In Pesis, girls and boys have the same camps and coaching. In adults, the female nest is now breaking through in medium-sized and large municipalities.
The Päsäpalloliitto and Superpesis have made the women’s team their focus, and the results are coming. Naispesis is increasing not only the number of fans but also the audience, and at the same time it has become profitable for the clubs.
The baseball association has defined baseball as the most equal sport in Finland. Proving the claim to be true is difficult, but at least we are on the right track.
One thing still needs fixing, says the baseball player Jutta Myllyniemi Joensuu Maila.
– The salary level directly affects the career and its length, there is still work to be done.
Joensuu’s Maila is a good example of promoting equality in pesis. The decision to support women and men equally was made almost 10 years ago, says the chairman of the Pesäpalloliitto Ari Mononen.
– Then we thought about a new baseball stadium and wanted to use it. Since JoMa had good juniors in girls and boys at the time, it was decided to invest in both. Through that, the parents and loved ones of the children were strongly involved.
At the moment, the stadium is used every day and there are enough fans for both women’s and men’s games.
Ari Mononen, the president of the baseball association, believes that the traditions of pesis facilitate equality.
– If you look at yard games, for example, girls and boys play with each other, which is also quite unique, and in that way it has been a hobby for girls. Pesis is not a contact sport, which is why it attracts enthusiasts.
There are approximately the same number of hobbyists, the difference in the number of licensed players is just under a thousand players in favor of men.
Women’s games are also played to full stands
In the stands, the difference between men’s and women’s games is big in the number of spectators, but the difference is narrowing all the time. The best women’s teams wash most of the men’s teams in the number of spectators and, for example, the women’s Superpesis finals of the 2023 season between Tampere and Pori were played to full stands.
In the graphic, you can see how, after the corona crisis, the average viewership of women’s matches has risen faster than that of men.
People come to the auditorium as a sum of many things. The reason for choosing the women’s game can be, for example, that one’s own child or relative plays on the team. Or the game itself draws the audience to the stands, like the one who watched the first-place match between Oulu Lipo and Kajaani Pallokerho Venla Jussila.
– I follow both men’s and women’s games, but on the men’s side it’s a bit difficult to play for sure, success in the women’s game is more fifty-fifty, the players take more risks.
Equality does not progress everywhere at the same pace
Although the female nest is alive and well all the time stronger, there are of course differences by region. However, we are on the same track at the Juntun level. Director of the Vuokatti–Ruka sports academy Janne Vuorinen says that coaching is the same for everyone.
– In the academy, we have had the same training program and the same coaching for girls and boys for years, the game is the same for both. In the big picture, women’s breakthrough is inevitable.
The smaller picture is that equality is not progressing everywhere at the same pace, says Ari Mononen, president of the Baseball Association.
– In small municipalities, we still have to think about whether the money is enough to take both women and men to the top. In medium-sized and large municipalities, there are more than enough talkools and support euros.
So what does equality mean? According to Jutta Myllyniemi of Joensuu Maila, it means a lot.
– Gender is not decisive here, but what you do and what you bring to the team. Equality is not necessarily talked about much, but it is acknowledged that we are doing well.