At CARE LAB Divas, we love supporting young talent. And when we can contribute to raising the profile of a sport that clearly deserves it, that's an excellent bonus. That's why we became sponsors of the best women's football club in Slovakia, Spartak Myjava. On this occasion, we interviewed their head coach, Iveta Neveďalová, who told us about the club's greatest successes and challenges, their upcoming plans and matches, and possibilities for popularizing women's football in Slovakia.
Spartak Myjava is the most successful women's football club in Slovakia. What are your biggest triumphs?
Our greatest achievements include a league title, which guarantees the best Slovak club participation in the UEFA Women's Champions League. Against big cities and clubs such as Slovan Bratislava and Spartak Trnava, we have achieved this goal for the fourth season in a row. In addition, over the past three years, we have also won the Slovak Women's Cup.
In the past, we won a gold medal at the World Mini-football Championship in Brazil, where the winner had the opportunity to play a match with the famous footballer Neymar. We have won the Slovak Mini-football Championship several times and won the league title in the women's futsal league.
In 2024, we placed third at the World Mini-football Championship in Croatia. As one of the few Slovak clubs, we regularly have players in Slovak national teams across all age categories.
The players themselves are, of course, the main characters in this story, but even if many don't realize it, there are many more people behind the success. Could you briefly introduce your coaching staff?
Over the past years, several people have been part of the coaching staff. Since we have modest conditions, we couldn't afford to pay specialists in positions like masseur, doctor, kit manager, and so on. Most of these roles are covered by the players themselves. The girls study various fields, so we can fully utilize their knowledge and skills. Some are involved in massages, others provide physiotherapy, and those studying marketing manage our social media. I am in charge of the sports and organizational aspects of the club, along with the assistant coach and the team leader.
It's admirable what results you achieve despite modest conditions. What would help you the most in the club's operation?
We have long operated on the principle of trying to raise as much funding as possible through our own efforts. We achieve this mainly thanks to our sporting results and the financial bonuses we receive for them. The club, the town of Myjava, and small sponsors also support us. If we manage to attract various partners who help us, we can significantly benefit from it.
Every form of financial support is very valuable to us – if we want to compare ourselves with European clubs, we need to improve and enhance our conditions. All the girls have to work alongside playing football. The "pocket money" they receive from football only covers their travel costs and equipment. We mostly travel by car to matches, tournaments, and training sessions, so we are trying to secure funding for a club van or fuel cards. We would also like to supplement the coaching staff with qualified experts, which represents additional financial costs.
You've already touched on it a bit... Who exactly are the FC Spartak Myjava players? Are they women with regular jobs? Or is it possible to dedicate oneself to women's football in Slovakia in the same way as your male counterparts?
All the players either study at university or work. It's very demanding, as we train almost every day. In addition to training, we play one to two matches a week, and most of the girls also actively participate in the team's operations off the field. Their typical day starts at seven in the morning, and they often don't return home until around 8:30 PM, sometimes even later.
That's what you call dedication. But it's probably most visible during matches and training sessions. Can you tell us what your typical training looks like? Does the women's training process differ from the men's preparation?
Our training process does not differ from men's. The difference between men's and women's football lies mainly in physical parameters – men are naturally faster and stronger, which is the same as in other sports, such as basketball or skiing. However, in terms of tactics, technique, and endurance, the performances are very similar.
An interesting fact for an amateur might be that each player has a chip with a GPS device during training and matches, thanks to which we have precise data available to analyze and evaluate individual aspects of performance.
Why do you think women's football in Slovakia doesn't receive much attention, when abroad (even in neighboring countries) it's much better? Is it a lack of tradition or state support, an excessive dominance of men's football, lower spectator interest, or do you know another reason?
Personally, I think that in Slovakia, there is a long-standing problem with funding and overall support for sports. The only exceptions are perhaps men's football and ice hockey, but even in these cases, the situation is much more challenging than in other countries. We also lag behind in attendance – across all sports. Most clubs operate only thanks to enthusiastic individuals who are willing to invest their own money. The situation is similar in individual sports. However, women's team sports are even worse off – they don't get airtime on television, which makes it very difficult to find partners for whom this product would be attractive.
In countries like the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Austria, the top women's football league is broadcast on television, matches are regularly streamed, and there are more spectators in the stands than at men's matches here. In Slovakia, many talented players go abroad precisely due to weak support and the low level of competitions. This is a fundamental problem because the gap between us and other European countries is widening ever more. If we don't count states like the Vatican or Gibraltar with a few thousand inhabitants, we are already among the worst in Europe.
In other countries, the best women's clubs have players under professional contracts and full coaching staff available. Here, the comparison in support and funding is diametrically different – for example, a club that wins the top Slovak competition receives a contribution of 5,000 euros. In Poland, it's up to 100,000 euros. These differences are the main reasons why women's football in Slovakia is not – and if nothing significant changes, will not be – competitive within Europe.
What do you think would help increase the popularity of this sport here? Do you plan to work more on media campaigns, raising the profile of players, or collaborating with men's clubs? Can fans help in any way?
There is still a lot of room for improvement. Over the past six months, we have also started working on marketing activities and club promotion. However, everything is still operating at an amateur level, as we cannot afford to pay a graphic designer, photographer, or media manager. Nevertheless, we are gradually trying to improve in all areas.
However, the biggest problem remains the quality of the league. If conditions in all women's football clubs do not improve, talented players will continue to leave for average foreign teams, or they will quit football the moment they start working. It's a vicious circle from which it will be very difficult to escape.
However, in the club, we try to focus on ourselves and do our best to be better every year. We play home matches at the main stadium, organize accompanying activities for children and adults, thanks to which 100 to 500 fans come to our matches. For women's football in such a small town, this is a great number – and we are sincerely grateful for it.
What are your immediate plans? Are there any significant competitions or events coming up? Can you tell us more about the Champions League matches you will be participating in this summer?
This summer, we have a packed schedule full of preparatory matches against quality international opponents. We already played our first match against Budapest Honvéd FC on July 16th, and we have a total of five matches planned, including games against teams like FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv, FK Austria Wien, and MTK Budapest. Our goal is to fine-tune our playing systems, test ourselves against various playing styles, and prepare as best as possible for the highlight of the summer – the Champions League qualification, which will take place on July 30th and August 2nd directly in Myjava. We believe that these matches will help us get into the right rhythm, develop team chemistry, and enter the new season fully prepared.
We will be rooting for the Spartak Myjava women's team. If you want to support them with us, you can start by liking their Instagram or Facebook, so you don't miss their next steps.
