Who should you support - Part 3

Left - Kankaanpään Maila, Centre - Kempeleen Kiri, Right - Kiteen Pallo -90

In this post I look at 3 more teams and will cover more teams later on in the series. In this post I will be talking about:
  1. Kankaanpään Maila;
  2. Kempeleen Kiri; and 
  3. Kiteen Pallo -90.

Kankaanpään Maila
Home town/location: Kankaanpää is a small town and municipality located in the Satakunta region. Despite having evidence of settlement in the area from the Stone Age, Kankaanpää only officially became a township in 1967 and a Town in 1972. The population of Kankaanpää is 11,464 (as at 31st January 2019). Despite it’s small size, Kankaanpää boasts an impressive array of schools, in particular geared towards the armed forces. This goes hand in hand with the near by Pohjankangas Training Area, which is capable of housing main battle tanks used by the US Marine Corps. The climate of the region is such that it is one of the rainiest in Finland, with 616mm of rainfall per year on average. 
Team History: KaMa were founded in 1958, before Kankaanpää was officially a town. KaMa reached the highest division in pesäpallo league system (pre-Superpesis) in their anniversary year, 1968. From their KaMa remained for a further 16 seasons winning 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. Sadly the championship has so far eluded them and they have had  to settle for silver (in 1971 and 1972) and bronze (in 1969, 1975 and 1988). KaMa were relegated from Superpesis in 2002, but regained promotion in 2011.One of the most reputable players in the club's history is the multiple batting champion Seppo Uusi-Oukari who had 499 runs batted in during his career (which was spent entirely with KaMa).
Team colours: Orange and Navy blue (with Navy blue pinstripes and trim)
Current top players: Petteri Kortelainen, Miikka Riikonen, Kari Kellokoski and Arttu Ruuska.
Last season’s position in the table: 10th - KaMa were in contention for the final playoff spot until the closing stages of the regular season, when KiPa and IPV inched ahead to finish 8th and 9th respectively.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): West (Länsi)
Who does the team remind me of: New York Mets... if they moved to the countryside - There is an energy with KaMa that is familiar to the NY Mets - in the shadows of its neighbours, an underdog that has the potential to surprise you (and frequently does!). Social media presence: KaMa are not the strongest social media team, so it can be difficult to follow them. The team is more active on Facebook than any other social media, but they do have a Twitter account and YouTube (but the videos on there are from 2 or more years ago).  
Why you should support them: Despite being a team from a small town, KaMa have been able to pull off some very impressive wins, including their Halli-SM victory over Seinäjoen JymyJussit this year. If you like to support a team that can excite and surprise you and not feel the pressure of having to win every game, KaMa may be just right for you.  KaMa are however a little more difficult to follow from abroad than the “bigger” teams, such as Sotkamon Jymy, because their social media presence is not as strong and they are one of the many teams that only ship merchandise to Finland. However if you can get past those aesthetics, then supporting KaMa can be fulfilling and bring you closer to a close knit community.  


Kempeleen Kiri
Home town/location: Kempele is a municipality just south of the city of Oulu in Northern Finland. Historically it was in the province of Oulu; however today it is in the region o Northern Ostrobothnia. The population of Kempele is 17,946 (as at 31st January 2019) and the municipality covers an area of 110.32 square kilometres (42.59 sq mi). Kempele boasts being the birthplace of NHL and Finnish Ice Hockey legend Pekka Rinne, who has played his NHL career at Nashville Predators (2005- present). Kempele also lays claim to the oldest wooden church in Finland, dating back to 1688. Kempele may be best known for being the headquarters of the world-famous heart rate monitor corporation Polar Electro, which first brought the device to market in 1978.
Team History: Kempele were founded in1915 as a health and sports club, making them one of the oldest pesäpallo teams. KeKi play their games at Koukkupaja Areena. Despite being founded in 1915, KeKi has had little success in Pesäpallo, having never won the championship or a silver or bronze medal. In the 100th anniversary year KeKi celebrated reaching Superpesis and they have remained to date. KeKi continues to grow in strength and challenged for the playoffs in 2019, before falling short in the final weeks of the regular season.
Team colours: Navy blue and White
Current top players: Matti Korhonen, Marko Pelkonen, Onni Määttä and Markus Keski-Petäjä.
Last season’s position in the table: 12th - KeKi spent much of the year fighting on two fronts: to avoid relegation and to push for the playoffs! If that’s not tense I don't know what is.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: Colorado Rockies - maybe its the cold atmosphere that lead me to that conclusion, but KeKi are a team that is looking to solidify its foothold in Superpesis and make strides towards a medal and even a championship.
Social media presence: Kempele has a good use of social media across the platforms, although the men’s team tend to be overshadowed by the women’s team.
Why you should support them:  KeKi are somewhere between making the playoffs and relegation; it was only in the closing stages in the season that they fell behind the rest of the pack in pursuit of 8th place. KeKi are proud to be the northernmost team in Superpesis and are on the up. If you want to follow a team where they could equally be in the playoffs or facing relegation, KeKi are the team for you. If you want to watch a team grow and develop into a championship side, KeKi are on that journey and will gladly take you with them.

