Beach Polo in Finland
1st Edition of the Country Spotlight Series!
Would you believe there’s water polo in Finland?
I for one had no idea, that is until a a 6 foot 8 Finnish National Team center came to my high school on an exchange program. Who would have guessed that a country known for it’s unforgiving winters played water polo!
That giant’s name is Ville (Veel-Ay), and nearly ten years since he spent a year at my high school we still talk regularly. I interviewed Ville for Water Polo Weekly’s first ever Country Spotlight. I’m making these to grow awareness about what our sport looks like around the world. There’s so many unique places you wouldn’t have guessed have competitive water polo scenes, and Finland is the perfect example.
Once a month I’ll highlight a new country, and each edition will include the following:
Interviewee background.
A League Breakdown of their national league format and history.
A Talent Spotlight of one their top rising stars.
One extra unique story about water polo in that country.
Let me know what else you think would be interesting to know about water polo in these countries!
Finland Water Polo
Interviewee: Ville Koivu
Water Polo GOAT Pick: Tamas Kasas (HUN)
Ville began playing when he was 14 years old. By 16, he was already training with the Finnish National Team. Then when he was 17, He came and won a CIF Championship with me in Granite Bay, California. These days, Ville is back playing for his home club and representing Finland internationally! He cites the 2023 European Championships Qualification Tournament as his career highlight.
Here’s Turun Uimarit (Ville’s club) after winning the Finnish National League. It’s hard to miss him…
League Breakdown
Format
The Finnish National League runs from September to the end of May. While in the past there were 6+ teams, this year there’s only 4 teams competing. During the season they will play between 12-20 regular season games which will determine the seeding for playoffs.
In the playoffs, the semi-finals are a best-of-three games series. Finland’s championship series is a best-of-five games. Playing a “best-of-x” series lets smaller national leagues increase how many competitive games their best teams play at the end of the season.
Over the past 8 years, two teams have dominated the Finnish National League. Turun Uimarit from Turku, and Cetus from Espoo. Both teams also participate in The Nordic League, which features similar teams from all over Europe. I’ll do a full piece on the Nordic League in the future.
Training
While I can’t speak for the rest of the league, Turun Uimarit trains 5 times a week during season. Their training program incorporates the gym, swim sets, and your more typical water polo training drills. Trainings are in the evenings and players will train extra if they have the time.
Players
I’m always interested in the players which make up every national league. If the league isn’t professional, where do the players come from? How do they support themselves?
Most players in the Finnish National League are between 16-30 years old. University students make up the bulk of every team because they have the most free time to train. There’s also the best juniors at each club gunning for a spot on their premier team. Involving juniors always ups the intensity at trainings. Finally, each team will have a few older players who have to balance the league with their full time jobs. Those are the people who couldn’t quit the sport if they tried!
Talent Spotlight
Mats Johnnson
Ville quickly thought of Mats when I asked about any Finnish rising stars. Mats is a left-hander currently playing his first season in Germany for ASC Duisburg. Mats’ home club is Kuhat, from Helsinki. Ville says he has the fundamentals and mentality to play the sport at the highest level in the world.
Beach Polo
Check out this photo of a beach polo tournament in one of the thousands of lakes in Finland. Apparently it’s the only nationally televised water polo event in Finland every year!
It’s an absolute wonder that the air and water are warm enough here for them to be playing, especially without a wetsuit. It looks beautiful though, water polo in open water is a spectacle anywhere it’s played.
Hope you enjoyed learning about what water polo looks like in Finland!
Thanks for reading :)
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