You can meet professional football player Paulus Arajuuri at the event from 16.00 to 17.00. Arajuuri is remembered especially from the backlines of the Finnish national football team Huuhkajat and his comprehensive and successful career on foreign greens. The “Smiling Giant,” who played 58 national matches and also in the European Football Championships, plays for HIFK these days.
At the autumn holiday sports event, Arajuuri talks about his teenage hobbies and his road to the upper echelons of pro football, poses for selfies with young people and does sports with them at Liikuntamylly’s sports stations. You can challenge Arajuuri to play on an inflatable football court, for example. Other sports you can try at Liikuntamylly include floorball, martial arts, climbing, street workout, functional training and many more. The event is organised by the City of Helsinki’s Sports Services in cooperation with the Youth Budget(Link leads to external service).
Youth sports all year round
The City of Helsinki organises free sports hobbies for young people aged 13–17 all year round. The FunAction(Link leads to external service) programme for children in lower secondary school offers a very range of sports hobbies all over Helsinki. The sports selection includes youth favourites, such as contemporary dance, basketball, football, parkour, climbing, capoeira, circus, gym and ballet.
The classes are easy to attend at any time during the season, and the activities do not require commitment. The wide selection of classes is organised on young people’s terms and under the leadership of professional physical education or sports club instructors. The activities are free of charge, and to participate, you only need a chargeable customer card (costing €4 the first time), which allows you to enter the sports facilities. If you have an existing customer card from a previous season, you can get a new season for it free of charge. The customer card lets you participate in any and all of the sports hobby classes of the season. The card can be obtained at the following locations: Itäkeskus swimming hall (Olavinlinnantie 6), Jakomäki swimming hall (Somerikkopolku 6), Latokartano sports hall (Agronominkatu 26), Liikuntamylly (Jauhokuja 3), Pirkkola swimming hall (Pirkkolan metsätie 6), Töölö sports hall (Paavo Nurmen kuja 1) and Yrjönkatu swimming hall (Yrjönkatu 21 b).
Name changes but activities continue
FunAction, which offers recreational sports for young people, is going to change its name to better reflect the range of sports activities and hobbies available to young people. The high quality of the activities and their coverage all over Helsinki will remain unchanged. Young people can propose new names for FunAction, for example at the Liikuntamylly event during the autumn break, at sports classes this autumn or on the Helsinki Liikkuu social media channels (Facebook (Link leads to external service)and Instagram(Link leads to external service)) of the City of Helsinki’s Sports Services.