Patria rewards Lapland Air Defence Regiment and North Karelia Border Guard District for exemplary achievements in conscript sports
The final year of the Get Moving project begins
Patria and the Finnish Military Sport Federation seek to encourage conscripts to take up sport through a three-year project dubbed ‘Get Moving’. The goal of the project is to encourage conscripts in all Finnish Defence Forces training units to be physically active. In 2012, the Lapland Air Defence Regiment and North Karelia Border Guard District were the units rewarded for exemplary achievements in running conscript sports clubs.
The joint Get Moving project between Patria and the Finnish Military Sport Federation aims to promote a sports-oriented lifestyle during conscript service, thereby improving the physical condition and quality of young people's lives. A variety of opportunities for conscripts to participate in sport will be created within the scope of this project, by developing sports clubs in FDF training units.
“It has been our goal to establish sports club activities in all training units and to develop them into a permanent arrangement. We also want to annually reward training units with well-organised sports clubs, which, we hope, will encourage them to engage their conscripts even more in physical exercise,” says Jukka Holkeri, Chief Marketing Officer of Patria.
Kettlebells for two military units
In recognition of well-organised sports clubs, Patria rewarded the Lapland Air Defence Regiment from Rovaniemi and the North Karelia Border Guard District operating in Onttola, with sets of kettlebells. The award ceremony was held during the opening event of the FDF sports year at the Defence Command Finland on 24 January.
The Lapland Air Defence Regiment was commended for extensive sports club activities and excellent co-operation between staff and conscripts. Development of the activity and good guidance were also lauded as strengths.
The North Karelia Border Guard District, on the other hand, was recognised, for example, for its pioneering work in running a sports club for conscripts within the Finnish Border Guard. In the North Karelia Border Guard District, the sports club for conscripts was initiated specifically within the Get Moving project.
“The active role the rewarded units have assumed in conscript sports paves the way for the development of sports club activities in other training units,” Holkeri underscores.
Sports clubs to all training units
The purpose of the Get Moving project is to extend the Finnish Military Sport Federation's sports club activities to cover all Finnish military training units and conscripts.
Before the Get Moving project 15 training units had sport clubs of their own. Due to the project new sport clubs have been established, and at present 24 training units have sports clubs, reaching now nearly all conscripts.
Some clubs established by conscripts have been running in the FDF since 1987. These clubs focus on sports that are of interest to conscripts and that are coached by conscripts themselves. Training sessions for sports club leaders are attended by 150 conscripts per year. Acting as a sports club leader also provides conscripts with an opportunity to gain hands-on leadership experience.
Further information:
Chief Marketing Officer Jukka Holkeri, tel. +358 40 869 2008, or email [email protected]
Patria is a globally operating defence, security, and aviation group providing customers with competitive solutions based on strong expertise and collaboration with trusted partners. Patria is owned by the state of Finland (73.2 %) and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS N.V.) (26.8 %).
