The Development Of Sport Culture in Finland

In its Olympic sporting history, Finland has won a total of 302 medals (101 gold, 85 silver medals and 117 bronze medals) in 12 different sports, primarily in athletics (114), wrestling (85) and gymnastics with the majority of the medals won at the Summer Games before World War II. Finland is still number 14 in the calculation of all Summer Olympics, in spite the facts Finland only won one bronze medal in Rio 2016. The start of Finland’s decline in Summer Olympic medals was encapsulated in the 1970s and 1980s as Eastern European nations became increasingly dominated by "state amateurism" and widespread use of doping.

In both countries a discussion started about how sports at international level could be promoted.

Policy changed to prioritise mass participation they had more regular balance of trying to excel in all areas. The Finnish government seen inactivity as a major problem so put there elite sporting ventures into disrepute. Finland sport development, over the last 30 years ‘has been conceptualised to encourage and promote participation’.

Get quality help now

Marrie pro writer

Verified writer

Proficient in: Leadership Development

5 (204)

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

In 1995, the Ministry of Education made an important change in the criteria for funding of sports organizations by increasing the weight of activities to promote sporting activities for youth and health and fitness-related sports. This change in funding policy clearly increased the interest of the sports organizations to promote non-competitive sports and physical activity for young and adult people.” An example of a Finnish nationwide program that changed Finnish Sporting participation was ‘the Fit for Life program in 1994, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s increasing interest in physical activity was clearly demonstrated by its principal role in developing the government resolution on Health-Enhancing Physical Activity in 2002.

’ ‘According to the national curriculum the central aims of the physical education in basic education are to have a positive impact on student’s physical, psychological, and social abilities and well-being, and to guide the students in understanding the importance of exercise to health.’

In 1999, “the sports act continued and increased emphasis on the value of health by stating its main purpose as promoting physical activity and sports and related civic activity to facilitate population health and well-being and to support young peoples’ growth and development.” Inactivity had become a problem in Finland, especially to tackle this the government put in projects to tackle this. City planning is paid increasing attention to pedestrian and cycling routes; exercise and recreation areas; and other local sports facilities. The great versatility of Finland’s natural environment, together with the country’s four distinctive seasons and ‘everyman’s right’ providing ample opportunities for open-air activities.

The Government used the environment to put a spin on this ‘construction and maintenance of sites for physical activity to sites serving ordinary people in their daily environments (e.g., small parks, playgrounds, and cycle paths). This change in funding policy led to increased opportunities for regular physical activity in Finns’ daily living environments.’

The Finnish government sports policy had a general goal of “Well-being through exercise and sports—sports for all,” and the committee proposed several measures to facilitate adoption and maintenance of a physically active lifestyle by supporting creation of services particularly at the local level. The idea of establishing a sports-oriented upper secondary school was taken up again in the beginning of the 1960s at the National Sports Training Centre. This was the first time this happened in sport history, sport was part of the welfare of the nation and all these preventative things you can do with the help of sport was recognised during those days.

In Finland a stable overall institutional structure framed elite sport until the mid-1990’s. However, during the last 15 years the elite sport system has suffered from fragmentation and lack of legitimacy due to wider societal changes as well as doping scandals. Six Finnish athletes at the 2001 Lahti Nordic World Skiing Championships, reinforced the path of providing sporting opportunities for the masses (SfA) which caused decreasing negative support for elite sport. It was estimated that Finnish sport lost between €10 to 15 million from sponsors and state funding as a direct consequence of the incident. The Minister of Culture, who is responsible for government sport policy, reinforced this view in explaining that winning in sport received too much emphasis and, as a result, this drives the athlete into hopeless, unthinking acts, there is no shame in losing honestly. The shame lies in winning by questionable means.

Nowadays, Finnish sport culture has changed significantly both in physical activity (expectations towards sport clubs, and coaches working in sport clubs) and in elite level sports. Culture suggests that athletes and coaches under pressure to succeed, and to perform well in their sport. Indeed, sport has become more serious. These societal changes have also created intense pressure towards sport club activities. The societal changes, such as globalization, social changes, political and economic changes are also reflecting the sport culture. These can be seen in globalization, commercialization, and professionalization of sport, causing movement has its roots in the civic activities and in socializing youngsters. Thus, sport has a powerful educational role in Finland, which balances with its intrinsic value, winning. In Finland, the main task of children’s and youngsters’ sport is to educate healthy and active lifestyle. Commercialism and popular culture have become competitors for the more traditional volunteer-based sport club activities.

A survey in physical activity and sedentary behaviour were objectively measured for the first time in Finland in 2011. This resulted in a Policy response together, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Education and Culture have adopted a national strategy entitled “On the Move”, to promote physical activity for health and well-being (projected up to the year 2020), which is in line with the principles of a Sports for All policy. The initiative encourages people to use outdoor space for physical activity in Finland 2011 The Exercise Act, passed by the Finnish Government in 2015, aimed to promote top-level sports, as well as (more generally) physical activity for all. And the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health launched for the first time a set of national recommendations to reduce sitting time. According to a survey by the European Commission (2010), “Finland tops the podium in physical activity in Europe, and it also places among the most active countries in the world. More than 90 percent of those under 18 are physically active of the adult population, 90 percent exercise at least twice a week and more than 50 percent at least four times a week”. In some countries, the inclusion of people in sport is less than one third of the population like in Portugal the figure stands at 28% of the population in Portugal however in Finland it stands at 95%. The results of the analysis showed that “the majority of adults (76%) spent most of their waking hours exhibiting sedentary behaviours, such as sitting, standing still, or lying down”.

In the process of public policy making, problems are conceptualised and brought to government for solution. “Governmental institutions formulate alternatives and select policy solutions and those solutions get implemented, evaluated and revised. The Advocacy Coalition Framework” is a tool that is used in such policymaking and is particularly helpful in dealing with intense public policy systems. Sabatier states that the various defining terms in the ACF include policy subsystems that involve the group of actors that interact with an element of constancy in a functional policy domain, which in this case is the development of sports policies in a country. In the case of the formulation of a Sports Policy such actors or advocacy coalitions can include journalists, researchers and agency officials and other non-government organisations (NGOs). The advantage that stems from this is the ability to obtain all the accurate picture of the composition and stability. The advocacy groups have the ability to engage in a substantial coordinated activity over a long period. There is the assumption that the actors make judgments and analyse the information that is contained in the policies. Finland/Sport Development Aid (SDA) programmes, ‘Moving the Goalposts’ and ‘Go Sisters’, are some of the examples of this fourth category designed to empower traditionally disadvantaged communities, mainly through increased participation in social activities in general and education/employment in particular.