Introducing Juha “Dallu” Dahlström from Urhea and the Olympic Committee

20.1.2025
Anna Zaikova

I work at the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Sports Academy as a high-performance sports coordinator and at the Olympic Committee as a dual career expert for elite athletes. My job involves various tasks. One of them is to be in contact with secondary and higher education partners. I strive to maintain a developmental approach with these institutions to improve the conditions for student-athletes. Wherever athletes study, they need to be supported as well as possible, and this requires strong networking.

I work as a supervisor for sports coaches and occasionally meet individual athletes. In certain Olympic Training Center sports, such as men’s artistic gymnastics, I am part of the national team coaching staff, responsible for the dual careers of athletes. At the Olympic Committee, one of my tasks is to be in contact with support athletes transitioning from their sports careers and to care for them after their sports careers.

Urhea was founded about 20 years ago when the principal and vice-principal of Mäkelänrinne High School set out to support young people graduating from sports high school. At that time, young people often had to choose between school and sports when moving on to vocational or university studies. This needed to change.

Metropolia has been involved from the beginning and has developed Urhea as one of the educational institutions. The goal is that after secondary education, athletes have as many options as possible to study their desired field and receive support in combining high-performance sports and studies.

My Journey from Sports to Urhea

My background is in education, and I have worked as a primary school teacher and as a basketball coach. I have completed the Basketball Federation’s training and have worked as a full-time coach in the top league, as a youth coach in a club, as the head coach of the youth national team, and as an assistant coach for the men’s national team. My educational and practical coaching background is strong.

I was a primary school teacher at Suutarila Elementary School for a long time and a basketball coach at Mäkelänrinne High School. Three mornings a week, I first went to Mäkelänrinne for morning training and then went straight to elementary school to teach. It was a great richness to coach high school students and teach young children. I gained a lot of interaction skills from meeting different children and young people.

In 2008, the principal of Mäkelänrinne High School, Seppo Pitkänen, and the vice-principal, Simo Tarvonen, recruited me as a high-performance sports coordinator for Urhea. It was the first year that Urhea received state aid for its activities, and I became Urhea’s first employee. It has been great to be part of Urhea’s growth story.

I came to Urhea with a basketball background, but through my work, my understanding has expanded to the various individual sports and other ball games. I look with open eyes when new sports emerge. We must be able to consider them too: we cannot revolve around old values.

Experiences and Observations from HUMKK Audits

It has been a great thing that the Olympic Committee took this step. The core of the sports academy system is secondary education, which has an official status. With the help of the Olympic Committee, we first developed the lower secondary phase in addition to secondary education, and now we are promoting higher education cooperation, with a developmental evaluation approach led by Karvi.

As an academy operator, I have been involved in Aalto University’s pilot audit, Haaga-Helia’s audit, and in the audit of the University of Jyväskylä, I served as the chair of the audit team. When this model was developed, I was initially involved with the Olympic Committee’s dual career team in developing it but later stepped aside. The Olympic Committee, led by Jukka Tirri, brought the audit model to its current state. My role is to support Urhea’s partner universities in their preparation for the audit.

One of the most valuable aspects of this audit has been when universities have started to conduct self-assessments. Self-assessment and analysis of where we stand have brought very good insights within universities. At Metropolia, the number of staff related to sports matters has also increased. Initially, for example, study counselors had a solitary work field, and now they have great teams around them. This model is only strengthening, and in higher education, it is a big advantage for student-athletes.

Hopeful Outlook for the Future of Student-Athletes

Looking ahead, I hope that athletes will continue to train and spend a lot of time achieving their best, growing as individuals and professionals in that environment. It is a great learning platform, and I feel that athletes become professionals in learning.

I also hope that students can reflect on the skills they have gained through sports: things that can be validated from their sports careers through the recognition and acknowledgment of previously acquired skills and also through academic credit. These things can relate to general learning objectives.

I hope that the understanding of sports will increase. Work and life, in general, are continuous learning, and for an athlete, it is part of their DNA. One must always learn new things, develop, and excel physically and skillfully.

Future Support for Professional Student-Athletes

Basically, I hope that in five years, sports and athletes will be seen in a more respected light in society. Then I see in the cooperation between Metropolia and Urhea that in addition to supporting students, there would also be a research approach, possibly joint projects that could diversify and develop our cooperation.

Sports are also constantly evolving and changing. Those who play professionally may not have long contracts and are also constantly on the edge: it seems to be the same in other areas of society’s work life. What if we grow into the idea that this is the future norm: shorter career spans with different emphases, but you build your career in your own way with your skills. I hope that coaches become more aware of all the interests their trainees have. This awareness could help deepen the interaction, trust, and sports results between coaches and trainees.

Tips for Preparing for HUMKK Audits

The Olympic Committee has prepared an excellent manual for audits. By going through it and evaluating one’s own activities, one can develop the operations of a university of applied sciences. At the same time, a developmental approach towards the future is essential: not getting stuck in the fact that we have been audited.

