Interview with Olivia Wickström football referee from Sweden

Olivia - a young, ambitious, and already experienced football referee who referees division 2 women's matches. We sat down to discuss her experiences so far and how she approaches the role of a referee.

— Hi Olivia, I hope everything is good with you. Could you start by introducing yourself?

— Hi! Everything is good with me. My name is Olivia, I'm from Stockholm, and I'm 21 years old. I am a football referee and have been refereeing since 2020. Currently, I am the main referee in the boys' and girls' Allsvenskan and a assistant referee in Elitettan and Division 3 for men, and it's really, really fun. I don't have a job right now, but I'm preparing to start studying in the fall. I'm leaning towards an engineering degree, but I'm not sure which one yet. The one that interests me the most right now is international industrial economics in Linköping. Then I can study languages, especially Spanish, which I really like. PLUS, you have a guaranteed exchange program in a Spanish-speaking country, which would be really cool.


— Before the interview, you mentioned that you had refereed abroad. Can you tell us a bit about that?

— Yes, I lived in Spain just outside Malaga for about 10 months and managed to hit their high season for football. So I decided to referee down there. I've also been to the Gothia Cup in Cancun earlier this year through Referee Abroad. It was the first year the cup was held there, so it wasn't anywhere near the size of Sweden's Gothia Cup, but it was still an experience with over 50 teams from the USA, Canada, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Mexico. I met Daniele (Responsible Referee Abroad) at the Gothia Cup in Gothenburg last summer, it was by chance that I got to stay with them, and we started talking about opportunities to referee a tournament abroad. After the tournament, I stayed in Mexico for about a month and just traveled around, it was absolutely fantastic. It was a fantastic experience for me because I have the opportunity to travel, meet new people, and develop my refereeing skills.


— What would you say is the biggest difference between refereeing in Sweden and abroad?

— Well, the biggest difference is the language, it definitely becomes a barrier and a completely different mindset to communicate. When I refereed in Spain, for example, I felt a little insecure, or not as confident as usual because I don't speak Spanish fluently. However, I feel much more confident now after refereeing there for a longer period of time, and you learn to find the words more naturally. Then there's a different environment around the matches, the temperament and passion are on a different level compared to home. It's something that is both good and bad, it was great to see how entire families came and gathered around youth matches. They have coffee, beer, flags, and drums, it's cool!


— If we go back to 2020, what made you start refereeing football?

— Actually, it was one of my best friends in high school. He had been refereeing for a year and told me that it was really fun, a great part-time job, very flexible, good pay, you get to exercise, and so on. So me and two of my friends took the course and then I started. And it went very, very quickly, and it went well, so it resulted in me starting to referee senior football after about a month.


— What drives you to referee today?

— Well, in the beginning it was a bit more about "earning some extra money", but now I actually really enjoy it. I love football and I always have. I've been playing football since I was little and still being a part of the sport is what I love the most. Then there's something special about always striving to have the best match possible. Finally, I think it's so incredibly nice to hang out with such great people, I don't think I would have had the same if I hadn't started refereeing in a team so quickly, but I think it's so fun to hang out with people who have similar ambitions as oneself.


—Do you have any memories from last year that stand out?

— Well, there were a lot of matches in the P17 all-Swedish league and that series is really fun, and also some matches in the P19 league. Last year, I also got a real female coach which has meant that I have received proper feedback which is fun and developing. Then I went to step 2, we must not forget that. It was a really fun year!


— What are your plans and goals for this year?

— If I can dream, it's to move up to the first division as soon as possible, but I don't know if it's really realistic. Anyway, I'm going to the Halmstad camp which I'm really excited about. I was supposed to go the year before but then it was canceled, so I'm really excited about it. Beyond refereeing, I'm actually going to Asia for three months to backpack, so I'll miss the entire spring season. But the plan is that I'll come home before the summer break and have time to catch up with some matches, then Halmstad and maybe some other fun tournaments with Referee Abroad this summer, which I'm really interested in.


— THANK YOU for a nice chat, finally I have to ask if you use any of Spintsos' products?

— Yes, I do. It was the first referee watch I bought. Your original, Retro 2S.


— Thanks again Olivia! We'll make sure to upgrade your watch to our new S1 Pro. Good luck during the season!