Hedda Strand Gardsjord (born 28 June 1982) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

club

Røa IL Røa IL is a Norwegian sports club from Røa in the borough of Vestre Aker, Oslo. It was founded on 11 November 1900, and has sections for football, gymnastics, bandy, and cross-country skiing. Football, bandy, and Nordic skiing have been domina ...

and the Norway national team. In January 2009 Gardsjord debuted for the

Norway women's national football team The Norway women's national football team is controlled by the Football Association of Norway. The team is former European, World and Olympic champions and thus one of the most successful national teams. The team has had less success since the ...

in a 5–1 defeat by rivals

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...

. She was 26 years old and had never played for Norway's youth teams. Her national team chance came about when five club mates quit international football, following a furious bust-up with

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Bjarne Berntsen Bjarne Berntsen (born 21 December 1956) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is the elder brother of fellow football coach Alf Ingve Berntsen. Playing career Bjarne Berntsen began his football career at local club Figgjo IL. He ...

. She was picked for Norway's

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

squad and continued to be selected by Berntsen's replacement

Eli Landsem Eli Landsem (born 22 March 1962) is a Norwegian former international footballer who was the coach of the Norway women's national football team between 2009 and 2012. Career As a player, Landsem won 15 caps for Norway, scoring one goal. She made ...

. This included a place at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

, where Gardsjord played twice as Norway crashed out in the first round. She took an indefinite break from the national team in early 2012, after struggling to balance the demands of travel and training with her other career as a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

References

External links

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Profile
at Røa IL 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Bærum Norwegian women's footballers Norway women's international footballers Toppserien players Røa IL players Women's association football fullbacks 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players {{Norway-women-footy-bio-stub