07/12/2015 17:39
Team from home town of Santa Claus enjoy first European Cups appearance
2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup - Women
Rovaniemi, Finland, December 7, 2015. The home town of Santa Claus is situated just 10 km south of the Arctic Circle, and 800 km from Finland’s capital, Helsinki. Right now Rovaniemi is a very popular destination among tourists since everyone wants to say hello to Mr. Santa before Christmas.
Rovaniemi is also well known as a sports city. The facilities available at the Santasport training centre and Ounasvaara outdoor area are ideal for any kind of sport, and round the year of course. Volleyball has been one of the most popular sports in Rovaniemi since the beginning of the last decade.
This season Rovaniemi is the only city in Finland which can boast both a men’s and a women’s team competing in Finland’s highest division, the Mestaruusliiga. The Woman Volley club – aka WoVo – was established in 1991 to help develop women’s Volleyball in Rovaniemi and in its neighbourhood.
In September WoVo started their fourth consecutive season in Mestaruusliiga and this year, for the first time in the club’s history, they are also taking part in the European Cups, namely in the 2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup – Women. The goals set for this season are very clear: WoVo want to reach the finals of their national league and make it to the next round in the Challenge Cup.
The team is very young and motivated to go higher and higher every year. The club, Santasport and the local Sports Academy offer a path for talents to combine playing, training and studying.
Some perspective about distances in Finland – WoVo started their journey to The Netherlands last Saturday to play on Wednesday night their matchup with Eurosped – TVT ALMELO. Before flying from Helsinki to Amsterdam on Tuesday morning, WoVo played two away matches during the weekend.
Spending time together by travelling makes the team spirit grow. This season WoVo has four foreign players - two from USA, one from Canada and one from Estonia.
Team WoVo ROVANIEMI is somehow like Santa Claus himself - it travels a lot, dresses red and white, works hard, smiles all the time and offers nice experiences to people. “We want to make a Christmas present to our fans,” says head coach Teemu Mäkikyrö mysteriously. Practically it means progressing to the next round of the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup following the return match with ALMELO which is scheduled for December 17 in the home town of Santa Claus.
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