Basketball | Sasu Salin, 33, of the national basketball team, has lived in Finns’ favorite destinations for 10 years – noticed an important thing in his children

Valencia

Finland captain of the national basketball team Sasu Salin, 33, has lived in Spain for the past ten years. The Helsinki native has spent the last five of these years with his family in the Canary Islands, Tenerife, which has become the family’s home.

In fact, it is the family’s only home for now, the oldest of Salin’s children, 4 years old Stella was born on the island. 2 years old Liam was born in Finland, but of course the family lived in Tenerife even then.

However, things are changing now. Salini’s long-time club Lenovo Tenerife decided to leave the option year included in Salini’s contract unused, and now the search for a new employer is ahead. And at the same time, of course, a big life change for the whole family.

“He was already so used to living in Tenerife that it was somewhat difficult to think that his career and life would not continue there,” confirms Salin.

“But when you think about it more closely, it’s really rare that a player stays in one place for that long. When I started to internalize it, I noticed that there is no big problem here”.

Although Leaving Tenerife is already a sure thing, it is not certain that the Salini family would have to leave Spain completely. There have already been contacts from other Spanish clubs, but there have also been contacts from other countries. It is certain that Salinie’s life will continue abroad in the coming autumn.

It is also clear that Spain has become a home for Salini and his family.

“Absolutely. I had been in Spain for four and a half years alone even before moving to Tenerife, and then my wife and family came along. In Spain, the places have become familiar and living here is easy in that sense. In that sense, continuing here, especially as a family, would be an easy choice.”

“I wouldn’t mind if life continued in this country, but the children are still young enough that we can certainly manage elsewhere.”

Salin’s children haven’t lived anywhere else yet. The wolf captain describes them as “perfect islanders”. In addition, when the family is already bilingual, the children have learned three languages ​​as if “for free” at an early age.

“They speak fluent Finnish, Swedish and Spanish. It’s fun to listen to when that parent already speaks Spanish with a local accent, he’s completely from the island”.

“It’s great how the kids absorb it all. When English is also heard, surprisingly, the parent can already say a few things in English. Learning languages ​​is definitely wealth.”

Even if staying in Spain would be the easiest solution, especially for the family, Salin does not rule out other options. If the most interesting offer comes from elsewhere, the family is ready to move. He outlines only one option.

“I’m not going to Russia. Otherwise, I’m always open to everything.”

Salin already lived before moving to Tenerife in holiday destinations particularly familiar to Finns. He spent the first years of his Spanish career from 2015 to 2017 in the neighboring island of Las Palmas and the next couple of years in Malaga.

Both the Canary Islands and the Sun Coast are therefore places rarely familiar to Salini.

It is typical for these parts of Spain that the air temperature is quite high for a large part of the year, in the summer even in almost unbearable readings from a northern vantage point.

In Valencia – where Salin and Susijengi are chasing an Olympic place this week – the temperature is currently surprisingly mild for the time, just under 30 degrees, so it doesn’t faze Salin, who has lived the life of a top athlete in significantly hotter conditions.

The daytime temperature could be over 40 degrees at this time of year, in which case preparing for the matches would require a little thought and action. For a Finn, even at 30 degrees, it’s about acceptable heat.

“In this kind of weather, it’s not a good idea to run around outside. Everyone should be aware that it’s quite exhausting to go out for a day to roast. But the days here are largely spent at the hotel, training and video conferences. As such, you don’t have to think too much about it. “

“In the evening, when it has cooled down a bit, you can go for a walk on the days in between. Fortunately, we have a smart group in that sense, so no one goes to the swimming pool during the day anymore.”

Which one of the recurring things in summer is that Finnish tourists travel to their favorite destinations in Southern Europe when the summer is at its hottest and then complain that it’s so hot that they can’t do anything. Such cases have not escaped the news this summer either.

Salin laughs that the situation is a bit like the “winter caught motorists by surprise” time every time the first snow falls. But at the same time, he has an understanding towards Finnish vacationers.

“Of course, I understand that summer in Finland is sometimes a bit fickle, even though the weather has been good now. In that situation, you want to go on vacation in the sun, which is completely understandable.”

“I’ve been able to do it myself when I was little, when my parents took me on holiday trips. You could think about it, which time of the year it makes sense to travel somewhere due to the weather. Nowadays even Central Europe is so damn warm that you have to be prepared for it when traveling there too.”

However, Salin shares one tip for Finns who have the intention of, for example, getting fit during their hot trip to the south or why not in hot Finland as well.

“It’s worth setting off early enough that the heat hasn’t had time to rise wildly yet. Or in the evening. You should take a cue from the old Susijeng captain From Shawn Huffwho swings every day somewhere in an outdoor gym wearing Susijeng’s sleeveless shirt.”

“And of course you have to remember to drink! Whether it’s abroad or in Finland, when it’s even a little warm, hydration is really important.”

Salin has come across some kind of game and training conditions during his years in Spain. In all halls, the ventilation is not optimal in the heat of the summer, and on the other hand, some are not heated in the winter. According to Salini, this is sometimes intentional teasing on the part of the home team.

This summer, however, the hottest conditions have come at a rather surprising address.

“The hall in Espoo has probably been the hottest we’ve played in this summer. It was also nice and cool here in Valencia, but for some reason it was really warm to play in Espoo.”

Thursday Susigengi has its back against the wall in its second group match against Poland. Finland lost its opening match to the Bahamas and needs a win against Poland to qualify for the top two and the next games in the Olympic qualifiers. The match starts on Thursday evening at 21:30.

Salin was not involved in the opening game due to injury, but on Thursday he believes he will be in the lineup.

“Absolutely.”