Pia Sundstedt

When I lived in Italy I realized that volleyball is a big sport and especially very popular among the italians. I saw a few matches and it was exciting to watch. It is a very fast game and the players at the top level are very very good.
15 years later the volleyball fever has reached my hometown Kokkola. This sport is big now, as the Tigers from Kokkola (Kokkolan Tiikerit) won the 4th game in the final. They won the Finnish championship title last night in front of 4200 spectators and I watched it live on TV here in Doha (thanks technology). The town supported the club by changing our ice hockey arena into a volleyball arena for the finals.
As a former athlete I do not really get excited about some Finnish championship titles. I guess I have just too many of them and at a certain point those medals doesn’t mean anything to you. You aim for wins in bigger events.
Now I don’t want to underestimate the performance of our tigers. I am very very proud of them and want to thank them for putting our town in Central Ostrobothnia on the Finnish map again. This victory is not only a happy moment for the club, it is also a extremely positive thing for our town. Volleyball is a big sport in the world you know.
Friday night the club will be celebrating their victory on the market place together with their fans. This is something you as an individual athlete never will be able to experience, unless you are a world star. As an individual athlete you celebrate with yourself, sharing your emotions with yourself. So tiger-fans go out there on Friday and celebrate our team. I would go if I Would be closer to my Kokkola-home.