A new board for the Finnish Olympic Committee will be elected at the autumn meeting on November 30.
So far, only one name has been confirmed for the Olympic Committee’s presidential race, Tapio Korjuswhich is a candidate supported by the Finnish Sports Federation.
In addition to the chairman, the new board of the Olympic Committee will naturally be elected at the end of November.
Finnish coaches present to the board Erkka Westerlundia. Westerlund is an experienced sports influencer, known especially as a hockey coach. He captained the A national team, or Leijon, in 2004–07 and 2013–14.
The association representing sports coaches feels that the board of the Olympic Committee should have members who bring coaching expertise and the coaches’ voice to decision-making.
– The quality of coaching is the single most important factor in an athlete’s development, and largely determines the quality of Finnish sports, states the president of Finnish coaches, handball coach Toni Kallio.
Westerlund is known as a promoter of coaching both in Finnish coaches and in the professional association of coaches in Savali, where he serves as chairman.
– Sports must renew its story and find its social meaning better than it currently does. You have to bring out the good things, such as joy, positivity, courage, enthusiasm and appreciation. We need a story that connects. When technology develops, there is a danger that man will decline. The task of sports is to develop people and cooperation between people. People are the biggest asset in sports, Westerlund paints.
Westerlund has worked as the principal and CEO of the Finnish Sports Academy in Vierumäki. He is currently a deputy board member in the Olympic Committee.
Westerlund feels that the Olympic Committee must be stronger than it is now in leading Finnish exercise and sports, not just the Olympic Committee itself as an organization. He says that organized exercise and sports activities through sports federations and clubs should be at the center of decision-making.
– The nation’s ability to function has weakened for 50 years already, and top-level sports success has waned, especially in the last 15 years. These two goals of sports are not in conflict with each other, on the contrary, they support each other. It is therefore justified that the social responsibility of the Olympic Committee is to take care of both the nation’s ability to function and top-level sports success.