| Nina Patalon | |
| Birth Date: | 1986 1, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Działdowo, Poland |
| Currentclub: | Poland women's (head coach) |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Years1: | 2002– |
| Years3: | –2011 |
| Clubs1: | Medyk Konin |
| Clubs2: | Czarni Sosnowiec |
| Clubs3: | Medyk Konin |
| Nationalyears1: | 2004–2006 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2009 |
| Nationalteam1: | Poland U19 |
| Nationalteam2: | Poland (students) |
| Manageryears1: | 2010–2013 |
| Manageryears2: | 2011–2013 |
| Manageryears3: | 2011–2013 |
| Manageryears4: | 2014–2019 |
| Manageryears5: | 2019–2021 |
| Manageryears6: | 2021– |
| Managerclubs1: | Medyk Konin (youth) |
| Managerclubs2: | Medyk Konin |
| Managerclubs3: | Poland U15 (assistant) |
| Managerclubs4: | Poland U17 |
| Managerclubs5: | Poland U19 |
| Managerclubs6: | Poland |
Nina Patalon (born 20 January 1986) is a Polish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder, currently in charge of Poland women's national team.
In 2002, Patalon began her career at Medyk Konin in the Ekstraliga, where she had played for many years, with an in-between stint at Czarni Sosnowiec.[1]
From 2004 to 2006, she was a member of the under-19 national team. In 2009, she represented Poland as part of a students' team at the Summer Universiade 2009 in Belgrade.[2] The later stage of her career, however, was plagued by injuries for which she underwent seven knee surgeries.[3]
After retiring from an active career she began working as a coach. Initially, from 2010, she trained Medyk Konin's youth team and, in January 2011, became the co-head coach of the Medyk's senior squad, alongside Anna Gawrońska.[4] In 2011, she took on a role of an assistant coach for the under-15 squad, and in May 2014 she was appointed to the managerial position of the Poland U17s.[5] [6]
In March 2021 she replaced Miłosz Stępiński as the head coach of the senior national team,[7] becoming the first female coach in history to hold this position.[7] She made her debut in a friendly match against Sweden on 13 April 2021.[8]
Patalon has stressed that, in order for Poland to develop a stronger women's football capability, more awareness and finding is needed, and girls must receive more encouragement to take up the sport during school sports classes.[9]
Patalon graduated with a bachelor from the State University of Applied Sciences in Konin and with a Masters from the Poznan University of Physical Education, where she obtained a class II football coaching license.