Roosa Koskelo’s, 30, way to lead was too much for many in Finland – now she is pursuing an astonishing career abroad

Roosa Koskelo is one of the few volleyball liberators to have received warnings from the referee about being too violently ventilated.

Libero can’t score, but he can save the ball in the game and give his teammates a chance. When this succeeds, Koskelo is not afraid to show how good it feels.

In Finland, not all teammates liked how drastically Koskelo instructed them. The leading player who hates losing dares to set the level of his own and others’ demands.

– If you want to play professionally and abroad, you have to be able to insist. Fellow gamers have to endure it. Roosa didn’t do anything wrong with the player leading the normal action, in. LP Long-term coach Tomi Lemminkäinen.

During the last nine seasons, Koskelo has celebrated the Finnish championship twice, the Slovenian championship twice and the German championship twice.

Koskelo, 30, laughs, but admits he recognizes things revealed by his former coach. Allianz MTV in Stuttgart, in whose ranks Koskelo celebrated the Bundesliga championship for the second time this spring, dared to demand.

– It’s really different abroad. It’s such a tough performance sport and everyone has the same goal. We want to win the championship and do anything in front of it, Koskelo says.

– It was, for example, the strength of this year’s team that everyone gave each other feedback all the time, but no one was ever bad about it, Koskelo says.

US chess winner of Bundesliga playoffs this spring Krystal Rivers glowed Koskelo from the end of 2019 when Sports visited Stuttgart.

Rivers said that Koskelo has brought the characteristics of a winner to the team. Koskelo’s first German season, 2018–19, ended with the first championship in Stuttgart’s club history.

– Actually, he shouts, talks and treats a lot. He organizes our game all the time. It’s a lot of fun at times when he tries to gather a bunch, but doesn’t reach properly because it’s so small! joked Rivers about 164-centimeter Finnish liberals.

Koskelo has played in the finals every season for more than a decade, with one exception.

He humbly says he has been privileged to have gotten into organizations fighting for championships, but then admits it’s not just a coincidence anyway.

– My strengths are leadership and responsibility, I have never been afraid of them. I’ll be happy to take the awkward situation for myself if it helps the playmates next door. I can’t make points, but I can take responsibility otherwise.

Libero’s most important tasks are to receive opponents’ feeds and defend the attacks.

– The game of defense has definitely always been my strength, the reception is an eternal development target and a lot of spiritual thing as well.

In addition, Koskelo’s strengths include physics. The passport game has also developed abroad, adds Lemminkäinen.

Lemminkäinen, who coached Koskelo 2013–16 in LP Viesti, describes that there are “enthusiasts, volleyball players, athletes and top athletes”. In recent years in Finland, Koskelo has changed from a mere volleyball player to at least close to a top athlete. Now he is on top of the top athlete.

In Lemminkäinen’s opinion, Koskelo is a real team player and one of the best coaches who has played under him, because the player has to challenge the coach and have his say. It develops both.

– Pink has also grown as a human being. At first he was a bit of a scumbag. I remember one time giving another libero more playing time, so Roosa showed up and was therefore sidelined in the next game.

– That doesn’t mean we had a problem. He would have liked to play all the games. That’s when he didn’t accept it at all when he knew he was a better libero. Today, he might even ask himself to be able to rest for someone’s game.

Koskelo took his first step in volleyball in Forssa after his three big brothers. For years, he played for Loimaa before making his league debut with Somero at the age of 15.

The Finnish domicile is now located in Salo, where Koskelo is on holiday and practicing a summer break. Salolaisseura LP The message is very important for Koskelo’s career.

There, the physical training was put in order. Koskelo got to taste the games of the Champions League and at the same time, as a volleyball professional abroad, the dream turned into a concrete goal.

– Then it was a clear thing that if I hadn’t gotten abroad, my career would have ended. It was very clear to me that I no longer want to play in Finland.

Although the move abroad was already a clear goal, Koskelo made a particularly bold decision in the spring of 2016. Top peak Hillaelina Hämäläinen was willing to return to LP Message.

Koskelo had an extension agreement with Viesti for the period 2016–17, but it had a clause allowing for transfer abroad. On the other hand, it would not have made sense for Viesti to play two top liberals on the team.

