Who should you support - Part 4
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| Left - Koskenkorvan Urheilijat, Centre - Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat, Right - Manse PP, Tampere |
In this post I look at 3 more teams as I work my way through the league. In this post I will be talking about:
- Koskenkorvan Urheilijat;
- Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat; and
- Manse PP, Tampere.
Koskenkorvan Urheilijat
Home town/location: Koskenkorva is part of he Ilmajoki region and municipality in southern Ostrobothnia, with Ilmajoki town centre being only 8km away (5 miles). Koskenkorva itself has a very small population of only 2100 people as of 2011, but the Ilmajoki area has a population of 12,278 (as of 31st January 2019). Interestingly Ilmajoki is a net producer of renewable energy, producing more within the municipality than is consumed. Koskenkorva is the home of the leader of a peasant revolt in the 16th century. Finland's first cooperative financial institution Yläpää Osuuskassa was founded in Koskenkorva in October 1902. Koskenkorvaa and the surrounding area can therefore be considered the cradle of Finnish cooperatives because the country's first cooperative trade was established ten kilometres from Ilmajoki in 1898.
Team History: KoU were founded in 1945 as a sports club for the village. Over the years KoU played pesäpallo at varying levels in different leagues; however they became more professional in the 1980s and formally joined the national league system. In 1998 KoU gained promotion to Superpesis and have won bronze in 2003 and 2007. Despite being a very small village, the region itself is not too sparsely populated and the team cooperates with many other local clubs in the region. The team’s greatest player to date is undoubtedly Juha Puhtimäki who started his career with KoU and has become the leading pitcher (Lukkari) in the game.
Team colours: Red, White and Black
Current top players: Patrik Wahlsten, Veli-Pekka Yli-Hirvelä and Tuomas Tuohisaari
Last season’s position in the table: 11th - this might seem like a fairly difficult season (and it was), but when you consider that halfway through the 2019 season they were a meagre 3 points ahead of 14th place and staring relegation in the face, they ended the season 9 points ahead of 14th and completely avoided the post season relegation series. East (Itä) or West (Länsi): West (Länsi)
Who does the team remind me of: The rush history in the region and the more cooperative vibe suggests the city of brotherly love... Philadelphia. Plus the red an white sits with the Phillies colour scheme.
Social media presence: KoU are regularly posting on Facebook and instagram, but not so frequently on Twitter.
Why you should support them: KoU have been an up and down team in superpesis over the last few years, but despite major setbacks have always pulled through; their push to avoid relegation in 2019 was inspiring. Whilst the race at the top of the table became somewhat academic, the jostling lower down the table gave fans a lot of excitement, no team perhaps achieved a greater feat than KoU, having been an almost certainty in the relegation battle, they completely avoided it following a fantastic run at the end of the season. KoU has one of the top hard-hitters in the game - Patrik Wahlsten had the 5th highest amount of runs-batted-in in the league in 2019 (84), despite the team being so far down the table - the biggest problem for KoU in 2019 was defence, allowing the 2nd most runs in the league (281).
Kouvolan Pallonlyöjat
Home town/location: Kouvola is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located on the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, 134 kilometres (83 mi) northeast of Helsinki. The city has a population of 83,149 (as at 31st January 2019). The population density is 32.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (84/sq mi), making it one of the more populated areas of Finland. Kouvola has seen success in other sports and has a strong ice hockey team in SM-Liiga (KooKoo). The cooperation behind the city’s teams extends as far as KPL player Sasu Tuikka playing for KooKoo in the Liiga ePlayoffs following the cancellation of the season. Aside from sport, Kouvola saw a boom in growth in the 1960s, so a lot of the architecture has a retro vibe. The Verla factory is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Kouvola and shows the proud industrial traditions of the city. Kouvola is also the home to 2 newspapers (Kouvolan Sanomat and Keskilaakso) as well as the 3rd largest amusement park in Finland.
Team History: KPL were founded in 1931 and play their games at KSS Energy Arena. KPL have been a very successful team and are pulling out all the stops to win the championship in 2020. KPL have won the Finnish Championship on 5 occasions (1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1976) as well as gaining a total of 12 silver and bronze medals. Whilst the club’s heyday was in the 1960s, the club is making a comeback. In 2009 and 2010 they were beaten in the final by Vimpelin Veto (taking silver medals), but more recently KPL have been a strong force to be reckoned with. In 2018 they were again beaten in the final, this time by Joensuun Maila and in 2019 they took bronze beating Vimpelin Veto in the bronze match series.
Team colours: Black and gold
Current top players: KPL hosts a huge list of stars for 2020 including the return of one of the most successful Lukkari of all time - Toni Kohonen. In addition, KPL has added veteran joker and hard-hitter Jere Dahlström to join the likes of Juha Hacklin, Toni Laakso, Anssi Lammila and Tommi Mäentausta.
