During a crucial practice session for a minor hockey team in Oulu, Finland, snowflakes can be seen dancing in the large spotlights that are installed at the city’s public ice hockey rink. In the background, the reverberating sound of pucks bouncing can be heard.
The group of twelve teenage players is located less than 125 miles (200 kilometers) from the Arctic Circle, and they have little choice but to practice in the frigid conditions outside rather than in their own arena, which they can no longer afford to maintain.
The country that currently holds the title of world champion in ice hockey is Finland. Roughly 30,000 youngsters are currently enrolled in organized OKBET ice hockey teams, while many more participate in the sport on a more casual basis with their peers or at school.
However, many of the local teams are currently having trouble making ends meet because of soaring energy prices this winter, which are a direct result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
This year, one of Oulu’s local teams, Ahmat, whose name translates to “The Wolverines” in Finnish, has been compelled to hold their practices at open-air public rinks because the rising costs associated with opening their home arena have made it prohibitively expensive to do so.
Marko Paananen, the head coach at Ahmat, gave an interview to AFP in which he stated that the price increase had been so terrible that the corporation had not been able to operate the arena at such prices.
If the prices do not drop, a number of other stadiums in the Nordic country are going to experience the same fate.
According to the data provided by Finland’s national statistics office, the average cost of power in the third quarter was anywhere from 40 to 60 percent higher than it was the previous year.
The falling number of player totals
Skating in groups with friends and family is a fun activity that may be done on outdoor rinks like the one in the Oulu suburb of Pateniemi, which is a football field that is transformed into a hockey rink during the winter.
During the crucial winter training season, the most important thing for the younger Ahmat players to do is to log as much time as possible practicing on the ice.
Ahmat is considered a small club because it only has about four hundred players, the most of them are young. Despite its size, the club has produced several past players who have gone on to become world champions and Olympic medalists.
Parents and coaches are concerned about the repercussions that may arise if the current situation persists.
“Even though it’s not that warm in our home arena, it’s another thing to be at the mercy of the weather out here,” said Katja Koistinen, the mother of one of the players. “Even though it’s not that warm in our home arena, it’s another thing to be at the mercy of the weather out here.”
Because Ahmat does not have its own rink, they are forced to play on outdoor rinks and have to rotate ice time with other teams.
“If you have training sessions here and there, you don’t know how many of the guys will show up,” Herman Hietajarvi, a 19-year-old coach, told AFP. “If you have training sessions here and there, you don’t know how many of the guys will show up.”
They have been granted permission by several other teams to practice in their venues, but this comes with the drawback of unpredictable practice hours and longer travel distances.
According to Paananen, who serves as the head coach, “The number of players is reducing quite a lot at the present.”
When our very own rink is closed for maintenance, it is impossible for us to recruit any new players.
A trying time of year
Because of the conflict in Ukraine, electricity supplies from Russia were interrupted in October; as a result, Finland initiated an energy-saving campaign in the month of October for the first time since the oil crises of the 1970s.
According to Jukka Toivakka, who is the president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, “this season is going to be quite difficult, and especially in the new year costs may climb in many places.”
The most important time for training is during the chillier winter months; the vast majority of young players do not exercise during the warmer summer months. Because of this, the association is pressing arenas to be energy-efficient and encouraging municipalities to keep costs fair.
“We have appealed to municipalities and the operators of ice rinks not to sacrifice youth sports to this transient impact of rises in energy prices.”