Hegerberg speaks at Generation Amazing Festival

Roma Women midfielder Andrine Hegerberg was a guest panelist for the first webinar of this year’s Generation Amazing Festival, which got underway on Wednesday.

For the first event, ‘A celebration of sport to inspire and connect the youth’, Hegerberg was joined by the likes of World Cup-winning American forward Carli Lloyd and former Everton and Australia midfielder Tim Cahill, as they discussed football’s power to motivate and inspire.

Generation Amazing, a club partner, aims to drive social change through the power of football.

“Sport is so much more than the physical [activity], what you put in or see in games and training, it connects people and is a bridge between generations and communities,” Hegerberg said.

“Something that touched me during lockdown, when I was back home in Norway, were clips from Rome from my teammates back in their apartments, of hundreds of people coming out on their balconies to sing one song – and that was the AS Roma theme song.

"That symbolised so much to me, that sport is so much more… it connects us.

"Seeing those videos from Norway even gave me hope, when I was a little bit down or whatever, seeing so many people connect through the football team. It’s something special and that’s what’s special about sport too.”

Speaking to Lloyd, when the panelists were asked about key moments in their careers, Hegerberg added: “It’s funny that you mention the World Cup, Carli, when you scored a hat-trick in the final [in 2016].

"Me and my sister [Lyon striker Ada], who later scored a hat-trick in a Champion League final, were watching the game and we still talk about it now.

“We have a memory of watching that game, we felt inspired by it and I think that’s a reminder to all the youth and all the people listening today – that we have all been in your position too, young and dreaming and about achieving things.

“I just want to say before I leave to go training in the rain today, I think it’s good to remind ourselves that we are all big inspirations to each other. The youngsters listening today shouldn’t underestimate the power they have in being an inspiration, to themselves or to others around them.

“To get the best out of each other we need to get the best out of ourselves.”

Throughout the event, the panelists discussed the role football has played throughout the current pandemic – and perhaps how it will continue to play a key social role in a post-Covid society too.

“Football can connect people even though we are all far apart,” Hegerberd added.

“It can give meaning to life, in just being able to see and feeling seen even when we are separated or isolated.

“Football, and sport in general, is a big and valuable tool for raising awareness of things. For example, even in the start of the pandemic educating people on hygiene and how to stay safe.

"It can be a big, important tool for people.”