The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
Lammin Veto organizes unofficial football tournaments because there are not enough players.
The number of hobbyists is unevenly distributed in Finland.
A decrease in the birth rate may worsen the problem in the future.
According to the chairman of the Finnish Sports Association, top-level coaching must be centralized.
The lack of amateurs can be seen especially in individual sports.
Venla I refer11, thinks the best thing about football is friends. A teammate Vilhelmina Laine11, agrees.
“The best thing is that you get to play and see your friends,” says Laine.
On a summer evening in August, the girls played at the Lammi sports park against teams from three local clubs.
The tournament was unofficial because the participating teams did not have enough players for the Balloliitto’s official tournament. The unofficial tournament allowed local teams more playing time.
Girls over the age of 10 play in accordance with the association’s rules with eight field players. At Lammi, which is now part of Hämeenlinna, five girls from both teams faced each other.
Lammi Veto played against Parola Visa in Lammi sports park in August.
Friendships before the start of the game. In the photo, from the left, Elsa Lassila, Venla Viitanen, Vilhelmiina Laine and Martta Hilander.
The youngest players in Lammin Veto’s 13-year-old girls’ team are 9 years old.
“If necessary, age groups are combined in order to get enough enthusiasts involved in the activity,” says Lammin Veto’s junior coach Marko Lindholm.
Viitanen and Laine think that sometimes it feels awkward to play against girls who are many years older.
“I myself also play the boys’ series in a mixed team, it’s even more difficult,” says Viitanen.
Football and the number of futsal enthusiasts continues to grow. It was registered in Finland in 2023 Football Association including 160,129 enthusiasts, which is a good 9,000 more than in 2022.
However, the number of enthusiasts is not evenly distributed across the country.
Finland’s largest football club Tampere Ilves has more than 6,000 registered football fans – more than a thousand more than Lammi has residents.
Lammin Vedo had 167 player licenses last year. On average, 8–15 children play in each age group. In Lammi Vedo, the junior teams are mixed teams of girls and boys.
In addition to the Juniors who play in matches under the Finnish Football Association, the club has recreational players. In some teams, the number of players is only enough for hobby activities.
Both of Marko Lindholm’s children play in Lammi Vedo. Small clubs are run by volunteers like Lindholm.
The youngest players in Lammin Veto’s 13-year-old girls’ team are 9 years old.
“If necessary, age groups are combined in order to get enough enthusiasts involved in the activity,” says Lammin Veto’s junior coach Marko Lindholm.
Viitanen and Laine think that sometimes it feels awkward to play against girls who are many years older.
“I myself also play the boys’ series in a mixed team, it’s even more difficult,” says Viitanen.
Football and the number of futsal enthusiasts continues to grow. It was registered in Finland in 2023 Football Association including 160,129 enthusiasts, which is a good 9,000 more than in 2022.
However, the number of enthusiasts is not evenly distributed across the country.
Finland’s largest football club Tampere Ilves has more than 6,000 registered football fans – more than a thousand more than Lammi has residents.
Lammin Vedo had 167 player licenses last year. On average, 8–15 children play in each age group. In Lammi Vedo, the junior teams are mixed teams of girls and boys.
In addition to the Juniors who play in matches under the Finnish Football Association, the club has recreational players. In some teams, the number of players is only enough for hobby activities.
The café run by the club, located above the grandstand, is Lammi’s only café, along with the swimming hall.
The field is also being renovated by workers. For example, Veto’s volunteers renovated the playing field’s grandstand with materials provided by the city of Hämeenlinna.
“It’s faster when you do and organize it yourself,” says Lindholm.
Lindholm names the new artificial turf as the biggest thing that Lammi Veto’s operations could be developed with. It would extend the training season by several months.
The club will only be able to start using the grass fields in May, even though league games start a month earlier.
“We have to switch to indoor futsal already in October, when the fields get so muddy and dirty.”
In addition, it would help Lammin Vetoa if a club worker could be hired to manage the club’s affairs.
Last based on the birth rates of the decade, the loss of hobbyists may worsen even more. As recently as 2010, almost 61,000 children were born in Finland. In 2023, the same number was just over 43,000.
Chairman of the Finnish Sports Association Riikka Pakarinen sees the decline in the birth rate as worrying. He himself has observed the development direction through his own sons’ football hobby.
When Pakarinen’s son, born in 2009, started football, there were 75 children in the age group team. There were half as many players in the training sessions of the younger brother, who is four years younger.
“It is worrying from the point of view of sports and causes challenges,” Pakarinen says.
“That’s why it’s even more important to get more children involved in sports and keep them involved for as long as possible.”
According to Pakarinen, club activities must be kept active in both small and large towns. Local club activities make it possible to practice sports and identify talents.
However, according to Pakarinen, top-level coaching must be concentrated. There are not enough skills and resources everywhere.
“
“When there are already few enthusiasts, there are not enough children for all sports.”
If small towns have a shortage of football fans, the athletic fields are even emptier. There are more than six times fewer athletics licenses in Finland than in football.
“Enjoyment of individual sports has decreased”, says Kannus, who has coached athletics for over 25 years in Ura Harri Yli-Kotila.
Yli-Kotila has worked as a classroom teacher in Kannus, a town of about 5,300 inhabitants in Central Ostrobothnia, for 33 years. According to him, especially boys’ sports are oriented towards team sports.
“We only have a couple of boys. The boys are completely in team sports.”
According to Yli-kotila, the small number of hobbyists in small municipalities is affected by early specialization. If 10-year-olds already train five times a week, there is no time left for training in other sports.
“When there are already few enthusiasts, there are not enough children for all sports.”
In small towns, even small numbers of enthusiasts often focus on team sports. Photo of Lammi sports park.
In the summer, Kannus Ura organizes club competitions in addition to training for two training groups. There are 10–12 designated athletes in both groups, of which 3–8 are usually present at training.
“In athletics, the most common drop out age is 11 years. It would be important to have exercise groups even after the retirement age,” says Yli-Kotila.
“It really is early.”
If 11-year-olds don’t stop athletics, they often switch to a bigger club.
According to Yli-Kotila, clubs in small towns are in the position of foster clubs. For example, a multiple Finnish sprint champion Anniina Korttemaa started athletics in Kannus Ura, but currently represents the Jyväskylä Field Athletes.
A professional coach graduated Yli-Kotila was the women’s triathlon coach between 2001 and 2006 and often travels to prestigious competitions with the youth national team.
Despite its merits, Yli-Kotila only has three personal coaches. My own sons Lassi Yli-Kotila25, and Rasmus Yli-Kotila22, are javelin throwers over 70 meters. Jemina Escola15, is the medalist of the SM Games in his age group.
Yli-Kotila finds two solutions to the decreasing number of hobbyists. First of all, children and young people should be encouraged to play sports and exercise.
“Sports should be fun,” says Yli-Kotila.
In addition, in Yli-Kotila’s opinion, juniors should have better opportunities to practice many sports – preferably with the same license.
“A football player will not run in the athletics club’s relay team, because parents hardly want to buy a license for one running race.”
#Football #fields #small #towns #empty #future #bleaker #children #sports
