Getting from 5th to 3rd division in two years: what did we learn?

Liikunnan Riemu (Follow on Statbeat) is a students sports club in Jyväskylä. Most of the team members study in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences in Jyväskylä university- the only place in Finland for university level Sports Sciences education. No wonder, these guys are so mad.

There are multiple sport sections in our club but it was in 2012 that the floorball team started its journey. In the spring of that year we took part in the Finnish Student Championships and after doing well there decided to start playing in a competitive level. In our first season in the 5^th division we managed to win our group and advance to the 4^th division. Last year we did it again and so, next year we will be playing in the 3^rd division. How did we do it? And what did we learn? Here are five reasons for our instant success.

1. A good mix of players

To be honest, we have had some really quality players in our team. Two of our best point makers used to play in under-20 national team and we have also had another player who has played in the national floorball league. But there have also been players like me who started playing in the competitive level for the first time in Riemu.

2. Good team spirit

Our team has a really high team spirit. The main reason for that is that we all study in the same faculty and see each other almost every day. We also arrange team nights every now and then and I would say that for making a good team spirit sauna is a very important factor :). But that's no news for us, Finns.

3. Never give up!

Although we have won most of our games they have usually been really tight. For example our very first game in the 5^th division had an awful start. After 10 minutes it was 3-0 for the opponent. But we kept fighting and finally won the game 7-6 by a goal in the last seconds. It was a good lesson for us and just showed that - especially in floorball - everything is possible!

4. Versatile training

I have to admit that we don't have that many team trainings in a week. Maybe one or two in best cases. But our strength is that we all do different kinds of sports beside floorball. It's part of our studies but we usually enjoy doing different types of sports in our free time too.

5. Coaching

Some of us study in order to, one day, become professional floorball coaches. And it goes without saying that it's a big advantage for our team. We don't have an actual coach but a few players take responsibility for things like tactics. At least I have learned a lot about floorball in the last two years and become a better player.

That was an insight for our team. You can follow our upcoming season in our website and also in Facebook and Twitter.

Written by Henri Pelkonen, Liikunnan Riemu