Helmareite’s hard-nosed midfield leader explains why he relaxes by writing in his spare time – a concise guide for young prospects

“I like the idea, maybe for some it’s creepy, of uncontrolled running. I like the fleetingness of time and the drowning of life. I like emotions, both good and bad. They remind you that you’re alive.”

In his spare time, the key player in the midfield of the Finnish national team Eveliina Summanen write because there are no limits. It is free and liberating.

– You can realize yourself, listen to the inner running of your own head, whatever is happening there.

Poems, essays, diary entries… And Summanen has also opened up his life in the blog on his website, where the feelings reminiscent of being alive as well as the determination that describes Summa as a football player come to the fore.

– I myself know at what level I can already play, and anything below that is too little. Few footballers are anything but cool, and sometimes emotions take over, and you shouldn’t hide them. Emotions belong to the sport. In the end, however, you have to collect those balls, as long as you have calmed down for a while, Summanen wrote.

– Writing can be anything but football. With it you can let go, with it the possibilities are limitless, Summanen reflects Matias Aution in the Helmaritähdet short documentary directed by

You can find the entire short documentary on Eveliina Summane at the end of this article.

In January 2022, 24-year-old Summanen moved to Tottenham, who play in the English Super League, where the captain and goalkeeper of Helmare already played Tinja-Riikka Korpela.

In recent years, the Superliga has raised its profile rapidly. Men’s Premier League clubs have invested in the women’s league. The league founded in 2011 became a fully professional league in the 2018–19 season. Barclays bank, which has previously acted as the title sponsor of the men’s Premier League, signed a sponsorship agreement with the Superliiga.

In 2021, the sports media giant Sky Sports and the British broadcaster BBC signed a three-year contract with the Superliga. For the first time, the Superliga TV rights were sold separately from the broadcasting rights of the men’s series.

When Helmarit made it to the European Championships, Summanen played in every match in the starting line-up. However, Finland’s composition has been very constant in recent years.

In addition to writing, Summanen relaxes in nature.

– In nature, the idea may not work. When the mind is empty, it is empty for new ideas and completely new thoughts, he laughs.

Summanen is from Lappeenranta, where he played in PEPO on both the boys’ and girls’ teams. For example, after already playing women’s games, he moved to PEPO’s B-boys team to seek tougher challenges.

– As a teenager, I moved back to the boys’ team, from which I only knew a couple of players. It was really exciting, especially as a teenager, when you start going through all the other things in life.

Towards the women’s major leagues, the solution was good. Both physical and technical characteristics developed by leaps and bounds during the two years in the boys’ team.

– The work done in Lappeenranta back then has borne fruit. I wouldn’t have gotten what it gives me as a soccer player anywhere else, praises Summanen.

When you read interviews about Summase or those who know him, a sense of purpose usually emerges. Summanen was already like that when he was young.

Summanen has previously said in interviews that as the only female member of the boys’ team, she was kind of alone. There were nasty comments from opposing teams. In any case, the solution was necessary and functional, because Lappeenranta did not have a high-quality women’s or girls’ team.

– It was a big change. Girls’ and boys’ training and games are quite different in terms of hardness. In the first training sessions, you could feel its hardness. The boys weren’t careful at all, which was a good thing, Summanen recalled in ‘s story in 2018.

From Lappeenranta, she applied to Mäkelänrinte sports high school in Helsinki and made her debut in the women’s main league at HJK. Summanen had wanted to go to sports high school since he was in elementary school – perhaps a sign of his determination as well. At the age of 16, Summanen moved to Helsinki alone.

– It was the first steps into the discomfort zone when I lived alone in a different city. It was exciting to come to a big city, but the school helped create a rhythm in life, Summanen has said.

The head coach of the helmets Anna Signeul has been compared to Summa by the midfield legend Anne Mäkisen. Mäkinen, who was inducted into the Finnish football Hall of Fame in 2012, was a midfield leader who had a great career in Sweden and the USA, among others.

– Anne was one of the best players in the world in her prime. They have a lot of the same qualities, and like Anne, Eveliina can do everything as a player in the center of the midfield. Eveliina presses well and quickly, and she is a midfield leader like Anne, Signeul incensed.

In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Summanen scored the first goal of his national team career with a fierce long-range shot against Serbia. However, in the end, the hit was marked as an own goal, when the ball bounced off the top bar and the Serbian goalkeeper Milica Kostic through to the network.

The only dream that has remained the same throughout Summanen’s career is Helmarit.

– Helmarit means pride. The fact that you get to represent Finland. Helmarit is a family.

In the national team, Summanen is an important part of building the attacking game, and in addition, he brings a goal-scoring and special situation threat thanks to his excellent kicking technique. Summanen, who plays in the defensive direction, gets praise for his possession of the ball, his tough and physical way of playing, among other things.

However, for Summas, football is not just football.

– That includes everything else. How playing in a team grows socially, and it’s really important how you act in a team.

Summanen sends an important message to young girl footballers: dare to dream.

– Women’s football is developing all the time. There is really an opportunity to make it a profession.

Watch the entire four-minute mini-documentary on Eveliina Summase below.