Some time ago, Inka Grings coached the regional league team SV Straelen. Now the former national player has a new job.

In April 2019, Inka Grings caused a novelty. She took over the head coaching position at West-Regionalligisten SV Straelen. Never before had a woman held this post at a club from the top four leagues.

Now the 44-year-old is taking on a new job: Grings was presented as coach of the Swiss women’s national team on Monday. With the Nati, the 96-time national player received a permanent contract.

“I am insanely proud to be able to work with the best players in the country and am very much looking forward to the exciting and challenging task,” said the successor to Nils Nielsen, who stepped down for family reasons.

For the past two years, Grings has already worked in Switzerland. She coached the women of FC Zurich. With her move to the national team, she is in a way following in the footsteps of German national coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. She was responsible for the Swiss women from 2012 to 2018.

At her introduction, Grings immediately turned her attention to the World Cup next summer. “The objective is clear: we want to be successful and, after a short, intensive preparation period, invest everything to get past the group stage at the World Cup. That’s in line with my mentality.”

Grings can draw confidence for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand from previous successes. As a player, she won the European Championship twice with the DFB team (2005, 2009), and was named top scorer in each case. And although she was relegated with SV Straelen, she managed to climb straight back up the ladder.