Career paused for the heavy message

It is almost a month since the somewhat unexpected message came that Ylva Martinsen will be replaced by Ulf Lundberg as the league captain for the Women crown from next season.

She has begun to reconcile herself to the fact that she must not continue.

- That I did not get extended came very quickly. I believed I would have that opportunity. It was abrupt, but you have to accept it and move on.

She was told two days after the International Hockey Association's decision to cancel the World Cup because of the corona crisis. Two days later, the replacement was presented.

A fact that tells that the union worked with a replacement for a long time.

- Right, so it is. That name was clearly long before, but I got the message way too late, says Martinsen.

Martinsen reveals that she encountered the future as late as November last year and then learned that she had full confidence from her bosses, the union's secretary general Tommy Boustedt and national team manager Olof Östblom.

- I asked for the future plans, I know that if you want to work in hockey, you need to be out on time. In November, I was told that I had Olof's and Tommy's trust. It was no talk, then I knew an evaluation would be done. After all, this is done with all the federal captains every year, she says.

Do you feel ill-treated?

- No, but I think I could have received a message earlier. Then I would have had more opportunities to find jobs and plan for my and the family's future, ”she says.

The only message she got about the union's decision is that it is results-based. Last year's relegation to the B-World Cup was a historic failure, but did not come as a flash from clear skies after the turbulent years before under Leif Bork's leadership. During this short season - with both national team conflict and virus pandemic - the women's crowns took the stage with victories over the latest World Cup silver medalist Finland and four Russia, and clinched a final place in the Euro Hockey Tour.

Martinsen, who in 2018 took the U18 national team to a historic World Cup silver, says that she has received great support from the players in the Women's crowns. She has no plans to set a point for the coaching career that has been going on for eleven years after her successful player career with the Olympic silver in Turin as the highlight.

- I really don't feel ready with the ice hockey as a leader. Now the message came so late so we must see if I have to take a break, I am on leave from the police authority and I can always come back. At the same time, it can be good to have a break and get some distance from it, she says.

- I keep all the doors open. I have had some inquiries that I have been thinking about, but so far it looks like it will be the police for a while, ”she says.