From the edge of the grass field, you can hear happy cheers and the coaches’ instructions and shouts of encouragement stand out from the field. The language potpourri is a mixture of at least Finnish, English, Swedish and French. The Juniors’ rugby practice going on at the Tali field in Helsinki sounds like an active language bath.
In Finland, the junior activities of rugby, which is a marginal sport, is only in its infancy. For example, the Helsinki-based Warriors Rugby Club, one of the top clubs in the country, did not have its own junior teams at all until a few years ago. Then a Frenchman who lost his heart entered the picture Pierre-Alban Waters. Under his leadership, a junior academy was established in the club, and now there are half a dozen teams for juniors between the ages of 5 and 15.
Growing up in Paris, Waters got to know the sport because his English father played it. Waters says he tried several sports when he was young, but rugby was the one that lit the spark for him.
– I loved the team aspect of rugby and the sense of community. All team sports are communal, but in rugby it still has its own nuance.
He gives the example of football. For example, in soccer, if you don’t offer a pass to your teammate in the midfield, you might lose the ball and be fouled. In rugby, leaving a teammate alone means they’re being “slapped,” says Waters.
– Of course, not in a bad way, but he still feels it in his skin. Such an arrangement makes teammates closer. The harder the trials, the stronger the emotional bond is formed, Waters describes.
He says he feels he owes the sport. He says he remembers amazing people and they still remember him after 20 years if he goes to visit his old team in France.
– It causes cold shivers. I’ve gotten a lot from the sport and I’m trying to give it back now.
More and more junior players
With Warriors’ junior activities, the total number of junior rugby players in Finland has quickly doubled. However, everything is relative. The total number of young rugby enthusiasts in the country is around 90. For example, in soccer or ice hockey, even one team may have almost the same number of players in one age group.
The youngest children in the ongoing rugby training on the Tali grass field are five years old. The activity is playful and this can also be heard in the children’s comments.
A five year old Sofia’s in my opinion, the best in training is a hippa, of the same age Felix’s think throwing the ball. Nine years old Bella is impressed by how the player chasing the ball is lifted into the air in a boundary throw. He has seen it in the training of older age groups and is waiting to be able to lift it himself.
Practicing serving on the adjacent point Benjamin praises rugby as his best hobby. He has also tried swimming, football and ice hockey.
– I think the best thing about rugby is tackling. They are very nice, says Benjamin.
The one doing the successful transport in the drill Lucas says that he started going to rugby practices about a month earlier and plans to continue his new hobby next summer. In addition to playing, he is interested in meeting new people from different backgrounds in the sport.
Pierre-Alban Waters says rugby is a great way to support the integration of immigrants as well.
– Integration, especially of children, is one of our main goals. We also offer a free hobby for the needy. Sometimes I see a child who is, for example, a little shy and insecure. He blossoms on the rugby field. I feel the joy of success when I see a smile on the face of a small junior player, says Waters.
All free time for sport
Waters says with a smile that rugby takes up all his free time in the summer, and it’s easy to believe. He has lived in Finland with his Finnish wife for four years now and works as an IT consultant.
Rugby enthusiasm is still not limited to evenings and weekends. On a Friday morning in October, he rides his bicycle towards the French-Finnish school in Helsinki. After parking the bike, he changes his bike helmet to a Warriors beanie and enters the school. Waters aims to make his sport better known also through school sports. After a while, the fourth-graders of the French-Finnish school line up towards the Tali rugby field.
Acting as the second physical education teacher of the school group Maarit Räisänen looks impressed from the side of the field at the enthusiastic hustle and bustle of his students under the guidance of the rugby coaches.
– The students try the sport for the first time. It’s incredible how well everyone participates, says Räisänen.
This training is also going well.
The most enthusiastic students seem to be the exercise in which the ball is passed between two rugby coaches holding mattresses. The expressions are happy and enterprising. However, “recruiting” new rugby enthusiasts is not a given.
Justin thinks that just carrying and throwing the ball would be more comfortable. Tackling seems too violent for his taste. The one standing next to you Sapphire I think the rugby-themed exercise class is really nice, except that the air is a bit cold. He says that the exercises resemble his own basketball exercises.
Would you like to try this again?
– I don’t know. If I have time, maybe, says Safir.
Swiftly moving, Walter believes that his speed would be useful in the sport. He also says that he has watched the sport sometimes, but doesn’t think he will start doing it.
According to Pierre-Alban Waters, the fact is that Finnish children are not familiar with rugby.
– Maybe after the Olympics, the situation changed a little, because some people saw it and became interested. American football is still significantly more familiar because it has been marketed more effectively. The physical education teachers welcome us well. They see our passion for the sport and the fact that we don’t do this for money, Pierre-Alban Waters describes.