Last season’s position in the table: 3rd - Despite leading the league at one point, Vimpeli and Sotkamo overtook them to push KPL into 3rd. In the post-season KPL had a close series loss to Sotkamo, missing out on their second consecutive final. The last laugh was had by KPL however, as they beat the league leaders Vimpeli for the bronze medal.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: There is a kind of San Francisco Giants vibe with the dark uniforms. Plus Kouvola is a city and rich in culture with a vibrant student population. They are a force to be reckoned with, even if they haven’t won the championship in recent years.
Social media presence: KPL are frequently updating on Social Media and often link in with the local newspaper articles (most often the Kouvolan Sanomat).
Why you should support them: KPL are knocking on the door of their first championship since 1976 and now is a really exciting time to follow them. With the signings of Toni Kohonen and Jere Dahlström KPL are going all out to make 2020 the year they take home the gold. Their performance in the Halli-SM was close to clinical defensively, despite Kohonen not taking part and Dahlström not finding his stride at the plate. If anyone can match Joensuu’s run of form this year, KPL look like the team to do it. Could this be their year? Also, KPL are one of the few teams that ships merchandise outside of Finland, so you can show your colours with pride!
Website: https://kouvolanpallonlyojat.fi
Manse PP, Tampere
Home town/location: Tampere is a city and regional centre of Pirkanmaa located on the shores of Lake Näsijärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi. Tampere is the third largest municipality in Finland and the second largest urban area in Finland. Tampere is also the largest inland city in the Nordic countries. The population of the City of Tampere is 238,420 (as at 31st January 2019). Tampere is an historic city, but is also known for its culture and sport. The city boasts some amazing old theatres as well as many museums and exhibitions, but the most important tourist attraction is the amusement park Särkänniemi. In popular culture, Tampere is especially known for its musical style, which has been named Manserock. Tampere is famous for its Black sausage (a blood sausage) similar to black pudding in the UK. Tampere has several main league teams in the sport, and the city is often considered the "cradle" of Finnish ice hockey. The city's has 2 teams, Ilves and Tappara. Famously, Tuukka Rask is from Tampere, the Stanley cup winning and international goalie. Tampere is one of the few places in Finland that is “twinned” with a town or city in the US, Syracuse.
Team History: Manse PP are a relatively new team, created in 2005; however Tampere has had other pesäpallo teams in the past. In addition, Manse PP runs a popular baseball school and many junior teams in the summer. Despite being so close to Hyvinkää and having an obvious rivalry with them locally, the two teams have co-operated in the past to help promote young players in the game. Whilst the men’s team have only recently found success and promotion to Superpesis, the women’s team has enjoyed success in Superpesis for a number of years and won the championship in 2017. In 2019, Manse had a break out year, losing only 1 game out of 24 to reach Superpesis. Finally Tampere has a Superpesis team in the men’s league.
Team colours: Red and White, with Black trousers.
Current top players: Manse PP isn’t studded with big names and veteran players like some, but has a core of young and exciting talent. Having said that, one of the big headlines for Manse in the off season was the signing of Juha Niemi, who won the championship with Joensuun Maila in 2018 and 2019 and is a very skilled and accurate hard-hitter.
Last season’s position in the table: Manse PP are newly promoted to Superpesis, but finished top of Ykköspesis (second division) a whopping 14 points ahead of 2nd place! In fact the team only lost 1 game all season, out of 24. But this is Superpesis now and some of the teams are vastly superior to those Manse PP faced in 2019.
East (Itä) or West (Länsi): East (Itä)
Who does the team remind me of: Swansea City under the Brendan Rogers years. For those of you who remember when Swansea City was promoted to the premier league in 2011, there was a huge buzz around the team and particular the manager. Swansea’s style of play was unique and in the 2011-2012 season they not only avoided relegation, but finished a staggering 11th out of 20! I can well imagine Manse PP pulling off a similar feat this season (mid-table).
Social media presence: Manse PP are on all social media platforms and even have their own app you can download from the AppStore. Manse are perhaps a little more quiet than some teams, but they are still expanding and growing. Given their promotion to Superpesis, they could become huge if they manage to survive.
Why you should support them: Manse PP are an exciting team to watch - they obliterated the competition in Ykköspesis (second division) in 2019 and comfortably earned their place in Superpesis. In the Halli-SM games they pulled off the shock result of the tournament by beating local rivals Hyvinkään Tahko and held a tight game against KPL. The game manager for 2020 is Matti Iivarinen, who many top players hold in great regard. Iivarinen is an exciting game manger to watch and the way Manse played in the Halli-SM games showed a very different and engaging set of tactics. Don’t be surprised if Manse punch above their weight in 2020! Whilst the shop is not international at the moment, the team itself has strong links with the international development of the game, with Upi Antikainen (chairman of the club) and Mikko Pirhonen (who was assistant coach in 2019) being strong supporters and figures developing the game overseas, in particular in the Indian subcontinent at this time. If you want to see a team that plays like no other and pulls off daring plays, Manse PP is a great team to support. Also Manse PP has a highly successful women’s team!
Website: https://www.mansepp.fi
What’s next in the series?
The next post in this series will cover Pattijoen Urheilijat Raahe, Seinäjoen JymyJussit and Siilinjärven Pesis.
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