100 years in the making - Part 1
The first Finnish Champions in 1922 - Helsingen Pallonlyöjat It was 100 years ago on 14th November 2020 when the first test match for pesäpallo was played in Kaisaniemi in Helsinki and we are now currently in the build up to the 100 year anniversary of the Finnish championship. In this post I take a quick look at the world then and now and how the sport and the world it is played in have changed, before pondering in the next post - what could a heritage game look like next year as part of the celebrations? Welcome to 1920 At the time, there was very little to celebrate about - the world was recovering from the effects of the Great War, the Russian Civil war (which saw a lot of international intervention) and for Finland in particular, the Finnish Civil War. It was a desperate time for many and one aim for pesäpallo in particular was to help teach military tactics and skills in a recreational setting to help defend the country if threatened. This, amongst other things, was a k...