Kiteen Pallo -90
Home town/location: Kitee is a town and municipality in North Karelia. The population is  10,366 (as at 31st January 2019) giving the town a sparse 11.94 people per square km (30.9 per square mile). The Town lies along the Kiteenjärvi lake (which is named after the town) and is 42 miles south of Joensuu, towards the border with Russia. With such a small population, KiPa is a key part of life in the community, even featuring in the area’s tourist brochure! The municipality benefited from a boom in industry with the creation of Puhos Boards Oy in 1968 and a stream of other companies thereafter including adhesive chemical company Hexion Specialty Chemicals Oy and Stora Enso Timber Oy. 
Team History: As the name suggests, KiPa was founded fairly recently, in 1990 and therefore the team is as old as Superpesis itself. 2020 is Kitee’s 30 year anniversary and the team and Town are incredibly proud of KiPa’s achievements during that time. Whilst KiPa are a fairly new team, pesis had been played it Kitee for a good number of years previously; Kiteen Urheilijat was founded in 1931 and played in the top division prior to Superpesis between 1973 and 1989, although they never won the Finnish championship. KiPa however continued the pesäpallo legacy and built on Kiteen Urheilijat’s journey to win 3 championships (1999, 2000 and 2005), 3 silver medals (1997, 2001 and 2004) and one bronze medal (1998). KiPa play their games at was Kiteen Rantakenttä located by Lake Kiteenjärvi. The audience record is 5,320, on 12th September 2000 for the third and decisive final against Sotkamon Jymy. Kitee has hosted the East v West game twice, in 1996 and 2006. One key reason for KiPa’s success is their former player Toni Kohonen. Kohonen is arguably one of the greatest Lukkari (pitchers) the game has seen and he has won a staggering 10 championships as well as having the highest number of East v West selections by some margin (22). Kohonen has signed for KPL for 2020.
Team colours: Red and black, with silver cuffs.
Current top players: Ville Liukku,Valentin Ikonen and Topi Hurskainen.
Last season’s position in the table: 8th - In a dramatic end to the season KiPa triumphed and clinched the final playoff spot ahead of IPV. 
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: Sometimes I struggle to think of a direct comparison to other teams in other sports for Superpesis teams, as their character is unique. Perhaps, in looking to the cricketing world I can draw a parallel with the West Indies (hear me out on this one). With one of the greatest ever players (Toni Kohonen - KiPa and Brian Lara - West Indies) a team that has punched above its weight, albeit the team is in a state of rebuilding.
Social media presence: KiPa are active on Twitter and are celebrating their 30 year anniversary in 2020, so many of their posts involve this promotion.
Why you should support them: KiPa are a team that has a great deal of passion and drive. KiPa are a central part of the Kitee way of life and the strong support for the team helps them reach achievements larger towns dream of. If you want to support a small town that has produced a legendary player and hit the big times, then KiPa may be for you. If you are drawn to the excitement of a “will they or won’t they” story line for reaching the playoffs, I can think of no better team. At the end of the regular season in 2019, the battle for 8th place in the table was just as exciting as the final... or maybe that’s just me.
Website: http://kipa90.com 


What’s next in the series?

The next post in this series will cover Koskenkorvan Urheilijat, Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat and Manse PP, Tampere.

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