The Women’s Lions Camp, which gathered in Vierumäki, is on the verge of change in many ways. The word new is repeated in the speeches of players and coaches.
The new coaching line introduces itself to a renewed camp team, and the game curves drawn on the flipcharts already have a different handwriting than usual.
Somewhere on the same sports center campus, a former head coach lectures Pasi Mustonen in their own daily work. Her voice no longer echoes in the booth of the lions.
– No echo. Yes, we are now starting a new project with new people, some new players in part. That is our job and we will take it forward in our own way. The focus is on it now, head coach Juuso Toivola says.
However, Toivola’s eyebrows rise when asked about Mustonen. In Beijing, the Olympics were still pulled under the former head coach’s template, there was little affordability for the game head or coaching changes in the surprise head coach change.
Now the table is cleaned up, also mentally.
– There will be laundry after every tournament and wash. But nothing bigger than that, not its weird drama, normal aftercare and then on, Toivola assures.
Hardy
There are already a lot of young players on the May camp list, and it is very likely that the national team will take shape in the future.
The veterans involved are equally facing a new era. On the one hand, they are bridge-builders in change, on the other hand, they want to get more out of them.
Jenni Hiirikoski start a camp meeting with the head coach, just like in Mustonen’s era. However, Toivola wants to challenge an experienced defender.
– Continue the debate to further develop and improve our operations. Let’s take the good things that are essential from the old to the present and think about new patterns that will brighten the medal and make this a good trip, Toivola says.
The defender, the long-term captain of the national team Jenni Hiirikoski, is excited to take on the coaches’ challenge. The old dog is not said to learn new tricks, but does Toivola get something new out of Hiirikoski?
– Yes, I think so. I want to develop, that’s why I’m still here. I think he will get the most out of me too, Hiirikoski says.
After the interview, Hiirikoski turns to Toivola and repeats the reporter’s question. Is there anything new to be gained from the defender?
Opportunities for something new exist, at least in terms of coaching. In addition to Toivola, the work of the defenders in Naisleijon will also be supported in the future Mikko Palsola. Palsola follows what is well-liked among the players as a kit sparrer Kari Eloranta. Palsola is a familiar morning training coach for the national team women who played in Jyväskylä.
– It has felt really nice to get to know the new group and their ideas on how to move forward. Yes, we need to find new drugs to play and thereby be able to challenge North American teams in a different way, Hiirikoski continues.
About the kicks Rosa Lindstedt was on the sidelines of the Beijing Olympics due to an ankle injury. The ankle is no longer noticed only occasionally as the support screws rub against the skate shoe. In the spring playoffs, Lindstedt was already in the ranks of Brynäs and the defender registered for the May camp, apparently joyful.
– I am excited and curious to see which direction Juuso and the rest of the group are going to take this job. Change is a good thing at this point. On the other hand, Juuso will not get rid of all of us experienced, yes, for our part, we will certainly put pressure on things to go in the right direction, Lindstedt says.
Game filings and game style discussion are warmly welcomed. In addition to Toivola and Palsola, the former national team striker, who led IFK to the league finals as head coach, is strongly involved in the discussions. Saara Niemi.
– Note that you immediately go to playful things and put on your overalls. Good thing we go into the matter and then come the games soon. They are always the coolest stuff, Lindstedt expects.
Once again old stuff
The World Championships for Female Lions will take shape during the summer, when the situation of players who have played in Russia, for example, will become clear. There will be camps for the summer heat in July as well, the team will leave for the World Cup trip after mid-August.
In Denmark, the team should reap the benefits again, and if anyone is a repetition of the former Female Lion rhetoric, the North American teams should remain on board. This mantra has been repeated for years and the pressure to turn speeches into deeds is intense.
Head coach Toivola wants to file the game faster and more offensively, which is why there are demands for changes on the flip chart.
– Concreting is done, a few small details are filed. Taking the puck away from the opponent even faster and making it a goal, Toivola laughs when asked for practical examples.
The curves of the game are concretized to look like the Toivola team in the trough. The selection of the World Cup’s stars, players, will probably speak this time as well, although there will be no need for a discussion about Räty in connection with the Danish Games.
Even if the Lioness wants to leave the Mustonen era with all its commercials behind, the old ones are still in the making. Keeper Noora Rädy the biography will be published in October and will probably mention both Female Lions and Pasi Mustonen.
– Yes, I hope we are in the headlines about gambling as well. The women’s national team is pretty much more than the above, Rosa Lindstedt says.
There is a relentless laugh of laughter from the locker room of the female lions and the training platform atmosphere is buzzing like in a beehive.
Head coach Toivola monitors the team’s preparations at ease. The whistle interrupts even the last extra conversations. Now let’s focus on work.