Vaasan Sport will meet Ilves in Saturday’s round of the ice hockey championship league. More than a thousand away fans come to watch the sold-out match from Tampere.
A sold-out ice hockey match is not an everyday occurrence, and especially not in Vaasa.
On Saturday, the Ice Hockey Championship between Vaasa Sport and Tampere Ilves will be followed by the Vaasa ice rink. 21 guest supporters will arrive by bus, and in addition, some Tampere residents may arrive in their own cars.
Kerta is the first since the expansion of the ice hall in 2020.
In an extraordinary situation, the club decided on an extraordinary solution. It approached the parents of Junior Sport with a message, in which it hoped to consider the participation of young children in the event.
The ice rink also has other extraordinary measures compared to a regular league match. Among other things, the hall is divided in two so that fans of different teams don’t run into each other.
CEO of Vaasan Sport Tomas Kurten however, he does not believe that Vaasa will see clashes between supporters on Saturday.
– But of course, when there are a lot of people and a Saturday game, that’s why we sent the message, Kurten commented to on Wednesday.
“You have to control the crowdsâ€
A sold-out sports event could quickly be imagined to be a happy thing for sports clubs, something worth striving for and a family event for an ice hockey SM league match.
We called the professor emeritus of the University of Jyväskylä Hannu Itkonenwhat does this say about Finnish sports culture.
– It tells what my analysis has been: the differentiation of sports culture means that elite sports have long since separated from traditional sports and sports activities based on volunteering, Itkonen begins.
But why are large public events in Finland often approached through threats and possible organizational disturbances?
Itkonen thinks that the reason also stems from the poor population.
– People gather in large numbers very rarely in Finland. We have had the mentality that crowds need to be controlled and such gatherings include the fear that some excesses will happen. Itkonen begins, especially if children are exposed to such events.
– This is really interesting, because sports events have been family events for quite a long time. Now here you can see the release of the new era.
For example, ice hockey and football matches in Sweden, our western neighbor, have seen much bigger crowds than in Finland. On the soccer side, the overall average of the men’s Allsvenskan was more than 10,000 spectators.
In Swedish sports stands, you can see people of all ages, from babies to adults, although supporters have sometimes fallen into excesses, especially in connection with hot local matches.
According to Itkonen, many who have worked in sports in Sweden emphasize the sense of community. He highlights the 51 percent rule in use in the country, which according to which the members of the sports organization must have 51 percent, i.e. the majority, of the votes.
– It contributes to the fact that this community of civic activities and the related function of growing sports may be greater than in Finland, Itkonen commented.