On the other hand, coach Lemminkäinen was in a difficult place. He didn’t want to get into a situation where he says “no thanks” to Hämäläinen and then Koskelo goes abroad. So Koskelo agreed to terminate his contract and Hämäläinen joined the company.

Koskelo practiced with Viest, but was without a contract well into the fall of 2016 before finally contacting Slovenia.

– Of course it was a bold move. Quite a few others would have made another decision. The appeal of the message to Finnish players was tough. But as such, it was the easiest decision when I no longer wanted to play in Finland, says Koskelo.

The move was a leap into the unknown. Koskelo says he practically seized the first opportunity that came.

In Maribor, he was able to celebrate the championship in both seasons.

In the Instagram picture below, Koskelo (right) celebrates a midfielder Sasa Planinsecin with his first Slovenian championship in spring 2017.

Slovenia was a good showcase for the tougher series in Central Europe. Koskelo could have continued in Maribor, but felt it was time for tougher challenges again.

The move to Stuttgart was also lucky on the way. The coach of Stuttgart at the time had a close relationship with Maribor, for his wife was from there.

– The level went up a lot. The Bundesliga is a flat series. It’s cool that even weaker teams can knock down top teams. Turkey, Russia and Italy may be tougher series than the Bundesliga.

Stuttgart had been in the tube four times with silver. In Koskelo’s first season, the team managed to beat Schwerin 3–2 in the finals. The last final ended with a championship celebration of 3–2.

– Maybe I didn’t really realize how big the thing was then. Everything was so new this season. Now that it has been several years, he experiences the matter differently, understands the pressures and how completely it is a result sport for the club, Koskelo describes.

The following season broke down and in the 2020–21 season, Dresden beat Stuttgart in the finals.

This spring was again the time of the Stuttgart celebrations, when Potsdam crashed in the final series. In addition, Stuttgart won the German Cup and reached silver in the second division of Europe in the CEV Cup.

– I’ve never played on a team that is so welded together. Everyone got along really well, it was really fun. In that sense, this is the most special championship.

The professional conditions also show that there is a separate hall, so the team can practice then and as much as it wants. At the same connection you will find the Olympic Center’s weight hall and athletics tracks.

The hall can accommodate about 3,000 spectators. During the corona restrictions, the hall always had a maximum number, taking the restrictions into account. Before Korona, the average spectator was 2,400, says Koskelo.

Koskelo updated his championship mood on Instagram in May. Use the arrow on the right side of the publication to scroll through the images.

Koskelo is the star of the level that Lemminkäinen only takes the Finnish female player of all time forward when thinking Riikka Lehtonen and Saara Eskon.

Koskelo has rarely been seen on the national team in recent years. Libero, who has made bold decisions in his career, has dared to make difficult decisions regarding the Suomi shirt as well. He represented Finland at the 2019 European Championships, but was not involved in the 2021 European Championships.

Koskelo confirms that it will not be available to the national team this summer either, nor in the European Championship qualifiers in the late summer / early autumn.

– It’s pretty hard to be away for nine months of the year and play all the games from start to finish. Then there should be the whole summer with the national team. It feels like it’s good to be able to work out, rest and prepare to go to Germany again in August.

Koskelo has said that he enjoys being on the national team, but has also said that the most important thing is to stay fit on the national team.

– I’m not in my twenties anymore. You have to think about staying fit for nine months on the club team. From there, however, that bread comes to the table, Koskelo commented earlier.

Stuttgart, which won silver in the second-ever CEV Cup in Europe last season, will be able to pursue success in the Champions League next season.

Success in Germany and the European Games are the best possible venue, so Koskelo no longer needs a national team as a stepping stone in his career.

Koskelo has a contract left with Stuttgart next season. Reaching an even higher level than the top team in the Bundesliga is very difficult for Libero because of the foreign quotas for many series. Star gains are most often hackers, for example.

– It’s good to be in Stuttgart. I am valued and I value where I am. Of course, if the opportunity arises to get to Italy or Turkey, I would certainly seize it. But at the moment, it feels like this is good.