the beginning it was just because my friends did the same thing. So, we started a team at the age of five or six and I had a dad who used to play football, so he was really excited that I’m into it, so he taught me a lot. I played with boys in the beginning, but when I grew older, they started to get more physical and then I changed to girls only.
Mjelde: I started mainly because of my dad and my older brother, who was the one who took me everywhere. I started with boys and played with boys from when I was six to nine. Then I wanted to start handball. It’s a big sport in Norway, and to start I had to switch teams to the girls’ team in football. But I think I lasted for maybe six months because the level wasn’t good enough for me, so I had to go over to the boys again, where I played until I was 15. Then, I got a chance to play in the Toppserien in Norway, with Arna-Bjørnar. I felt it was time for me to take a new step and that was to become a senior player.
When did you start thinking of a career in football?
Mjelde: I think when I was around 14 or 15, I started having a dream of maybe playing abroad. It was mainly Germany and the US that were the big countries to go to at that time.
Blakstad: I have had some really good coaches since I was a little girl and I think from right at the beginning, starting at my club in a little place called Ottestad. I had two great coaches that helped me a lot and they made plans for me because I wanted to achieve something bigger than the rest of the girls, maybe, who just wanted to play for fun. So, they made individualised plans and really helped me with organising school and training, to make the best out of it. I first got picked for the national team when I was 14 or 15 years old, I think I started thinking about having that dream of being a really good player.
Who were your role models or your idols growing up?
Mjelde: I have had different types of role models, I would say. I had an older brother to look up to because he was a footballer. I have been a Liverpool fan since I was quite young, mainly because of him. He was a fan of Robbie Fowler, and in the beginning I wanted to have him as my role model as well, but he was like, “No, you can’t have the same!” so I ended up with Stan Collymore - I remember I cried when he left Liverpool. But after some years, it was clear for me that Steven Gerrard was my big footballing idol.
Blakstad: I was cheering for Manchester United, so Cristiano Ronaldo was my big idol in football. But, I’ve always looked up to other athletes as well, not only in football but in skiing. Cross-country skiing in Norway is very popular. So, I like to watch out for people that have a great mentality and I think the ones I get most inspiration from now are Erling Haaland or Jakob Ingebrigtsen because their mentalities are great.