STT reported last week that the club’s manager Ville Kalliomäki had behaved inappropriately for years. The Volleyball Association condemned him and the club for the 2021 improprieties and lack of intervention.
The Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club is taking over responsibility program (you switch to another service), the club says on its website. The program includes numerous different trainings on, among other things, a safe operating environment, equality and equality.
The training package is based on the responsibility program of the Olympic Committee’s sports community.
In the future, everyone who works in the club’s league team must complete a so-called security pass and take the “You are not alone” training prepared by Väestöliitto, which emphasizes identifying inappropriate behavior and harassment and addressing it.
STT said last Friday that the club’s manager Ville Kalliomäki behaved inappropriately for years. He criticized the players’ bodies in a sexual manner and also grabbed hold of them.
In an interview with STT Elina Salomäki said that he was disturbed by Kalliomäki in the 2008–2009 season so much that he even thought about ending his playing career. In addition, STT received confirmation of a more recent case of harassment, but the player who experienced it did not want his name made public.
At the turn of the year, Kalliomäki and the club had received a penalty from the Volleyball Association. The punishment, which mainly consisted of fines, was based on an investigation by the Finnish Sports Ethics Center (Suek) regarding the events of 2021. In this case, Kalliomäki had commented on the player’s backside and sent a sexually tinged message after this social media update.
Kalliomäki’s position to punter after the season
According to Hämeen Sanomi, the Hämeenlinna Volleyball Club organized a press conference on Monday evening, where the club announced that Kalliomäki’s position as manager will be considered after the end of the Women’s Championship League season.
– When you look at his work in this club, we have been a role model in the entire league during its existence. That job is huge. It cannot be underestimated. Sure, these excesses are unforgivable, but I hope someone will forgive them. They have been discussed many times, chairman Juha Heinonen told the newspaper.
Kalliomäki plans to continue in the position at least until the end of the season. He has worked in Hämeenlinna for 25 years.
– I’m not resigning, I’m not leaving this team. But when the season is over, it’s time to make your own decisions, and the Volleyball Club’s board can think about what kind of decisions they will make after this season, Kalliomäki said, according to Hämeen Sanomie.