The national team coaches of hill jumping and combined have been urged by message to secure their livelihood by other routes. No one’s contracts are being renewed. No activities are planned for the summer.
In the hill jumping and combined sports groups, it was known to expect bad news after the financial situation of the Ski Association was revealed to be catastrophic a month ago.
This week, the situation materialized in a way that hardly anyone could have expected. A message was sent to all coaches and other employees of the teams over the weekend, informing them that there are no financial conditions for extension contracts. Almost every player’s contract is typically fixed-term and ended this season.
This means that the Skiing Federation cannot at this stage promise the athletes preparing for the World Championships in Trondheim during the training season any kind of national team-led training activities.
“No new commitments”
Urheilu got hold of the message, here are parts of it:
“Unfortunately, the board had to decide on Thursday that the union cannot make new commitments, such as employment contracts, for the time being. The operation will certainly continue next season, but there is no information at this stage, as it is possible to sign new contracts.”
“Since training is not possible without a coach, the situation is of course difficult for the sports. Everyone should start making plans and arrangements to secure their livelihood and the continuity of their operations.”
At the end of the message, recipients are advised to avoid dwelling on the matter, especially in the media.
The message was written by the vice-president of the Ski Association and representative of mäki-united Lauri Kettunen and signed in addition to him by the sports director of the association Mika Kojonkoski, Tony Kilponen, Riina Valto and Niina Meis.
On Monday, Urheilu caught up with Kettunen to comment on the knockout message.
“Responsible operation”
– Since this is the situation, it is a responsible employer to tell the employees openly so that they know how to prepare. Of course, we can’t keep people waiting.
A total of five national team coaches have worked in the combined and ski jumping national teams, i.e Lauri Hakola, Ossi-Pekka Valta, Elastic from Savoia, Antti Kuisma and Lauri Asikainen. In addition, other people have been involved in various support activities. Kettunen admits that in this situation there is an obvious risk of losing them to a more secure job market from the point of view of livelihood.
– After all, it’s obvious that for a long time things have been going much thinner than it might have appeared to the general public, Kettunen says.
Kettunen admitted that the Ski Federation currently has no idea what the representative athletes will do in the summer.
– Hill jumping is a sport that cannot be practiced without a coach in the tower. Similarly, the equipment development work necessary for success related to the sport is typically done in summer and autumn. Athletes have tough goals, but now there is a question mark, whether we can create support measures around them that enable success.
According to Kettusen, it is certain that Finland will have teams in both ski jumping and combined at the start of next season.
– But how competitive are we?
In its message, the Skiing Federation tells the athletes that a solution to the difficult situation is being intensively sought.