Samantha Sylva Arvidsson: Sweden’s seventh player

Behind the success of the Swedish women’s national team is a dedicated staff ensuring that the players can focus on one thing only – volleyball. At the heart of it all is a team manager who books travel, solves problems, drives players to the doctor and keeps everyday life running smoothly. Samantha Sylva Arvidsson is the team’s seventh player.

“You become close to the players,” says Samantha Sylva Arvidsson.
Behind every successful team, there are many people working behind the scenes. The role of the ultimate problem-solver in a national team should not be underestimated. As team manager of the Swedish women’s national team, 56-year-old Samantha has plenty on her plate.
“It is a bit of an all-round role. There is a lot of administration and logistics: planning trips, booking flights, sending room lists to hotels and keeping track of the training schedule. And snacks! The players need extra energy before, after and between matches.”

Then there is everything that cannot be planned for or anticipated.

“If someone needs to have an injury checked, I drive them to the hospital or physiotherapist. During training, I can collect the balls. I also act as a link for the media. If someone wants to get in touch with a player, I find out when it can work according to our schedule,” Samantha says.

The team’s seventh player

However, Samantha’s role extends far beyond logistics. As the only woman in the permanent coaching and support staff, she has also become an important source of support for the players.
“We also have a female doctor, but there are certain things that can be easier to talk about with a woman than with a man. You become close to the players. We are a really great group.”

Her work with the national team is, in fact, a side job. The season is intense and concentrated into approximately four months. Samantha first joined as team manager during the U20 European Championship in Bulgaria in 2024. The following year, she travelled with the senior national team to the World Championship in Thailand.

The importance of Samantha’s role to the team cannot be overstated, according to Angelica Ljungqvist, Sports Director and responsible for the national teams at the Swedish Volleyball Federation:
“Without Samantha, it simply would not work, considering everything that needs to be taken care of around a team. It is an extremely important role within a team’s staff, and one that is often overlooked.”

Six national titles to her name

Samantha knows exactly what is required of the players. She played college volleyball at Hofstra University in the United States and was named the team’s MVP in 1992. Between 1994 and 2001, she played for Örebro Volley, then known as KFUM Örebro, winning six Swedish national championships. She also represented Sweden in 52 international matches and won a Swedish beach volleyball championship.

In her fifth year in the United States, she took up football to keep her scholarship.
“I was missing one course to complete my degree, and in order to keep my scholarship, I had to play a sport. I had played football when I was younger, so I said, ‘I can play football.’ But it was quite an adjustment. In football, you actually have to run,” she says with a laugh.

After her elite career, Samantha stepped away from volleyball, started a family and occasionally helped out as part of the staff at Örebro Volley. When her daughters, Nathalie and Emilia, started playing, she became a coach and followed them throughout their youth careers.
When Emilia finished volleyball high school, Samantha decided that her own time as a coach had also come to an end.

“My family will laugh about this. I actually said: ‘Now I’m going to take a break from volleyball.’”
Six months later, the national team staff asked whether she would consider becoming the team manager.
“It was a short break,” she says with a laugh.

That same summer, she travelled with Sweden’s U20 national team to the European Championship in Bulgaria. Now, she finds herself at a home EuroVolley, supporting the players on the court and surrounded by a blue-and-yellow wall of fans in the stands at Scandinavium.
“It is absolutely fantastic. You walk into the arena and are met by that blue-and-yellow wall. It gives you goosebumps. This is exactly what you play for and what you want to experience.”
She adds one note of caution regarding the future. Her national team duties must fit alongside her regular job and the rest of her life. For now, however, she simply wants to enjoy EuroVolley and see the team go as far as possible.