Words of Encouragement and Guidance for Young Professional Athletes

The first years of professional sports are just as much about learning as studying for a degree. But once you have mastered professionalism, an athlete can free up energy to study alongside it and see it as a means of recovery and detachment from the work role. I encourage athletes to reflect on whether there is room in their daily lives to learn something new as a counterbalance to their sports profession.

Lastly

As a basketball coach, the most thrilling thing has been working with young people and adults who really want to test their own limits.

Everyone’s limits are individual, some in the Euro League, some in domestic leagues, but when you have boldly tested your own limits, you get to know yourself better.

Olympic Committee urhea

Comments

No comments

Comment




You might also be interested in these

HyMy Village and the HUMKK Audit – An Interview with HyMy Village Designer Sofi Olsson
13.6.2025 Huippu-urheilevan opiskelijan Metropolia -blogi
Briefly describe what HyMy Village is and what your role is in its operations HyMy Village (short for Hyvinvointia Myllypurosta, or Wellbeing from Myllypuro) is a people-centered and multidisciplinary learning and development environment where innovations and services are born through inspiring collaboration. This authentic learning environment enables Metropolia students to gain future skills and provides working life with the competent professionals it needs. We offer diverse and affordable wellbeing and healthcare services for everyone – easily and accessibly. At HyMy Village, students practice key professional methods in customer work, individual service design, new service concepts, and innovative development. Our operations are multidisciplinary, and our students also take part in developing the activities. Our services are overseen by supervising teachers, who are professionals in the healthcare field. I work at HyMy Village as a planner, and I’ve been employed at Metropolia for about a year. My role is very versatile, including both operational and strategic tasks. No two days are alike. In short, I coordinate HyMy Village’s activities and services and take part in its development. How are the specific needs of elite athletes considered in HyMy Village, for example from the perspective of services or the learning environment? HyMy Village offers a wide range of services—from head to toe. We can examine clients’ and patients’ situations from a multidisciplinary perspective and offer a variety of services. We recognize that many of our services are particularly beneficial for elite athletes. For example, we have a top-level motion laboratory that conducts walking and running analyses as well as isokinetic muscle strength measurements. From the students’ perspective, HyMy Village is a great learning environment where they have the opportunity to interact with elite athletes and consider their specific needs from the viewpoint of their own field of study. Additionally, one of HyMy Village’s strengths is its ability to provide a genuine and flexible learning environment. When needed, we can create tailored study implementations. Flexibility and customized study modules can help elite athlete students combine their academic studies with high-level athletic goals. You have participated in the HUMKK self-assessment process and audit interviews. What observations or insights did this process reveal? I had never participated in a process like this before, so it was a great opportunity to be involved and to learn something new. I contributed to writing the self-assessment text from the perspective of HyMy Village’s activities. I mapped out what HyMy Village offers to elite athletes from both client and student perspectives. The goal of the self-assessment was to identify our opportunities and think about how we could further develop our operations. Since innovative development is at the core of what we do at HyMy Village, it is essential that we continuously reflect on what HyMy Village could be in the future. Part of the audit process included participating in the audit interview and presenting HyMy Village’s facilities to the audit group during their visit to the Myllypuro campus. A big thank you to the entire Metropolia sports team for the excellent collaboration! Even though I’ve previously known how unique and valuable HyMy Village is, the audit process made visible just how great the work we’re doing really is. We realized that we offer a vast number of services that especially benefit elite athletes. What concrete development actions or good practices emerged during the audit process? The audit process encouraged us to genuinely examine what HyMy Village offers elite athletes, both as clients and students. We were able to list the services available to athletes. Now, HyMy Village is in a much better position to initiate collaboration discussions, and we are more aware of our potential for supporting elite athletes. As a result of this reflection, we also created a section on our website titled “Urheilijan HyMy-kylä” which clearly presents the services we offer from an athletic perspective. This webpage lowers the threshold for elite athletes to contact us. What thoughts or hopes do you have for the development of HyMy Village and the support of athletes in higher education? It would be great if HyMy Village’s collaboration with various sports clubs and athletes became even closer. It is extremely valuable to encounter athletes in as many different ways as possible and thus offer our students excellent learning opportunities. The customization of study modules for athlete students is already possible, but with further development and clear operational models, I believe we can make these customizations a standard part of HyMy Village’s operations and learning environment.

