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Jyväskylä-based Kuokkalan Tähti is one of the first immigrant sport clubs in Finland.
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In the second of our series on migrant sports opportunities, we look at a wrestling and volleyball club from Jyväskylä.
JYVÄSKYLÄ'S multicultural life centres on the Gloria Cafe, an international meeting place on Kauppakatu. The centre shares a name with one of its workers, Iranian-born Gloria Lapitan, who has been helping migrants in the sport-dominated city of Jyväskylä find their own opportunities to play sport via the Gloria cafe and one club that is close to her heart.
One of the main clubs for migrants in Jyväskylä is Kuokkalan Tähti. The club offers Afghan girls the opportunity to play volleyball, an important part of the transition between two cultures. One of their active members is Lapitan's daughter-in-law Justyna Marciniak-Ashtiani, who now represents migrants in discussions with the city council's sport department.
“The team was founded by three Iranians in 1993,” explains Marciniak-Ashtiani. “The main sport at that time was wrestling. In 2001 we started a girls volleyball team, in co-operation with the Sports Centre of Jyväskylä. The goal of the club is to ease the mental and physical pressures of new young immigrants to Finland, people who wanted to join in with sport activities, but felt uncomfortable with other local teams because of their weakness in the Finnish language.”
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If you live in Jyväskylä and are interested in Liikkukaa, Kuokkalan Tähti or sport in general, you can contact Justyna via
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In the next issue of Helsinki Times, published on 15 April,
we look into the sports association Valtti ry.
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Marciniak-Ashtiani 's position as an intermediary with the council is part of a project run by multicultural sport association Liikkukaa ry on behalf of the Ministry for Education. The idea of the project is to ensure that migrant representatives are available in municipalities to improve communication between sports and recreation departments and migrant communities.
“Another main reason was the hope that the team could become a bridge for the integration of minorities into Finnish society,” continues Marciniak-Ashtiani, who was born in Poland and came to Finland as a child.
“It's very important that migrants have equal possibilities to participate in sports,” says Marciniak-Ashtiani. “It's important to have an organisation that can arrange sports for foreigners where you feel welcomed, accepted and where you can expand your social network.”
EGAN RICHARDSON - HT
Ilkka Pietarinen
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