Building Experience in Sports Administration: Vilde Ringstad Student Profile

Working for Norway’s largest multi-sport club, Vilde Ringstad has decided to build on her experience by studying with us at GIS. As Football Administrator at Heming Fotball, Vilde began her studies with us in September 2024, joining our master’s degree in International Sport Management. 

An Oslo native, Vilde completed a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at Durham University, where she was the captain of the university’s women’s football club, a role that allowed her to develop her administrative skills through organising the team’s budget, being involved in scholars recruitment, expanding their social media presence, and contributing to community outreach schemes, including sponsors.

This prepared her for her position at Heming, which she secured a month after leaving Durham University and although she studied a non-sport-related subject, her passion for sport made her feel destined for a career in the industry. After finding GIS on Instagram, Vilde decided to take a leap of faith and pursue a career in sport, starting with a postgraduate degree at GIS.

“I play sport and I‘m passionate about it, I’m a football nerd,” she told GIS. 

“My main motivation for working in sport is that you can see results of the work you’re putting in.”

An example of this is at Heming Fotball, where their success has led to the recent launch of an academy side for girls between the ages of 10 and 12, which already has around 90 girls playing for them.

The multi-sport club, with nearly 6,000 members, was founded in 1916, and has been Vilde’s place of work since August 2023. Her role includes social media work and developing a new website for the organisation, with the 23-year-old telling us that “volunteering and talking to people made me realise that it’s possible to change the direction I wanted to take my career in.” 

Vilde’s skill of networking is a vital one to possess in the sports industry, which is why we try to host as many networking events as possible for our students to meet industry professionals. One example is our GIS Global Summits, which are residentials that include guest speaker sessions, live sport and access to world class venues. 

On her experience as part of our Miami summit, Vilde said, “I have learnt countless lessons from my fellow students and from the incredible speakers that took time out of their hectic lives to give us some greater perspectives. 

“I have learnt that being open, positive, curious and the way I present myself will contribute to my personal growth.”

Extracurricular activities are another way of building your experience and increasing employability, and Vilde has strengthened her CV by completing the Female Athlete and International Sport Organisation courses at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences too.

Studying online at GIS so that she could continue her role at Heming, Vilde feels that “GIS has done a great job of bringing us together to share experiences, so that I can learn from other people from not just my lectures, but other courses.”

Enjoying her experience at GIS, we are delighted to have provided Vilde and all of our other students with the chance to learn more about the sports industry that they dream of working in. To find out more about our courses that can kickstart your career in sport, click here.

Article by Zakaria Anani