Who should you support - Part 2

Left - Hyvinkään Tahko, Centre - IPV, Right - Joensuun Maila
Part 2
In this post I look at the first 3 teams alphabetically and will cover more teams later on in the series. In this post I will be talking about:
  1. Hyvinkään Tahko;
  2. Imatran Pallo-Veikot; and
  3. Joensuun Maila.


Hyvinkään Tahko
Home town/location: Hyvinkää is is a town and municipality located in the Uusimaa region, approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of Helsinki. The population of Hyvinkää is 46,537 (as at 31st January 2019). Hyvinkää is also home to Konecranes, which specialises in the manufacture and service of cranes, and KONE Elevators, the world's third-largest elevator company who manufacture, install and service elevators and escalators. Besides pesäpallo, Hyvinkää is known among Scandinavian golf enthusiasts due to Kytäjä golf courses.
Team History: Tahko were founded in 1915, making them one of the oldest and original teams in pesäpallo (which predates the official creation of the sport in 1922). In fact, Tahko take their name from the man credited with inventing pesäpallo, Lauri “Tahko” Pihkala, adding to their pedigree. Tahko even play their games at Pihkala pesäpallostadion, again named after the sport’s creator. Tahko are a sports club generally and have seen success in other sports as well. In pesäpallo, Hyvinkää Tahko has won the men's Championship four times: 1979, 1980 and 1981 (in the pre-Superpesis era) and most arecently in 2007. 
Team colours: Gold/amber with black pinstripes and trim
Current top players: Jere Vikström, Rikku Hokkanen, Patrik Vartama and Juha Korhonen
Last season’s position in the table: 5th - knocked out by Joensuun Maila in the first round of playoffs in 2019
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): West (Länsi)
Who does the team remind me of: Pittsburgh Pirates - maybe its the links with heavy industry, or the former glory days that are me think of Pittsburgh Pirates, but it could equally be the striking amber uniforms. 
Social media presence: Recently Tahko have been running a campaign on instagram where various players take over the club’s account for several days. It has been quite interesting to see what the players have come up with during the lockdown situation at the moment.
Why you should support them: Tahko are a historic team with a great pedigree. If you want to follow a team that is close to Helsinki, they are only 5km (30 miles) away, then this is a good team to follow. If you want to travel toHelsinki and include a visit to watch some pesäpallo, Hyvinkää is a perfect place to go. It has great links to the capital and is one of the historic and iconic teams in Superpesis.
Website:

Imatran Pallo-Veikot 

Home town/location: Imatra is a town and municipality in South Karelia. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia. In fact Imatra is a mere 7km (4 miles) away from the Russian town of Svetogorsk and is closer to St Petersburg than to Helsinki. Imatra has a small population in general terms, only 26,905 (as at 31st January 2019). The main employers in Imatra are pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enyo Oyj, the Local Government office, engineering steel manufacturer Ovako Bar Oy Ab, and the Finnish Border Guard. Despite being a small town, Imatra is the birthplace of (NHL players) Jussi Markkanen (famously with Edmonton Oilers 2001-2007) and Petteri Nolkelainen (who has played for NY Islanders, Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks and Montreal Canadiens between 2005-2012).
Team History: IPV were founded in 1955 and play their games at Ukonniemi Pesäpallostadion in Imatra. IPV have been one of the most successful clubs in pesäpallo, winning the Finnish Championship on 4 occasions (1977, 1978, 1986 and 1993); however they have struggled to match their former glory days in the new millennium. In the early days of Superpesis, IPV and Sotkamon Jymy were frequent opponents in the final, meeting in 3 of the first 4 finals. Despite avoiding relegation in 2006, IPV were struggling financially and ended up in Ykköspesis anyway. Since then IPV have pushed and made their way back into Superpesis in 2017. In 2019 IPV narrowly missed out on the playoffs despite some big wins towards the end of the season. IPV proudly display their colours and their nickname is “the Reds”. The club's best-known player is Ilpo Kytösalmi (born 1946), who played 438 regular season games in his career - all with IPV. He scored 592 runs during regular season games, giving him the 5th all time record. 
Team colours: Red and White
Current top players: Teemu Nurmio, Tuomas Jussila and Jusso Lattu.
Last season’s position in the table: 9th - missing out on the final playoff spot on the final day of the regular season.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: Cincinnati Reds - when a team identifies as “the reds” it is hard to shake off the thought of Cincinnati. 
Social media presence: IPV are most active on Facebook, but do also use Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. One big bonus for supporting IPV (if you live outside Finland) is that they are one of several teams that deliver merchandise internationally.
Why you should support them:  IPV are a proud team that is knocking on the door of the playoffs. At the end of the 2019 regular season, the most exciting games involved IPV and (the eventual 8th place team) Kiteen Pallo -90. If you want to watch a team that has seen the dizzying heights of winning championships and regular appearances in finals as well as sinking to the depths of financial ruin and relegation, IPV are a great team to support. Like a Phoenix from the flames: IPV are back and on the way up!
Website: https://www.ipv.fi/fi/

