From Tennis Courts to Olympic Goals
My first touch to the Olympic Games was in 2008. My dad coached and won silver at the Beijing Summer Olympics with my godmother and another Finnish rower. I’d be lying if I said the cliché, "That was the moment I knew I wanted to do something big." I was four—I knew nothing about anything, except that my dad won some medal with his team and that we were going to have a party when he came home. I guess the party was good since I still remember parts of it! :D
Of course, looking back, it's something I am very proud of and which inspires me a lot!
The Journey I Never Wanted —Until Now
As a kid, I was very determined about what I wanted—or rather, what I didn’t. Most of the time, if I refused to do something, it was simply because someone (usually my parents) told me I had to. Tennis lessons once a week were one of those things. Still, my parents managed to get me on that court.
Jumping straight into beach volleyball was never an option, even though my mom was a volleyball player and my sister also played beach volleyball. For some reason, the idea was completely off-limits to me whenever my parents hinted at it.
So that’s where my sports journey began—as a four-year-old, on a "tennis court" in a small school gym in Prague, where my family and I lived at the time.
Back then, one of my routines with my mom was a weekly tennis class. But to be completely honest, the reason I went wasn’t the tennis—it was the pastry I got afterward. That was how my mom convinced me to go, at least somewhat happily (aka, without crying)—by promising a trip to the bakery after the lesson.
When I was about six years old, we moved back to Finland, to the east part of Finland. However, tennis remained a part of my life. I made many friends through the sport. I loved the camps and tournaments—especially the time spent with friends between training sessions.
From tennis, I quickly learned one important lesson: without practice, you get nowhere. Many times I practiced 2 times a day. It was also the first time I experienced the impact of a great coach, although didn't think about it at the time. My coach, Oldřich — 'Olda' — knew how to handle me, and he didn’t mind that I was a bit…unconventional. I was very shy and often didn’t say hello when I arrived at practice. To some, my behavior might have seemed rude or like my parents hadn’t taught me proper manners. Even though they did, I was just very determined not to do anything they told me to. The determination has stayed to this day, but nowadays i know that most of the time when my parents say something —they are usually right.
When I was 8 or 9, going to practice became a routine, and most of the time, I no longer asked, 'Do I have to go?' before practice. At that time, I also started dreaming about going to Wimbledon. Even though I still didn’t enjoy practicing, I didn’t know what else to do. Plus, everyone was talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up, so I figured Wimbledon must be my thing then. Although in school, for some reason, I was a little embarrassed that I played tennis. When we were asked to list our hobbies for the yearbook, I said gymnastics, which I only went to once a week. I think I believed tennis was a "boys’ thing," since I always practiced with older boys. In gymnastics, I had many girlfriends who were my age, so it felt easier to identify with.
At the age of ten—or somewhere around that—I started going to volleyball practice once a week. It was the result of my mom’s persistent efforts. I had made it very clear that volleyball was something no one would ever see me doing. But still, there I was.
When I was 12, we moved to Helsinki. I continued playing tennis, reaching the top 10 in Finland in my age category as the intensity and level of training increased. But despite my progress, that was when I started to lose motivation.That was when I started to lose motivation. The amount of practice began to feel overwhelming, and it pushed me to question whether this was really the way for me. I also wanted to spend more time with my friends, which became difficult with such a demanding training schedule (Ironically, nowadays I train two times a day and very rarely (unfortunately) see my friends.)
The same summer I saw my sister playing in a tournament and thought, —for the first time ever— "that looks kind of fun". And afterwards dreamed of playing with my sister in the future. So that's where I started playing beach volleyball/volleyball. Only beach volleyball was not an option at the time, since the amount of trainings was not enough.
So, volleyball was a necessary evil until high school, when our school made it possible to have morning practices. At that time, my sister Ida started to coach us, and it was the first time in my life I genuinely wanted to go to practice—not because it was routine or because I was being pushed. And ever since, I’ve usually been the last one on the sand.
So, to those who say parents shouldn’t push their kids into sports—I call nonsense. I couldn’t be more grateful that mine did. Most of the time, kids don’t realize what’s truly best for them. My mom and dad always said that when I turned 18, I could decide for myself what I wanted to do — but until then, Sara went to practice. It gave my life direction and meaning, and I believe every child deserves the chance to have that kind of solid foundation to lean on..
2010
2023
