Finland: First Nordic Football Conference

Held in English and co-organised by the Football Association of Finland and the University of Jyväskylä’s faculty of sport and health sciences, the conference offered a varied programme with guests from 16 different countries representing a wide range of football stakeholders.

The aim of the conference was not only to bring together people from different aspects of the game and provide them with the opportunity to talk to each other, but also to act as a platform for sharing research data about football in a practical way. The main themes of the conference were coaching and player development, contemporary issues in football culture, and the global football system. In addition, two overarching themes – sustainability and evidence-based practices – ran concurrently to form the backbone of the event.

The man behind the conference was its chair, Mihaly Szerovay, professor of practice jointly at the University of Jyväskylä and the Football Association of Finland.

Different perspectives, opinions and experiences

“The different kinds of sessions provided varied types of stimuli for the participants. We have already received a lot of positive feedback on how the event offered a natural way for people from different segments of the game to meet each other. It brought different perspectives, opinions and experiences together, which is a great help in thinking ‘outside the box’,” Szerovay said.

The plenary speakers were associate professor Bruno Travassos (University of Beira Interior), associate professor Bente Skogvang (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences) and senior university lecturer Arto Nevala (University of Eastern Finland). Special guest at the conference was the internationally acclaimed football writer Jonathan Wilson.

A follow-up to this highly successful first-ever Nordic football conference is already being planned.

“We see informed practices and accountability as important and topical issues. They were strongly present at the conference, both from the ‘practical’ day-to-day view of the football association and from the point of view of the research community, as cross-cutting themes. The feedback from the participants on this first event has been extremely positive and encouraging,” Szerovay concluded.

This article originally appeared in UEFA Direct 198