Joensuun Maila

Home town/location: Joensuu is a city and municipality in North Karelia. With a population of 76,543 (as at 31st January 2019) with population of 115,000 in the wider economic region. Joensuu has a moderate student population, with a subsidiary of the University of Eastern Finland, which has over 15,000 enrolled students.The largest employers are the municipal City of Joensuu, North Karelian Hospital District Federation of Municipalities, Abloy (locks/doors and gates) and Punamusta (printing and graphic design). The European Forest Institute, the University and many other institutes and export enterprises such as Abloy and John Deere give Joensuu an international flavour.
Team History: JoMa were founded in 1958 and play their games at Kerubi Stadion. Kerubi boasts a sleek and modern look, following a complete renovation and rebuild in 2017. Although pesäpallo was played in Joensuu in the 1920s, but the athletic and sports clubs who played focussed on other sports as well. It was not until 1958 that a pesäpallo specific club was formed. JoMa played in Ykköspesis (second division) from 1995 to 2003 when the team acheived promotion o Superpesis. Since then, the team has moved from strength to strength, despite difficult seasons in the early years in Superpesis, JoMa have steadily climbed the table to become champions. In 2018 JoMa made history, winning their first championship, beating KPL. In 2019 JoMa repeated this success, beating 17 time champions Sotkamon Jymy. The rise of JoMa has been steady and the team has built on the previous seasons, having missed out on the final on 5 consecutive seasons from 2013-2017, picking up bronze medals in each year.
Team colours: Red and black, with gold featuring in the away uniform.
Current top players: It is hard to whittle down the number of star players JoMa currently has, but to name a few: Juha Puhtimäki, Antti Hartikainen, Aleksi Rautiainen and Konsta Piironen.
Last season’s position in the table: 4th - Despite finishing in the middle of the playoff spots, JoMa stormed their way to a second consecutive championship, defeating Sotkamon Jymy.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: I have thought long and hard about this... it is hard to give a direct comparison to any MLB team, or even any other sports team internationally. One comparison could be the modern rise of Liverpool FC under Jurgen Klopp. JoMa has steadily improved and built on both on field and off field performances and are now at the pinnacle of the game, much like Liverpool FC.  
Social media presence: JoMa are active on YouTube and their star pitcher (Lukkari) Juha Puhtimäki also has his own channel. 
Why you should support them: JoMa are a dynamic team that has been managed exceptionally well both on and off the pesäpallo field. JoMa have exceptional numbers for attendance and they have really worked hard to try and make the game day experience more entertaining - in turn, this has seen a big boost for attendance and a raising of the club’s profile significantly. JoMa are a the peak of the game at the moment an have excellent defensive players as well as exciting batters and runners.
Website: https://www.joensuunmaila.fi


What’s next in the series?
The next post in this series will cover Kankaanpään Maila, Kempeleen Kiri and Kiteen Pallo -90

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