The blog post was written by Laura Kemppi, a student at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences’ Vierumäki campus.
The Floorball Academy, organised at Vierumäki since 2016, strives to take the goal-oriented training of young athletes one step further. The Academy is meant for U12–U16 junior teams, girls and boys as well as coaches, aiming for a career in sports. In addition to providing training in physical strength and the sport itself, the academy also focuses on providing psychological coaching and guidance in living as an top athlete.
Floorball Skill Manager Jere Vasarainen is in charge of the Academy. During training camps he joins forces with the Academy teams’ own coaches as well as floorball and coaching mentors. This year’s floorball mentors are Joona Rantala and Mikko Laakso, who represent Nokian KRP in the F-League, Miko Kailiala, who represents TPS in the F-League, and Mikko Kohonen, who has had a long career in SPV and the national team. In addition to coaching, the mentors are tasked with serving as role models for the players and supporting their development. The mentors also provide valuable tips on both training and living as an athlete based on their own experiences. The coaching mentors are Nokian KRP coach Janne Kainulainen and the current head coach of the Czech national team Petri Kettunen.
The first training camp of the autumn was organised at Vierumäki on 23–25 August 2021\. It was an immediate success. “Everything went smoothly. The players listened intently, and there was good interaction in both directions. It was also nice to see that the players were eager to learn,” Jere Vasarainen, who’s in charge of the Academy’s operations, commented.
The players and the coaches agreed. At a feedback session towards the end of the camp, several players mentioned that they now understood the need for the Academy and its principle of focusing on a few selected things during training camps. These are some great insights, coming from young people. Great food, new friends and first-rate training conditions also received praise at the feedback session.
The next Academy training camp will be held at Vierumäki on 8–10 November 2021. The period of about two months between Academy training camps provides ample time for completing the assigned tasks, reflecting on the skills learned and putting them into practice in the team’s and one’s own daily life.
If you became interested, your team can once again apply for the Floorball Academy in the spring of 2022! More information about the Vierumäki Floorball Academy can be found at: https://vierumaki.fi/salibandy
Interested? Contact the Floorball Sports Director:
Jere Vasarainen, teacher (Master of Sport and Fitness Science / Coach (UEFA A + VAT)) jere.vasarainen@vierumaki.fi +358 40 717 5792