Jukka Tirri – Specialist Expert in Collegiate Sports and Key Contributor to the HUMKK Auditing Process
11.4.2025 Huippu-urheilevan opiskelijan Metropolia -blogi
I’m Jukka Tirri, and I work as a Specialist Expert in Collegiate Sports at the Finnish Olympic Committee’s High-Performance Unit. My role encompasses all aspects of combining sports and education in its many forms. I’m responsible for coordinating international student elite sports competitions (such as the Universiade and FISU World University Championships) and I also serve as the representative of the URA Foundation, which provides study grants for athletes. Since the beginning of 2021, I’ve been leading the Pro-Athlete Higher Education Institution -audit process (HUMKK), which currently forms a significant part of my work. Staying in contact with universities and sports academies, assembling audit teams and working closely with them, writing reports, and compiling newsletters are just a few of the many tasks I’ve had the opportunity to carry out through the HUMKK process—together with other dual career team members and skilled colleagues. Inspired by a Sports Background – A Career in Student Sports Sports have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My earliest sports memories date back to before I started school, but I began official club training at the age of eight with Kajaanin Haka, a local football club in Kajaani. Many other sports have played a role along the way, but football has been my lifelong hobby — I still play it. During my studies, I was actively involved in my student organization and the sports committee at the University of Jyväskylä. I also helped organize several national student sports events. The real spark was ignited in 1996 during the FISU World University Futsal Championship, where I got to know people from the Finnish Student Sports Federation (OLL). One thing led to another, and in the summer of 2000, I started working at OLL as a Sports Secretary. A Versatile Role as a Specialist Expert in Collegiate Sports It’s difficult to describe a typical work week, as my current role is quite varied. Sometimes it involves mainly administrative office work, but events and competitions bring welcome variety. Meeting people during, for example, audits of Pro-Athlete Higher Education Institution, and receiving their feedback, gives me motivation and purpose. Memorable Encounters and Experiences Along the Way At the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, I quite literally bumped into Aleksandr Karelin—a towering figure and three-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling—at the entrance to the sports hall. That moment stuck with me. The Universiades have provided countless unforgettable memories of successful moments for Finnish athletes. One of the most memorable for me was the victory of the Finnish women’s 4x100-meter relay team in Bangkok in 2007. Words of Encouragement and Support for Student-Athletes and the HUMKK Community I hope every athlete finds the path that best supports their personal pursuit of excellence in elite sports—and that all their choices are recognized as valuable and respected. Those who succeed in both sports and academics serve as important role models for younger athletes contemplating their future. I encourage student-athletes to take initiative, plan carefully, and make bold decisions in their dual careers. You have a strong support network around you—people who truly want to help and support you in this demanding endeavor. I look forward to the next meeting of the HUMKK network—sharing experiences and best practices in a positive atmosphere. It’s been incredibly encouraging to see the determination and energy with which higher education institutions are developing the structures needed to support dual careers. In Conclusion At this point, it’s easy to say that applying the model of developmental evaluation and the Karvi (Finnish Education Evaluation Centre) audit framework to the Pro-Athlete Higher Education Institution audits has been a successful decision. A big thank you goes out to everyone who encouraged us to take this path, and of course to the Karvi experts, whose support has been immensely valuable.

TItta Komssi: Coordinator of the Metropolia Sports Team, Sports Customer Manager, Head of Degree Programme in Physiotherapy and Senior Lecturer
17.2.2025 Huippu-urheilevan opiskelijan Metropolia -blogi
Your Role at Metropolia and in the Pro-Athlete UAS Audit Process I work at Metropolia as the Head of the Degree Program in Physiotherapy and as a Lecturer, as well as the Coordinator of Metropolia's Sports Team and the Sports Customer Manager. In the Pro-Athlete UAS audit, I support the audit coordinator. Through the audit process, the sports team has prepared, developed, and renewed processes and practices related to the dual career and studies of athlete students. Athlete students and their special needs have become familiar to me both in the field of physiotherapy and through the students in the degree program. What does the role of Sports Customer Manager entail? As Metropolia's Sports Customer Manager, I act as a liaison with sports organizations, stakeholders, and networks such as Urhea, the Olympic Committee, and other sports actors. My job is to build and develop cooperation through, for example, networking, need-based and agile services, and research, development, and innovation activities. Learning Experiences during the Audit Process The audit process has been a valuable learning experience for Metropolia. It has been great to see how Metropolia has eagerly taken on the task and built our university towards Pro-Athlete UAS audit. At the same time, we have sustainably prepared for continuous development and response to the needs of athlete students after the audit. Thanks to Metropolia's sports team and our other actors for the great cooperation! I also thank Urhea and the Olympic Committee for their excellent cooperation, sparring support, and clear instructions as part of the process. So far, the audit process has increased understanding of what a dual career requires from both the athlete and the university of applied sciences, the studies, the degree programs, and the staff involved in the athlete's studies. Impact of the Audit on the Metropolia's Development and Athlete Students' Studies The preparation for the audit has already helped to clarify and establish practices. In the future, the practices and observations generated during the audit process will be integrated and developed even more smoothly as part of the athlete students' studies. The research, development, and innovation perspective (RDI) as well as the research, development, innovation, and learning perspective (RDIL) will also be examined more strongly as part of the cooperation with sports organizations and students' studies. The audit acts as a kind of "kick-off," from which the university of applied sciences will continue to implement, establish, and develop activities in diverse cooperation with various actors. Insights from the Audit Process During the preparation for the Pro-Athlete UAS audit, I have met many people who genuinely want to promote matters related to the dual career of athletes. When an athlete student's studies progress smoothly, it also enables the development of the athlete's sports career. When both careers run smoothly side by side, the necessary time and space are found for both