ZURICH
Experienced goalkeeper of the Finnish women’s floorball national team Krista Nieminen, 36, has been enjoying himself in Switzerland for a long time. The career of the national team keeper can accommodate three different clubs in the national league: Zug, Berner-Oberland and this season Kloten-Dietlikon.
He is currently in his sixth and last season as a player in Switzerland.
– I’ve liked the teams where I’ve played, because it’s an absolute thing to like the people you play with, Nieminen says in an interview with Urheilu in Zurich.
Born in Espoo, Nieminen’s life is rooted in Switzerland, at least for now.
– I live in Thun, which I immediately liked. It felt like home immediately. That’s the reason I’ve been here so long. And those Swiss landscapes, I never get tired of them, even though I’ve lived here for six years already.
Nieminen estimates that the years in Switzerland have shaped the Finn into a Central European, if not a Swiss.
– I must have become Central European in terms of food and drink habits, and Swiss cheeses are a must, he praises with a smile.
The Swiss sport and club culture in women’s floorball is particularly inspired by the idea of blowing together.
– Club culture is sometimes different compared to Finland, because here we are communal and at best the club is like a small family. Even in Kloten, the club is a small community where everyone works for their own floor bandy club, he says.
Kloten’s goalkeeper’s everyday life currently includes, in addition to indoor basketball, preparation for life after his career. Studies at the University of Eastern Finland are complete without a degree.
– I am studying public law and will probably focus on legal work after graduation. I have worked in the field before and I know that it interests me, Nieminen states.
Mental endurance put to the test in Sweden
Krista Nieminen is currently living a peaceful life in Switzerland. It was different a year ago at this time in Sweden. Nieminen moved to the Åkersberga team, which was promoted to the Swedish premier league last season, but he left the club before the season had even properly started. Many things in Sweden went completely wrong, not least the club’s activities in background matters.
– It was said that the club would help in finding a job, but in the end I got the job myself. When I arrived in the village, the apartment was completely empty and full of construction dust. There wasn’t even furniture there, which was originally agreed upon, Nieminen reveals.
The mutual chemistry within the new team didn’t work at all. The rising team was divided into two different camps.
– The core of the team had already been together for years and because of that it was difficult to get into the group and get to know the players. We new foreign players quickly felt like outsiders in the team, because it was terribly difficult to talk to other Swedish players, Nieminen regrets.
In addition to the exterior, it didn’t work on the field either. Nieminen was only allowed to play one match and one more set. After four matches, it was enough for the Finnish national team goalkeeper, after which he left Åkersberga.
– I didn’t feel that my treatment was improper, but I wonder why they signed me and wanted me in the company in the first place. None of the things that were originally agreed with the club came to fruition. I would have liked things to have been called by their proper names, he says.
Communication with the club boss of Åkersberga, who worked as a coach, didn’t work either.
– I asked many times whether I play badly or train badly, the answer was simply “you train really well”. There is not much opportunity to develop one’s own activities in that situation.
Nieminen reminds that the club’s actions were not workplace bullying in the true sense of the word.
– I don’t feel that it was workplace bullying. I know the side of myself that I can be demanding myself, because my goals as a player are high, he states.
– I heard afterwards that I wasn’t the only player who left the club in the end.
For Krista Niemi, the whole season in Sweden was almost only a struggle with her own endurance. It was made easier by the fact that a place was found for the spring at the lower league level in the Allsvenskan.
– The whole time I went into coping mode just because of my changed work situation. I can say that I experienced a minor burnout later in the spring. It was hard to cope mentally at times, he states.
Games end, friendships remain
Krista Nieminen joined the Finnish national team at an older age, but has played in the last two World Cup tournaments, where Finland took silver and bronze. The World Championships in Singapore are Nieminer’s farewell matches in the national team.
– If only I could fully enjoy that two-week experience, being together with the team and the last national team games of my career, he sighs.
Nieminen started playing major league games in Finland almost 20 years ago, but the end point of his career looms in the spring, when the season ends. The games of an experienced goalkeeper come to an end, but the relationships created over the years remain.
– People will be missed. They have always formed the respective team. Fortunately, people don’t disappear anywhere and hopefully friendships last a lifetime. I will miss playing together, especially national team games.
Team athletes experience the last match of their career in their own way. The experience and feeling at the very last moment of a career is always personal.
– After the last game of my career, I may feel better, because last season and the beginning of this season have been the most difficult moments of my career. The longing will surely hit at some point, when you realize you won’t be playing anymore, Krista Nieminen reflects.
Before the last game of his career, he wants to experience the unique feeling of a world championship in Singapore. Nieminen’s confidence in Finland’s World Cup gold chances is strong.
– This is the best national team I have ever played in, he assures.
Finland starts the World Cup against Latvia on Saturday, the broadcast starts at Areena at 9:50.
Race broadcasts on channels (Finnish time):