I was always good at sports in school. My favourite was Finnish baseball (pesäpallo). It’s almost like baseball but doesn’t have a pitcher in the middle. I can’t explain it, so go and look at what it is. The other sport I liked was ice skating, but I haven’t done it in 30 years or so. I also did slalom skiing, but the same with that. The last time I did it was in 2011, but my mother got sick in 2012, and we didn’t do it anymore. I still have the gear but don’t know if I will ski again. I started to ski when I was 6 years old. We went to Lapland once a year to ski for a week. We had a cabin that my dad owned with some of his friends. When he sold his part of it, we went to a hotel. We went to Lapland for at least 30 years. It took about 13 hours to drive to the North of Finland. We won’t do it again because it’s tiring and stressful. Those were good times, though.

Now I only watch sports on television. My favourite sport is ice hockey. I’ve been to my local team’s games several times. Sometimes, they show their matches on the free channels, but I mostly listen to the games on the radio because if you want to watch ice hockey, you have to pay for them. Fortunately, it’s free to watch when Finland plays in the world championships and other international tournaments. I only follow the Finnish ice hockey league, so no NHL for me. Unless they show games with Finnish players. Watching ice hockey on site has a unique atmosphere. It feels like you’re with people with the same piece of mind. In Finland, there could be more noise in the ice rink, like in the NHL, but the fans are the only ones keeping the noise here. Without them, the rink would be quiet. But still, the atmosphere is different when you watch it at home. Watching sports on-site isn’t cheap, so all you can do is watch on television. But that’s better than no sport at all.

It is difficult to think what life would be like if there weren’t sports to watch. I also like to watch sports with excitement. I used to watch Formula One, but it has become boring. Consistently, the same teams and the same drivers win. All of my favourite drivers have retired, too. They also don’t show the races for free anymore. It has been like that for at least 10 years. My life used to surround it. I couldn’t do or go anywhere when there was a race weekend. When all of that stopped, I felt a relief. So, in a way, they did me a favour: the TV people and the people who make the rules in F1. I was free of all the restrictions that the sport had on my free time. I still plan my weekends on what sports are being shown on TV, but it doesn’t matter if I miss an event or don’t see it from the start. Watching motorsport like F1, you need to see the beginning because that’s the most exciting part. Some say motorsport is not a sport, but they don’t know how much the drivers do training during the off-season and how much strength they need to make it through the races. Not just anybody can fit into those cars. Unfortunately, with all those technical things those cars have these days, you don’t know who is the best driver.

If the question is, what is more interesting, summer or winter sport? I would say winter sports because there is more to choose from. But I also watch summer sports when Finns are competing. The Summer Olympics in Paris is this summer, so I’ll be watching some of that. Athletics mainly, but maybe something else. As long as it’s Finnish athletes. Supporting your country is the best thing about sports. Perhaps they don’t fight for the medals, but all the emotions that come with it are essential. Without sports, life would be dull. I’m glad I found the love for it. I wasn’t a big fan of sports the way I am today when I was younger. I watched some of it as a child, but that was only because my dad watched it. Now I think I know more about sports than he does. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I don’t understand sports. A lot of females follow sports and know what it’s all about. It’s like anything in life; studying the subject lets you learn about things. It doesn’t matter what gender or sexuality you are. Sport is for everyone who likes it. You don’t need to understand it, but it helps. I’m tired of hearing some people think girls only watch sports because of the good looks of an athlete. There are those, too, but don’t fall for that stereotype nonsense. You’ll be surprised how much women know about sport. Even more than some men do.

I love watching sports; the only sport I do today is cycling. Everybody needs a hobby they like, and those are mine.