City
of Helsinki Sports Department
Sports Department aims at
improving the quality of life and capabilities of the people in Helsinki
through sports. There is a broad range of sports services available in
Helsinki throughout the year, both indoors and out. The city has about
800 sports clubs covering some 100 different sports. However, most
people exercise sports on their own, outside clubs.
Organization
The head of the Sports
Department is Mr. Anssi Rauramo. There are five sections in the Sports
Department; Sports Facilities, Outdoor Recreation and Sports, Maritime
Activities, Sports
Supervision and Administration. In addition, there is the Development
Unit, which also reports to the Sports Director. Sports Department has about 400 permanent employees. Moreover, 100-200
temporary and part-time employees work for the Sports Department each
year.
The department is overseen by
the Sports Committee, and within the city organization, the Sports
Department comes under the Cultural and Personnel Affairs Sector, which
is directed by Deputy Mayor, Mr. Ilkka-Christian Björklund. The Sports
Department has an annual budget of approximately 78 million euro.
Investments total nearly 16 million a year.
Key functions of the Sports
Department are:
- to provide and maintain sports
facilities
- to maintain outdoor recreation areas
- to arrange supervised
sports activities
- to supervise boating
and maintain marinas
- to develop and control fishing
- to prepare matters related to subsidies
and support
- to market and provide information
on sports services
Contact information:
City of Helsinki Sports Department
P.O. Box 4800, Paavo Nurmen kuja 1 C, 00099 City of Helsinki
Tel. +358-9-8771 (switchboard), fax +358-9-87770
e-mail: liikuntavirasto@hel.fi
There
are plenty of sports facilities
The Sports Department is in charge of some 70 sports halls, including
three ice-skating rinks, one riding hall and five indoor swimming pools.
The most popular
multipurpose hall is the Töölö Sports Hall, which receives about a
half a million visits yearly.There are also nine indoor swimming pools which
are run by corporations with support from the City. Several ice-skating
rinks are likewise operated by corporations. The
Olympic Stadium is administered by a separate foundation in which
the City is represented.
The Sports Department has
around 350 sports fields. The vast majority of them are used for
different kinds of ball games. The Sports Department is also responsible
for three artificial ice-skating rinks, two outdoor
swimming pools and 26 beaches.
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Healthy
outdoor fun
The main network of walking paths is about 350 km in length and is also
used by joggers and bikers. A large portion of the network is lighted.
The city has about 1 000 km of bike paths. Around 200 km of skiing tracks
are maintained. There is a very popular skiing center in Paloheinä in
northern Helsinki. In Paloheinä skis are rented and waxed in the skiing
service provided by the
Finnish Association for Recreational Sports and Outdoor Activities.
Helsinki has ten sports parks.
The Sports Department is responsible for five of them. The
Central Park stretches from downtown to the northern part of the
city. The City also owns about 5,000 hectares of outdoor recreation
areas in neighboring municipalities.
Camping is allowed in some
outdoor recreation areas and islands. The Rastila Camping Site in
eastern Helsinki receives about 100,000 visitors a year. Nearly
one-third of these are foreigners.
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Instructors
supervise activities
Supervised
sports activities are arranged at facilities in different parts of the
city to supplement sports organizations and private enterprises. Some
1,500 supervised groups are set up yearly. New forms of activity are
projects aimed at the unemployed, immigrants and other special groups.
Moreover,
supervised activities are organized especially for people living in the
suburbs of Haaga, Kontula, Maunula, Myllypuro, Pihlajasaari and
Vuosaari.
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Splendid
boating and fishing opportunities
Helsinki has nearly 11,000 boat berths. About one third of these are
rented directly to boaters, the rest to boat and yacht clubs, which also
have berths for visitors. The city has dozens of marinas.
The Sports Department
administers splendid archipelagic areas, as well as seaside parks for
outdoor recreation both immediately adjacent to the city, and in
neighbouring areas. These areas are available for everyone's use, either
free of charge or by rental. Maritime traffic to outdoor-exercise
islands consists of both regular services and tours run by private
operators.
The Sports Department is also
responsible for maintaining fishing waters. The City of Helsinki
controls over 18,000 hectares of waters in its immediate vicinity. Local
residents can fish in this area after purchasing a fishing license.
Fishing licenses can also be purchased by tourists. These are restocked
with over 200,000 fry each year, including sea trout, pike-perch and
whitefish. Salmon swim up the River Vantaa, which flows through the
city.
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Subsidies
and support
The
city grants activity and rent subsidies to some 400 sports clubs and
organizations for handicapped persons or pensioners. The
city also supports various sports and exercise events.
The city is also involved in
the administration of several swimming pools and sports halls which
operate as corporations and provides nearly 8,5 million euro a year in
subsidies to them.
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Marketing
and information
The Sports Department encourages people to take part in sports with the
help of marketing and information. The Department cooperates with other
organizations in the sports field. According to Helsinki's marketing
strategy, the focus is on mass sports events, tourism and nature. The
city's excellent sports services also constitute a tourist attraction.
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