Jari Piirainen, the former CEO of the Swedish Ski Federation, hopes that there will be even more candidates for the chairmanship of the federation. Piirainen announced his candidacy on Friday.
The ski association’s presidential race got a new candidate on Friday, when the association’s former CEO Jari Piirainen signed up. Piirainen, who left the Ski Association in the spring of 2009, said now is the right time to run for a demanding position of trust.
– The Ski Federation has been the longest employer of my working career, as I already worked in coaching jobs at the district and club level before taking up the full-time job. The love for the home nest attracted him, Piirainen told Urheilu.
Also the fact that there was only one candidate before him in the competition – the director of Eerikkilä sports college Sirpa Korkatti – influenced Piirainen’s willingness. According to Piirainen, it is better for decision-makers if there is more than one option.
– It may be that the public discussion about the condition of the Ski Federation has not been suitable to increase the number of candidates. For some reason, fewer people are applying for such demanding positions of trust than before.
Two clear main focuses
The ski association’s finances and its fines have been a constant topic of headlines, but the situation is not new to Piirainen. He became CEO of the Ski Federation in 2001, after the Lahti World Championships doping disaster.
– The situation was pretty grim at the time, but even from that we were able to get back on our feet piece by piece, with long-term work. Expenditures and income must be put into balance, strive to get more income and cut expenses where possible, in order to be able to invest in the main focus of the strategy.
According to Piirainen, the union may have to make painful decisions if income and expenditure cannot be balanced. However, he believes in long-term work, not quick wins, and prioritization. If Piirainen gets to decide, the main focus of the Ski Association will be top sports and club work.
– Someone wise has said that if you are going to cut down logs from the forest, then you have to take care of the nursery. Youth and club work as well as grassroots work must be done in order for elite sports to function well. Besides that, everything else is fine.
In Piirainen’s opinion, it is still too bold to start aligning, for example, the resources of national team activities. However, according to him, the goal is to be able to ensure, in one way or another, the performance and performance of the top skiers.
Take care of volunteers
Piirainen believes that his experience with the Ski Association and managing the organization are his strengths. He also has experience at different levels of sports life, for example in managing a volunteer organization after serving as chairman of the Hiidenkiertäjie orienteering club from Lohja for eight years.
In the press release he sent on Friday, Piirainen explained his motto: “Volunteers are managed by valuing, not criticizing”. He says he learned that wisdom after being involved in sports activities since he was a little boy in many different roles.
– The Finnish sports life still today and certainly for a long time to come, especially at the club level, relies on voluntary activities. You have to be able to take care of volunteers, and that’s why that motto applies especially well today.
Piirainen is ready to put himself in the game, but he reminds us that it’s not just about him. Cooperation is done with the board of directors, the federal council, staff and clubs. Piirainen hopes that someone else would also sign up as a candidate for chairman, so that the competition would be interesting and exciting.
– No matter how this race goes, I will give my full support to the chosen one. I will do my best to get selected, but if I don’t, then ‘no hard feelings’. Life goes on.
The federal council of the Ski Federation will elect a new chairman at its meeting to be held in Jyväskylä on March 23.