The national team skiers’ camp program shrank significantly. Now there is a fear that there will be equalization in equipment and competitions. The economic problem is global. Would stopping all national team activities and moving to private teams help?
Head coach of the cross country team Teemu Pasanen planned a program of five training camps and one ski test camp for the basic training season of 2023.
When the men of the Skiing Federation, after a long struggle and public pressure, were able to tell the truth about the federation’s miserable financial situation, the training program planned by the head coach shrunk significantly.
The Ski Federation sponsored a two-week camp in August in Passo Lavazè, Italy, and a three-week camp in October in Ramsau, Austria, for the A national team athletes.
The contraction of the camp program was a severe blow, especially for skiers of normal trips.
– One of the most important things in the basic training season is the high-altitude training camps. Without them, it’s pointless to compete if you want to succeed. The weak economic situation is not only visible in the A national team, but it is visible in everything: in the B national team and in the youth national team groups, he estimates Perttu Hyvärinen.
– We may give a little equalization. It would be better to go higher up more, he says Remi Lindholm.
– So far, the problems have been visible in the camp. That’s why we had to put our own money into the camps, he sums up Kerttu Niskanen.
On top of the blank
The ski association’s finances are in trouble. PASI LEISMA
Many athletes have been looking for a picture.
Kerttu Niskanen spent a total of seven weeks in Livigno, Italy, at cost price during the basic training season.
Perttu Hyvärinen paid out of his own pocket for one extra week in Passo Lavazè and spent two weeks at his own camp in Livigno. In addition, he trains for two weeks at high altitude before the Tour de Ski, which starts at the turn of the year.
Hyvärinen estimates that a “considerable five-figure amount” of money will be returned to his own camp.
– Manager Toy Ojansivu we had to come up with solutions, how it was made possible, Hyvärinen commented.
Niskanen and Hyvärinen are experienced and meritorious athletes who have currency in their coffers and at least a satisfactory network of personal partners.
The situation is harsher for those athletes whose most significant sources of income are society and their own parents.
– Hurts the heart. This was a really bad blow – especially when it was known at the end of last season that we could camp as usual. I could have done some fundraising project last spring if I had known about the non-existent camp program. Now I was left completely empty-handed, states one skier, who did not want to comment on the matter by his own name.
Just a small gripe
The skiers’ camp program was severely cut due to financial problems. In the photo, Arsi Ruuskanen (left), Remi Lindholm, Ristomatti Hakola and Ville Ahonen. PASI LEISMA
There are also athletes who have not been significantly affected by the collapsed economy of the Ski Federation, at least so far.
– There has been less camping, but does it really affect what we do in any way? We’ll see it at the games in a month. I don’t think the effect is very big, Cross mat Hakola states.
– The situation hasn’t affected much. I haven’t benefited from high altitude training as much as some others. I have put more emphasis on personal training, which is not necessarily a bad thing, Joni Mäki evaluate.
– The older guard is hardly affected by this. The young people are influenced in such a way that they would otherwise be able to train more in a group and see what the A national team mood is like, Mäki adds.
An additional bill
According to the financial statements, in the 2021–22 season, 735,000 euros were spent on maintenance from the Ski Association.
In the 2023–24 season, ski maintenance will experience a major breakthrough, when the International Ski Federation’s FIS competitions will ban all creams containing fluorine.
– How about the ski and cream test side? It’s something where we can really give equalization, he reflects Katri Lylynperä.
The rule change will of course increase the need for testing and thereby inflate costs.
In addition, the fluoride ban must be monitored with a field test device. Executive Director of the Ski Association Ismo Hämäläinen said Yleisradio in the story, that the union needs at least four testing devices. The price of one device is 30,000 euros, so the total costs will be at least 120,000 euros.
– It is important that the maintenance is well financed. On the other hand, it is not comforting if the staff is there, but it is not possible to take the athletes to the games. I hope that we can choose the right skiers for each trip and take full teams to as many competitions as possible, says Lylynperä.
Global economic challenge
Remi Lindholm has an open-minded attitude towards new plans. PASI LEISMA
The Finnish Ski Federation is not the only one with financial challenges. For example, Norway and Sweden have also had to tighten their belts.
Does national team activities led by national associations make sense?
Should we switch to a system similar to athletics, where the athletes manage the competitions independently, without counting the prestigious competitions and country matches?
On the other hand, skiing’s big bottleneck compared to endurance running, for example, is that the athlete needs a lot more helpers in the background because of the equipment.
One option that was presented is to switch to the Ski Classics model. The marathon skiing series is run by private teams.
The experienced and successful skiers interviewed for this article do not believe in the stable system.
– It is part of the sport that we compete as national teams and the best skiers from each country are on the line. I believe that we will continue with the same formula in the future, Hakola sums up the views of many.
Remi Lindholm takes an open-minded approach to the change proposal.
– The stables were also suitable for the World Cup. Then of course there would be a lot of Norwegians, because there is such a wide level in that country. It would be a little more difficult for the Finns to break through when the level was harder. It would also motivate me to improve. It would be a tougher requirement to even be able to ski the World Cup, Lindholm estimates.
– With the stables, more money would start circulating than at present. Maybe the whole skiing organization would be more interesting, he adds.
A surprising hybrid model
Katri Lylynperä is afraid that the union’s financial woes will show in the ski testing. PASI LEISMA
The Ski Classics concept cannot be replicated directly to the World Cup.
Flat push skis are used in marathon skiing, so the share of equipment maintenance is much smaller than in current World Cup competitions. In the service area of the Ski Classics series, you don’t see the same line of trucks as in the World Cup, but roughly speaking, there is a trailer crew on the move.
– The stable system could work, but it would require very large structural changes. Financing is quite challenging when the market and financial side would be completely rebuilt, Lylynperä reflects and hits the nail on the head.
In principle, the entire current operating environment of Fis should be blown up into new ones, if private teams were to enter the World Cup.
– I won’t say “no way” to the private garage model, because the idea is also on the table. We have to consider all the options, which makes the most sense in the future: private stables, a hybrid model or the current union model, comments Ismo Hämäläinen.
Iltalehti’s skiing expert Reijo Jylhä estimated a year ago that the hybrid model could be the future of the cross-country world cup.
– In that case, the national team could be one team. It would make it possible for some of the skiers to be in a commercial team and some in the national team, Jylhä said.