RAISIO. The mustache twitches when Olli Kuoksa frantically digging out of the slush ice in Haunisten basin in Varsinais-Suomi.
– This will do nothing! Nothing. You’d think that with tax money you’d get a little better auger, cruelly grimacing Kuoksa mana.
Urheilu has taken the head coach of Hurrikaani-Loimaa, who convinced men’s volleyball in the Champions League in the fall, to work on his beloved hobby. Kuoksa, who grew up, played and coached in Rovaniemi, hasn’t had time to hunt and fish much after moving to the south, and his ice equipment has also remained in Lapland.
The winter fishing equipment borrowed from Yleisradio’s props does not convince Kuoksa, who is at odds even with the men’s national team’s coaching team. Fortunately, there is no need to test the functionality of the naskalis. With a dull auger, you can drill some kind of hole in the watery ice, into which the coach inserts his ice fishing rod at the request of the cameraman.
– You rarely catch fish from this intermediate water. There is really no going to Rollo (Rovaniemi) after this! The hoe is gusting.
There will certainly be no fish, but according to expert circles, that is not the main thing in ice fishing. After all, by the hole drilled in the ice, you can relax, enjoy nature and talk about classes and volleyball, for example.
Safe space
Olli Kuoksa is often described in public as a passionate coach. Showing emotions, strong gestures and an expressive face may arouse prejudices about Kuoksa’s character. However, the spikes thrown in the middle of unsuccessful ice fishing attempts can be recognized as humor at the latest by the wide smile flashed after the theatrical mess.
– I coach through my own personality. Emotions come in both good and bad. Of course, you have to learn to control those feelings a little, says Kuoksa, who got to sit on the excursion chair.
– But there’s no point in presenting anything. I don’t think you’ll ever find such a terribly calm guy.
Although Kuoksa has learned to regulate his emotions, emotions can still get heated sometimes in games. From the outside, it may sometimes look wild, but in Kuoksa’s coaching philosophy, it is important that everyone can be themselves. Kuoksa has described himself as basically a sensitive person.
– Often, at the beginning of their career, coaches focus too much on technical-tactical matters and on volleyball itself. The further your coaching career goes and you develop as a coach, you understand that you still have to coach people in it, explains Kuoksa.
The man mentions an operating environment where it is safe to succeed and fail.
– Yes, it is difficult to play if you are terribly nervous and scared.
In Hurricane Loimaa, the players have dared to succeed. The teams in the men’s championship league have played a very variable number of games, and going into the Christmas break, the Hurricane is second in the standings. When measuring the average points per match, the Loimaa team has been the best team this fall.
From the Arctic Circle via Oulu to Finland proper
Olli Kuoksa is a former libero who won both the Finnish championship and the Finnish cup while playing in Rovaniemi. His playing career ended at the age of 26.
Kuoksa, who worked as a school assistant and substitute teacher with special children, ended up as a coach in Oulu through a couple of twists and turns, where he stayed for no less than 13 years. Among others, the current national team captain advanced to the national team from Etta Kuoksa’s coaching in Oulu Antti Ronkainen and a chipper Joonas Jokela. Over a decade’s worth of work also included a surprise win in the spring of 2019.
Financial difficulties have erased the northern teams from the men’s league map, so for the last season Kuoksa moved from Oulu to become the head coach of Tuto-Volley, which was promoted to the league the previous season. The people of Turku reached the playoffs under Kuoksa, where VaLePa, who marched to the championship, were too tough an opponent.
In the summer, the 42-year-old from Rovaniemi moved 60 kilometers to the northeast, to Hurrikaani-Loimaa, to become a messenger. Kuoksa, who moved to Raisio with his family, has enjoyed himself in the south.
– Yes, it’s fun here in the rain, as long as you have long enough boots, Kuoksa wipes his sneakers wet from the slush on the ice.
– Of course, winter is like this, but on the other hand, I don’t really miss having to shovel a meter of snow in the morning, and it’s so cold that the car’s tires don’t turn.
The move to Northern Finland was part of a long-term plan. Kuoksan was driven to a coaching career by his ambition. The desire to win and develop the players and himself is strong, but one thing in Kuoksa’s life clearly comes before volleyball.
– Family is the number one thing, and then comes this coaching job. Yes, moving children from a familiar environment is a pretty tough place. I hope that it doesn’t have to be done anymore, says Kuoksa.
– It has been agreed that we will live in Raisio as long as the children are at home and then I can move around. That’s what we’ve done, that I travel between Raisio and Loimaa.
The boots have been planted deep in the soil of Varsinais-Finland, because Kuoksa signed a 3+2-year contract with Hurrikaani-Loimaa.
Silver to gold?
The Finnish championship has repeatedly been painfully close to Loimaa, but in the end so far. Hurrikaani, founded in 2007, has played in the finals no less than five times, but each time silver medals have been hung on the chests of the black and yellow jersey. The club has an almost similar balance from the Finnish Cup: four finals, four second places. The championship achieved by Kuoksa as head coach is also missing.
The current season is an excellent opportunity for Kuoksa and the people of Loima to turn silver into gold. At the end of November, Akaa-Volley, which is at the top of the league, lost to Hurricane’s spells with a score of 3–0, and VaLePa, which has won six championships in a row, is not in a shock like in recent years. The series is very even, and Kuoksa has structured his training plan in such a way that the team will only be in the best possible attack in the spring.
– For the first time in my career, I have been in such a situation that I have been able to use a few signs in recruitment. Yes, it can be seen in the quality and professionalism of the players, praises Kuoksa.
– That way you can do things a little more professionally. The organization is also the best in Finland, I have been privileged when I have been able to work there.
National team invitation
Kuoksa is also a strong candidate for the future coaching team of the men’s national team. Finland is transitioning from 2019 to coach the national team by Joel Banks in the time after. The next national team coach may come from the United States, for example, but there is also a model on the table where the national team’s coaching team is assembled by a passing legend Mikko Esko about.
Esko’s extensive international networks would be hard currency, when the everyday life of the players should be developed all year round and not only with intensive summer camps. Esko, who is just training to become a coach, could be helped by Kuoksan and Olli Kunnarin experts like
– I am aware of how the project is progressing. Time will tell how it will go. There is a great opportunity if Mikko takes it, says Kuoksa.
– Together, we could take Finnish volleyball forward. Whoever is in it, a different type of thinking is needed.
If Kuoksa were to join the national team, it would happen on the terms of the family and the Hurricane.
Championship meter
Coaching is stressful and takes a lot of time. However, it is also hugely rewarding. Self-development of the team and the coach takes place in the long term, but on the other hand, you also get feedback immediately.
– You can measure the work you have done every week. In many professions, the work is certainly just as stressful and hard and demanding, but we still have those games every week, Kuoksa states.
– In them, we get to try out what was achieved that week.
From a fishing point of view, we didn’t really get anything done on the ice fishing excursion in Varsinais-Finland. Kuoksa curses that he doesn’t dare to show his face to his father after having to make fun of it on TV and promises to put the non-existent fish in Yleisradio’s hook.
From Pilki, it is good to go to Rovaniemi for Christmas. Measured with the autumn-long yardstick, the Series Table shows Kuoksa’s successful Hurricane-Loimaa. In the spring, we will see what the colorful coach has achieved at the Loimaa sports hall.
– Yes, we will play for the championship, Kuoksa promises.