Last Friday in Sastamala, an overlong volleyball match was played, lasting a good three hours and six rounds. At the end of it, the home team VaLePa got to celebrate another medal, but this time the eight-time Finnish champion had to settle for “only” bronze medals.
However, this match most likely ended one Finnish volleyball career of all time. VaLePa’s passerby Mikko Esko45, was elected General Manager of the national team this spring, so he announced that his playing career will end for the time being.
So what does so far mean? Not even Esko himself knows that.
– I didn’t want to say that I was quitting. Everything kind of demands that I say it and it gets asked all the time. I want to decide it myself and I’m not really 100% sure if I’ll stop or not. That’s why I leave the back gate open, Esko said with the scent of a bronze party.
He admitted in the same breath that it would have been much easier if he had announced his career decision right away.
The feeling brought by the bronze was surprising
Whether Mikko Esko’s playing career ended for good or not, regardless of everything, it has been dazzling by Finnish standards. According to the Finnish Volleyball Association, “Mesko’s” playing career in adult games lasted 10,423 days.
Esko started his league career at the age of 17 in 1995. Only two players from VaLePa’s team this year, Eetu Pennanen and Urpo Sivula, was born at that time. About 1,500 official matches, 305 international matches, 11 seasons in the league can be included, including 7 championships, 6 cup championships, 4 volleyball player of the season selections and 6 league star selections.
In addition to domestically, Esko played for 14 years abroad in tough leagues in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Russia and Turkey. In addition to success, I took away a lot of memories and experiences.
Esko was already 37 years old when he returned to Finland. At that time, many people would already be looking at other jobs, but Esko returned to VaLePa’s composition. He felt that he still has a lot to give and achieve. And so he achieved.
When Esko had received his third WC bronze on Friday, winning this medal was top of mind. He got to end the season in front of his home crowd as a winner, and it felt like winning the championship.
– I guess it’s always the closest to peak success, he smiled.
– I wouldn’t have thought that there would be so much emotion from winning the bronze, but it just tasted good.
In Esko’s opinion, the best experiences have been those matches where you have had to fight and where you have suffered, but emerged victorious through difficulties. Just like what happened to VaLePa on Friday. At that time, in the fourth set, it already seemed that Savo Volley would leave the arena with medals around his neck, but the home team rose from the deep waters to the surface
– Sport is quite brutal. There have been so many stinging losses, and then the ones where we have rallied and won. Maybe the ones where the emotional roller coaster has been big have been the best moments, Esko reflected.
– There have been many of them and I will definitely remember them – and maybe even miss them a little sometimes.
Too big a change for this season
In recent years, VaLePa has built quite a dynasty in domestic men’s volleyball. When the corona season 2019–20 is left out of the calculations, it had won six consecutive championships before this season. Considering that, being left out of the finals was quite a shock for the club, even though the medal streak continued.
In Esko’s opinion, there is a clear reason for falling out of the finals.
– We have had a certain body and a certain spirit for a long time. The players haven’t changed too much. This year there was a bit too big a change, and it was visible right away, he said.
VaLePa has had a strong culture of winning, certain operating methods and values. According to Esko, the wins are starting to feed themselves and the players know that they can get through tight spots. There have been those tight spots before, but this year in the semifinals, VaLePa was no longer able to beat Akaa-Volley.
– We have dodged many bullets in recent years, this year we didn’t dodge anymore. Akaa hit us. But you can’t always win, and probably many are satisfied that VaLePa didn’t win, Esko laughed.
– There will be new champions. And let’s put it this way, when we’re not in the finals, the change is refreshing.
VaLePa is facing a big reform
In Esko’s opinion, VaLePa now has a place for discussion, because the bronze was not the medal the club wanted. Esko also sees the situation as a good thing, because failures are always a place for development.
After the championship, the shortcomings are easily forgotten, and at some point the championship pipelines are broken, because too many things are done in the same way, renewal is forgotten, and development stops.
– Now maybe VaLePal has that moment too. However, there will inevitably be one big reform because I will be left out, Esko said with a wide grin.
Esko was not seen at the VaLePa team’s bronze party over the weekend, because he had more important things to do. The WC tournament of the volleyball-playing daughter took the father’s attention away from the celebration, and the future GM of the national team had time to visit Akaa to watch the men’s final as well.
– My celebrations have been celebrated in the traditional sense, Esko assured.