Think Danish American football and you think Lars Carlsen. He’s been a CEO, athletic director, head coach and all things in between in pursuit of bringing success to the sport in multiple disciplines and at numerous levels in Denmark.
Now, after 32 years of dedication to developing the sport he loves in his home nation, Lars is determined to make every federation within IFAF a success. One of the celebrated jewels in Scandinavian American football’s crown is now a valuable asset for all members of IFAF.
At the beginning of 2025, Lars was introduced as the IFAF Sport Manager having stepped down from his role with DAFF (Dansk Amerikansk Fodbold Forbund).
“I’m excited,” he said, smiling when sitting down at the IFAF Congress in Lausanne to discuss his new challenge. “It is emotional to be leaving DAFF, but in a good way. It’s not that I didn’t want to keep my old job. I saw myself being there until the end of my working career, but this opportunity was so interesting and intriguing for me that I decided I had to do this as part of my work life. Sometimes something shows up that it too good to ignore and you need to do it.”
To say that Lars will carry the future success of IFAF and its members on his shoulders is an overstatement and an unfair burden. But he will be responsible for ensuring that the excitement and benefits of becoming recognized by the International Olympics Committee now translates to a high-performance level, particularly on the flag football field.
Lars will be working on the development of IFAF competitions, along with ensuring that coaching and officials’ certifications meet a required high standard. He will implement a development plan for flag football around the world in selected targeted areas. This being a new role with something of a clean slate, it mirrors the challenge he accepted in Denmark back in 1992.
“There wasn’t much of a history in that role, so I was the first to do many things in the federation,” Lars explains. “I kind of defined my role and some of what we’re going to do is actually similar but you’re talking on a global scale. Obviously, that’s different and I now have many years of experience now, which wasn’t the case before.”
While IFAF has established continental competition across the flag football landscape, there are important next steps to take to continue the upwards trajectory. Many of those will rest in Lars’ hands.
“We need good solid competition on a high level, which is what the IOC wants,” he said. “We want to be in the Games in the future, in Brisbane in 2032 and we have to showcase our competitions and show that what we do, we do well.
“One the same note, we need to make sure the game is played at the highest level, so we need to educate coaches and help federations develop programs that then develop athletes. We need to deliver officials at a high and consistent level so that the coaches and players know how the game will be officiated at a maintained standard. We need officials that can deliver that standard across the globe. That’s what is expected of us.”
IFAF and its federations are built on a core of volunteers and athletes throughout the game, who will ultimately make their respective programs successful. Being a predominantly amateur sport and having young federations who are introducing American football disciplines to their members for the first time in some cases create challenges.
“One task is to get enough volunteers and to motivate people enough to get them to put in the hours that are necessary for everyone to be successful,” explains Lars. “I can come and show them, help them to create the competence that they need to develop over the next few years, but that alone is not enough. People have to see why we want to do things certain way in the long run and be motivated. It’s more than the X’s and O’s of football.
“I’ll be working with people on different levels in different countries. We have to get some alignment, but right now there is a big difference between some of the older more established federations and the newer ones. We have to make sure that we integrate all the federations while keeping the bar high and making sure everyone reaches that level.
“We can show them that there is a pathway to reach that level you see from the top nations in the world who perform well in competitions. We need to make sure we don’t put too much on them but at the same time we need to push them.”
Changing jobs can one of life’s most stressful experiences. Another is moving house and Lars and his wife Birgitte did just that at the same time as his career switch, only on a grander scale than most relocations. On Christmas Day, the Carlsens set off by car from their home in Copenhagen to begin a new chapter in their life in Sicily, Italy.
“I’m changing everything in my life!” Lars laughed. “It’s good to have a great wife who was packing for us to be ready, has done the paperwork for moving to Italy, dealt with the consulate, figured out our taxes, and found a real estate agent.
“It’s a big decision to move jobs and home, but we will regret it for the rest of our lives if we don’t take both these opportunities. Both are positive. It’s really exciting to go to new job and a new place to live, but stressful too.”
Everyone who has crossed paths with Lars during his decades of service to Danish football will attest to his amiable personality, a positive trait that that makes him ideal for his new IFAF role.
“I’m going to be working with people and I’m a people guy,” he says.
