04 Jul 2012 at 23:10 | Published by: Hans | Views: 10828 | News search

Lars Josefsson is the new head coach of the Swedish Oldtimers Team  (Photo by Lars Josefsson 2012)

Interview with Lars Josefsson (LJ), Swedens new Oldtimers Coach

This interview was done the 4th of July 2012. Interviewer is Hans Bergström (HB).

HB: First of all congratulations to the appointment to be the new national head coach of the Swedish oldtimers team, taking over from Stig Pettersson after the August Championships. What are your feelings for the assignment?

LJ: Thank you very much. It is of course a great honor to take over a Swedish national team and also a great challenge.

HB: Can you tell our readers who is Lars Josefsson?

LJ: I am 41 years old and live in Gothenburg with my partner Linda, our children and our newest addition to the family, a Jack Russell dog. I work as a preschool director, a job that I just recently started.

HB: You are quite young to lead a bunch of oldtimers, with 41 years not even an oldtimers yourself. How do you think this will work to be the youngest in the crew leading all the others?

LJ: Exciting. But I think that age does not matter so much, it's probably more about personality. It is important to be able to inspire and support the team and that we set common goals that we as a group can all stand behind.

HB: You are living with one of the stars of the Swedish Team Linda Lundberg. Will that affect how you act during the tournaments and the nominations?

LJ: No. I think it is important when working with groups that you see to all the participants and treat them equal no matter what other personal relationships you might have outside the group.

HB: How do you think your leadership will differ from you successor Stig Pettersson?

LJ: I have not been involved in the Stig's successful years as coach, so I cannot comment on differences in our leadership. I will be myself and do what I think will be best for the team.

HB: At the annual meeting for the Swedish Federation you were elected in the board for the first time. What are your impressions of the board work in the Swedish federation so far?

LJ: It is a well-functioning federation trying to constantly come up with new creative ideas.

HB: You are one of the responsible for the youth group in the Swedish federation and now you will work with the oldtimers also. Is there a difference in the leadership needed for the two groups?

LJ: The younger ones are a bit more curious perhaps. But basically it's probably no difference, groups need clarity and structure no matter how young or old people are.

HB: You are also the chairman of your club, Gullbergsbro. Last year you invested in an artificial grass MOS course instead of the felt course. Can you tell us about how that has turned out for the club in terms of financials and sporty wise?

LJ: That's right, we built a MOS course last year. We felt as a club that we had to do something about the decreasing visits to our path. A year later, we feel that it has given us a tremendous boost. The outcome is more visitors and increasing revenues by 40% and also a lot of new members.

HB: Again a big congratulation to the appointment and good luck with the team in the future!

LJ: Thank you!

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