According to STT, the club’s board aims to ensure that the improprieties that have come to light are no longer possible in the future.
The Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club explains in the report it submitted to the city of Hämeenlinna, what measures it will take to better intervene in inappropriate behavior in the future. This is reported by STT.
The club says, among other things, that it is creating an internal reporting channel in case of possible improprieties. The club also intends to require the club’s operators to participate in responsibility training and the policy is to check the criminal records of all those who work with junior players.
STT reported in February that the manager of the Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club Ville Kalliomäki behaved inappropriately for years. He criticized the players’ bodies in a sexual manner and also grabbed hold of them. The board of the club admitted that it did not realize the seriousness of the inappropriate activity in time and did not understand the extent of the problem.
– Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club will create an internal reporting channel in case of possible improprieties. This reporting channel will be implemented from juniors to players and officials of the representative team, the club says in the clarification request.
According to the request for clarification, in the future every operator of the Volleyball Club must participate in the sports community’s responsibility training and complete a safety pass. In addition to the Olympic Committee’s responsibility program, everyone must complete the “You are not alone” online training prepared by the Finnish Population Association.
In the future, this will be done by all adults working with Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club’s junior and representative teams, before the employee or player contract comes into force.
Support for the junior activities of Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club
According to STT’s information, the city of Hämeenlinna asked the club how it plans to ensure the continuation of junior work in a sensitive situation. The club responds that it aims with all its actions to ensure that its operating conditions can be guaranteed in the future as well. The club assures that it supports junior activities with all possible financial means.
For the current players, the club wants above all to guarantee peace of mind and focus on the upcoming playoffs.
The club’s board is also urgently investigating a suitable operating model and support measures to improve players’ consultation. The board is also trying to calm the situation in the direction of the team by communicating that the improprieties that have come to light will no longer be possible in the future.
Manager Kalliomäki’s employment relationship with the club was terminated in February.