Perhaps you have noticed a dozen of young men wearing suits at the athletes’ village in the last few days. They are not politicians. They’re athletes from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and they’re competing in football at the European Universities Games Zagreb – Rijeka 2016.
One of the players, Antti Vanhala, explained why they preferred wearing suits instead of their university T-shirts: ‘It’s a tradition that was started a few years ago by our predecessors, who are no longer students, but we kept it going’ Finnish footballers participated in their first European university competition in 2007, and they have maintained their unique image ever since.
That is not all that makes this team special. The atmosphere within the team is family-like, as demonstrated by the ‘bonding dinner’ organized at each competition, where each player delivers a short speech about everything that is good and mentions what could be improved within the collective. A few verses are written for each player, and we heard them sung at the stands during the competition.
‘Just this morning, we all met on the field and formed two lines. Each player walked between the lines with his eyes closed and listened as the rest of the team listing all of his good qualities as a person and as a player. This is something we often do,’ Annti told us. ‘We are planning to organize more games in the park or at the lake, and every day one room is assignment to record a short video; when the competition ends, we will merge all of them into a single video’
It is important to mention that the team were only partially backed by their university.
‘We receive just half of the participation fees from the university. We collect the rest by working at various events. Also, every year we make an annual calendar with our pictures, and this year we sold about 2000 copies,’ Antti said.
Even the players who had participated last year, but currently have no spot on the team, came to the Games so they could all be together. The cost of lodging and food for them is also covered by the team.
Regardless of their result at the Games, the University of Jyväskylä will be remembered as a unique team that can truly be an example to others.
