Lianne Lindner back at Den Elshof

9 June 2024

Vive la France! This year, a French football club is participating in the Marveld Tournament again, and so Lianne Lindner is back in action. Lianne is coaching Paris Saint Germain this year, which is not surprising because Lianne now lives and works in France. But she was born and raised in Groenlo and started playing football at Grol when she was five years old. “I was always with the boys from the beginning, because there were no girls’ teams back then, only a women’s team. So I played with the boys first and later with the women. But when we were young, my sister also played at Grol. I played here until I was about twenty-one, then I went to study.”

Lianne studied sports at the CIOS, and through her studies, she ended up in France. “For my education, I had to do an internship (sports and tourism) abroad, so I sent out many CVs. Eventually, I received a call from a camping site in France. ‘You can come work’, they said in French. So I did a two-month internship there, in the animation team. I liked it so much that I went back to work there the following year and the year after.”

After the CIOS, Lianne attended the Sports University for four more years. When she completed that education, her former boss asked her if she wanted to work there. And so it happened. Since 2007, she has been working at camping La Nautique in Narbonne, in the south of France, near the Spanish border. The car journey takes about 13 hours, so you really have to be willing to travel. Lianne now travels by plane, which is faster. Nowadays, she no longer works as an animator at the campsite, but in the summer months, she works as a lifeguard, and outside the season, Lianne works in the technical department. “Then I do everything, in the excavator or mowing the grass,” she laughs.

About once a year, Lianne travels to the Netherlands to visit her family and friends. Now she is here specifically for the Marveld Tournament. Getting time off work wasn’t easy, as the season is just starting. But luckily, her boss is a football fan and managed to give her time off. “Marco called me and said that a French team would participate in the tournament again, and since it was very successful five years ago… It’s such a well-organized tournament, and seeing everyone again. So I said: Why not!”

As mentioned, the French club that Lianne is coaching is Paris Saint Germain. She enjoys doing it very much. There’s no time to visit family in between. “You know how it is, it’s so cozy here, and as a coach, you have to be there all the time.” Fortunately, she has a day off on Monday to travel back to Narbonne calmly. And then she’ll be back to work as a lifeguard at the campsite on Tuesday. But first, enjoy the Marveld Tournament: “C’est très bien!”