Saurian wrote:Hi everybody
,
I have moved to Finland(Helsinki) just a couple of months ago, but already miss playing soccer. I have spent a lot of time trying to find some information on amature divisions here in Helsinki, but had little luck
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If somebody knows if there are some tournaments being held regularly, teams looking for new players or even if you have any information in English on how to form a team and register it for some events, please let me know.
Actually, any info on soccer is welcome(better to say begged for).
http://helsinki.palloliitto.fi/kilpailutoiminta/
Here you can find info about Helsinki amateur footy teams. To quickly summarise, in Finland the premier league (Veikkausliiga) is pro / semi pro and national and probably about the standard a level one below Conference in the UK. Divisions 1,2 regional and still played on grass. Divisions 3-7 are local and played on gravel. You can find these lower divs in both Espoo and Helsinki. In Helsinki teams in divs 4 and 5 train. Teams in 6 and 7 are mostly 'friends' teams and can be very 'mixed ability' to be polite. After 7, where all players have to be registered and insured, there is also a hobby league (Harrasteliiga), company leagues, over 35s etc. By 6 the halves are 35 mins and there are no linesmen. In the hobby league it is 8+1 players and played on small fields like cat boxes:)
http://helsinki.palloliitto.fi/kilpailu ... tiedot/are lists of all contacts for Helsinki teams.
In 5 teams only play 18-20 matches from May-July and Sept-Oct - July-Aug is summer break. In 6/7 teams only play 12-13 games. You can also start the season with the Kevät cup (the hobby 'Spring Cup' for 5/6/7 teams which is 9+1) and also enter the Suomen Cup (FA cup-style.)
Playing in Helsinki in the hobby league or divs 5,6,7 is pretty straightforward - there are long lists of teams on the website and there are always teams in need of players. Remember though that, even though a team in the 6th division is theoretically only 5 years from Europe or 8 matches from Europe (via the Suomen Cup) the standard is, and I quote, "the 2nd string reserves of your local english country pub side, playing hung over, with the keeper and star striker missing, playing with their shoelaces tied together" - and, oh yeah, not talking to each other on the field. LOL.
That said, footy in Helsinki is really well run and great value. I have been playing and (trying to coach friends) in 7/6/5 and have had a fantastic time. Even though the fields are gravel, you might have noticed how many well tended goal nets there in Helsinki! The futsal is great too (local divs in Helsinki 1-4 plus hobby league and played in Hakaniemi and Myllypuro).
I think it is really easy to set up a team. If you set up and register a team you can start in the footy 7th or futsal 4th. But you need Finnish skills. All info is in Finnish and Suomen Palloliitto guys organising the divisions and pitches (which are quite tough to book for training) generally only use Finnish.
If you want to get into football coaching you should speak to Suomen Palloliitto - however, my understanding is that all their courses (UEFA badges etc) are Finnish, understandably.
http://www.suopotkupallo.fi/index.php For the Swamp football world cup if you haven't seen it already.
If you are interested in youth football you should research the Helsinki Cup - in summer thousands of young kids from teams from around the world come to play in Helsinki...
