Podcast Breaking the Ice - Australian Football in Finland

[The_Wookie]

In this installment of the International Footy series we talk to Janne Hokkonen, the President of the Finland AFL.

Janne first got involved in Australian football when he was looking for a hobby in 2009. He says it was an accident, when a family friend introduced him to the game. He started playing kick to kick in the park with a small group of guys, and within the month was playing in his first game. He says that hes spent most of the time in the backline, but has played all over except ruck due to his short stature.

Janne is the President of the FAFL board which takes responsibility for the organisation of the national team, including its practice matches, as well as the the national league grand final and the preseason competition.

Janne says that the league has taken some forward strides since it started, but that it can be difficult to branch out, and to get people to watch games.

The Finland AFL consists of four teams, with plans to branch out to two other towns in the country, but those teams are not yet competing in the league. Distance can be a problem with one of the teams located a 6 hour drive from its nearest side.

Janne hopes for 2 or 3 more teams in the FAFL and a good regional league in the future.
The League consists of about 100 players, with around 25 Australians. Janne says that two of the 4 teams are almost completely stocked by guys from Finland, and the other two teams are around 50/50.

The league plays a variant of 9 a side, with six players on the bench. Three in the forward line, three on the ball, and three in the backline. The field used is the typical European soccer field. There can be difficulties booking fields because some times confuse the game with rugby union and are concerned that players may ruin the pitches.

Teams play 10 games in the Finnish summer if they make finals in the FAFL league competition. They also play a number of games in the FAFL Cup preseason competition. While presently the FAFL cup consists only of Finnish sides, there are plans to try to expand that to national leagues close to them, like Sweden.

There is the beginnings of a junior program in Finland, where one of the coaches had a young son who was of the age to begin Australian footy and began a junior program to accommodate that.
The Finnish national team was originally called the Lions, but are now known as the Icebreakers. The name change was a necessity says Janne, because of the number of natiional sides already known as the Lions.

At the recent Euro Cup, Finland finished sixth. They couldnt get the player numbers to go to the European Championships due to a somewhat unique reason - mandatory national service.

Janne tells me that plans are afoot for the Icebreakers to come to the International Cup in 2014 - having only competed once before - and expects the team to be a lot stronger than it was in the past, as its players get more experienced in the game. There are a small number of Finish players living in Australia who will make the Finnish side at the IC Cup in 2014.

For more information on the Finland AFL, please visit their facebook page.

You can listen to the full interview here or on youtube.

 

[cos789]

I was talking to some Finlanders today and got onto the subject of sports.
Obviously AR suffers from a lack of exposure but I was curious as to RU why
does not seem to be an option. Seemingly they are in the same situation whereby
there is a lack of interest because of a lack of exposure.

 

[swans2014]

Rugby in Finland is well established and growing. There are teams in just about every major city in Finland as well as in some of the smaller cities (around a dozen clubs in total I think). Women's clubs also exist in quite a few cities. The Finnish national team plays regular international matches and recently defeated Greece to climb off the bottom of the IRB rankings. Gridiron is stronger still (about 30 men's clubs, plus women's teams and juniors), so Finns are more than keen to try new contact sports.

One of the main advantages that rugby enjoys over Aussie rules in Finland is that because rugby is a truly international sport with professional leagues in multiple countries more people know what it is, and there are migrants from a range of countries where rugby is a major sport to help 'spread the gospel' in Finland (English, Irish, Australian, Kiwi, South African, French etc). There aren't that many Australians in Finland, and many of those that are around aren't from Aussie rules states so prefer rugby. With gridiron, the successful global marketing of the sport means that most sport fans have a rough idea of the game (or have at least heard of it). If a Finn is seeking out a new contact sport to play their first thoughts usually go to rugby or gridiron. One of the main challenges when trying to introduce Finns to Aussie rules is explaining that it is not rugby or gridiron but a different sport entirely.

 

[cos789]

Rugby in Finland is well established and growing.

I don't read too much into anedotal evidence but I am interested to know why RU was a minor sport in northern Europe. So far they're interested in Fussball. They know about RU of course but can offer no reason why RU is so weak anf Fussball so strong. It's not the body contact aspect as Ice Hockey is big and American Football also has a profile there. Australian Football deffinitely does need an explanation to Finlanders, but they are resceptive to idea of game and the history of our game in Scandanavia. It's totally amazing that Australian Football has spread from Denmark to Sweden and to other countries presumebly just by word of mouth.
I'd say the IC could provide a small boost to AR in the region.

 

[swans2014]

I was curious as to RU why
does not seem to be an option

The purpose of my reply was to illustrate that rugby, as well as other relatively low profile sports, are indeed options in Finland, as your first post seemed to suggest that they are not. European football (fussball) is the most popular sport in the world, so comparisons of its level of exposure to the levels of exposure of other lesser played football codes are missing the point, which was to compare the levels of exposure of sports with a lower international profile.

It's not the body contact aspect as Ice Hockey is big and American Football also has a profile there.

Nor was my point that body contact is an issue with Aussie rules and other full body contact sports in Finland. On the contrary, Finns, as a nation of ice hockey lovers, are very much attracted to contact sports. My point was that when it comes to selecting and trying a new (meaning not typically Finnish) full body contact sport Finns are more likely to gravitate towards rugby or gridiron because they are far more established than Aussie rules and there is far greater awareness of what these sports are.

 

[cos789]

The purpose of my reply was to illustrate that rugby, as well as other relatively low profile sports, are indeed options in Finland, .

So is Australian Football.
Ok "option" was a poor choice.
I'm talking to people to find out why RU hasn't appealed anywhere near as much as say Southern France.

 

[swans2014]

It's an interesting question. One answer could be the closer proximity and links to the UK where rugby originated, but that doesn't account for the lesser popularity of rugby in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands which are all geographically closer to the UK.

But to avoid straying too far from the topic of Aussie rules in Finland, the difficulties faced in Finland are similar to those faced in other European countries. It's very hard to develop a sport that most people have never seen before. Locals don't know what it is (or even that it exists), nor are many footy fans in Australia aware how the game is being developed overseas. Articles like the one above are great for getting more awareness of what's being done to grow the game outside of Australia and will hopefully help to build links between clubs and leagues in a range of countries.

 

[cos789]

that doesn't account for the lesser popularity of rugby in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands which are all geographically closer to the UK..

In fact it doesn't account for RU being a very minor sport North of Southern France.
Maybe it's simpler to ask why RU has appealed to Southern France and not so other places.
Mostly curiousity, but there is certain synergy between AR and RU in that where RU is played
AR can benefit.
..

There aren't that many Australians in Finland, and many of those that are around aren't from Aussie rules states.

Truly amazing. I was talking about retiring and then we get someone so knowledgeble about Finland
and an Australian Football overseas enthusiast to boot starting and posting all on the International Board .
Congratulations. I bet you've seen the odd game of AR in Finland then.