Due to the economy, the Ski Association organized only a few training camps, participation was varied. Jasmi Joensuu still believes in the future of centralized national team activities.
When it dawned last spring that the Ski Federation had made a loss of around two million euros at the group level in its most recent fiscal year, the athletes soon began independently and wisely from afar to build their own patterns for the starting training season. The Ski Federation also communicated their problems to their coaches as soon as possible, and the athletes in the spring had no illusions about the summer’s camp offer.
In the end, the truth was that the camp organized by the Ski Association was smaller than normal, especially when it comes to high altitude training. Experienced superstars Ivo and Kerttu Niskanen mixed Krista Pärmäkoski almost built their own training and training group pattern for the summer. As a collective, the national team will gather for the first time only when Kuusamo’s preparation camp for the World Cup starts in Olos, Muonio, in the second week of November.
You also head to Muonio via Vuokat Jasmi Joensuuwho on Monday participated in the media day of the Swedish Ski Federation in Helsinki. All three national teams were present, but the cross-country skiers were missing e.g. Niskaset and Pärmäkoski because of their training obstacles.
Only two skiers
When camping is scarcely available, it would be logical that it would be fine when it is available. However, Jasmi Joensuu told about a very special situation that he came across at the camp in Trondheim in the upcoming Granåsen World Cup scenery. Among the female skiers, only Joensuu and the winners of the youth competition showed up Hilla Niemelä.
– Every camp has had at least two athletes. Everyone makes individual decisions and you can’t influence that. The best possible work must be done with the group that is there. Of course, it can be discussed that if the association organizes camps, would it be mandatory for (national team members) to participate in them. But that is a topic for a different discussion, Joensuu said.
– More skiers came to the other camps of the Ski Association.
Did not crawl under the skin
In Trondheim, he and Niemelä practiced a lot, e.g. with the French skiers, and both felt that they got what they came for from the camp and from the next winter’s World Cup tracks, which served as roller skiing tracks.
In general, Joensuu has worked purposefully so that the big problems of the Ski Association would not have crawled under his skin.
– They must not affect the work and its quality.
For the ski association’s representative athletes, it is very likely that for the starting season there will be a deductible of at most 500 euros for each Cup weekend. Joensuu did not want to share his opinion on this, but said that his supporters would take care of the matter if necessary.
Despite the ski association’s difficult years and the still foggy future, he does not see that the association-led training activities from spring to late autumn are at the end of the road.
– Would everyone be willing to pay the amount it costs to prepare for the competition season? However, the ski association’s camps have quite a long tradition. If I’m thinking about the union’s financial cuts, the priority must of course be to secure the competition season, even if it leads to a reduction in camping.