Finland Ice Breakers

SHOWING SOME FINNISH
Scandinavians get a kick out of Australian Football.

Finland is a Scandinavian nation in northern Europe that boasts vast forests, an archipelago, numerous lakes and 35 national parks.

It borders the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Russia, with the country renowned for its cool design concepts and architecture.

The story of Australian Football in Finland unfolds not unlike the evolution of the game in Australia 150 years ago. Take a few Aussies, a bar and a proposal of a kick in the local park, and you have all you need for the foundation of a new and popular code.

The concept quickly caught on and the Finns ended up forming a national side in 2005.

In October 2007, league side the Salo Juggernaughts briefly boasted AFL premiership player and Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel in their line-up, but unfortunately the midfielder is ineligible for the Australian Football International Cup and may even have other footy commitments at the time!

The Cats star was visiting Finland on the way to see his girlfriend in Denmark, following his AFL premiership only a few weeks earlier.

In the game against the Helsinki Heatseekers at Helsinki's Finnair Stadium, Bartel took a spectacular mark over an opposition ruckman and slotted a difficult goal from the forward pocket. Afterwards, he was presented with the No. 8 guernsey for the Finland national team, which was raising funds for the trip to the 2008 International Cup.

Without the advantage of Bartel's AFL experience, the Icebreakers will have to rely on their hand-eye coordination and skills from volleyball and basketball, along with their zoning experience from soccer.

At present, Finland runs a nine-a-side competition in a four-team Australian Football league, as well as playing international games against Sweden and England. The national side - now known as the Icebreakers after formerly being nicknamed the Lions - are competing in the International Cup for the first time in 2008.

The team is the reigning titleholder in the Central European AFL Championships, having won the tournament in both 2006 and 2007. While the squad was originally started by Australian expatriates, it has been captained by a Finn ever since its second match, with the current skipper being Kimmo Heikkila. The Icebreakers are now almost exclusively made up of Finns.

The Finland AFL began domestic matches last year, kicking off with the aforementioned teams of the Helsinki Heatseekers and Salo Juggernaughts. The organisation was hoping to have teams from Tampere and Turku ready to commence during 2008.

Finland participated in the EU Cup in 2007, finishing sixth after a disappointing two-point loss to Spain, when a would have seen it advance and be certain of a top-four finish. Two Finnish players were voted into the All-European team - Grant Siermans, who played with the Finland Icebreakers and Jari Pystynen, who played with the EU Crusaders.

• Top