Tapion Sulka has been steadily moving towards the future, developing both its coaching expertise and a strong, community-driven club culture. The club’s strategy is grounded in a humane, learning-oriented approach that combines high-performance sports with lifelong physical activity. The role of the new executive director is central to leading and developing this overall vision – with the responsibility of turning strategic goals into concrete actions in everyday operations and ensuring that the club continues to grow as a strong, influential, and sustainable force in Finnish badminton.
The recruitment process for a new executive director, conducted over the spring, has now been completed. The application round was highly competitive, with over 40 qualified candidates applying for the position. After two rounds of interviews, Tarja Arkio was selected for the role.
We’ll get to know Tarja better as the new season begins, but here’s a message from her as we head into summer:
"I’m truly excited to join Tapion Sulka on its journey. The club has a strong drive to grow and lead the way in Finnish badminton, and I believe we’ll achieve a lot together. And the foundation we’re building on is something to respect: for 65 years, this local Espoo-based club has not only offered high-quality activities for badminton enthusiasts, but also helped Finnish players reach the top level internationally. See you at the hall!"
The club’s development work continues with an even stronger focus on coaching
Tapion Sulka aims to become a forerunner in Finnish badminton – both in its club culture and coaching. In recent years, we have invested significantly in developing our coaching expertise and systems. Our coaches have participated in developing their expertise at university level as well as in national and international coaching programs. Throughout the season, we have also regularly organized coaches’ meetings and book clubs to support the professional development of our session coaches. Additionally, we actively use MIELI ry’s “Young Mind in Sports” materials to support the mental wellbeing of our young players.
We have refined our coaching philosophy by placing the athlete’s own learning at the center. Based on ecological dynamics theory, our training emphasizes the development of game understanding – helping players learn to read the game by observing their environment and making tactically sound decisions in response to in-game opportunities (affordances).
With these themes in mind, we look forward to continuing the work in the fall – but in the meantime, let’s enjoy some ice cream, sunshine, and well-earned summer days. See you back at the hall in August!
Welcome to Tapion Sulka's doubles ranking tournament and end-of-the-season minigolf on 7.6.!
On Saturday, June 7, we will host a playful doubles ranking tournament at Esport Center to celebrate the final spring ranking. After the games, we’ll head to Tapiola Minigolf for a fun round of mini golf.
See below for more details – and don’t forget to sign up by June 5, 2025!
Doubles Tournament
This friendly tournament is open to players of all ages and levels from our club. The games start at 10 at Esport Center, so please arrive no later than 9.45 to warm up on the courts. Participation is free for club members (remember to bring your own shuttlecocks). For non-members, the participation fee is €10. You must register with a partner – unfortunately, registration without a partner is not possible.
As part of the tradition, we’ll also host a Team Outfit Contest, where the most creative team outfit will win a prize! The outfits can be fun and casual – for example, summer- or beach-themed. Get creative and have fun!
Register via this form by Thursday, June 5: https://forms.gle/Gyr1xLADMSPZyFDy9
NOTE: Both players must fill in the form separately. You’ll also be asked to indicate your level (competitive/recreational) so we can match you with suitable opponents.
Minigolf
After the tournament and a shower, we’ll head to Tapiola Minigolf at around 15. Tapion Sulka offers a free round of mini golf to all participating club members. If the weather is poor, we’ll move the game indoors to Bogey Park in Ainoa.
You’re also welcome to join us just for the minigolf at 15.
Sign up for minigolf by June 5 here: https://forms.gle/bmKe4yjbZMUz29xM6
If you're joining both the doubles tournament and minigolf, please register for each separately.
Badminton Flea Market
During the doubles ranking event, we’ll also host a badminton flea market. Bring any gear or clothing that no longer fits or come browse for new treasures! The flea market is open to everyone – no tournament participation required. Sellers are responsible for setting up and managing their own tables. If you wish, you can also donate the earnings to the club's youth activities.
Tapion Sulka needs your feedback to improve our training and coaching activities. We value your opinion and feedback, and we would appreciate it if you could take some time to complete the survey.
The survey is designed to gather feedback from our training participants about their training experience, the training program, and the trainers. We want to know what worked well and what can be improved to make our training activities more effective and valuable for our participants.
Your feedback is crucial to help us identify areas that need improvement and to develop better training programs for our future participants. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete, and your responses will be kept confidential.
Please click on the link provided below to access the survey. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we look forward to hearing from you.
PS. Thank you to all those who responded to the strategy survey!
The club's board has approved the addition of membership start date information to the membership data to be collected. All members will receive a message via MyClub to update their own membership start date in their membership profile. If you do not remember the exact date of the membership start date, you can enter the approximate day of the start date.
The club uses the membership start date to analyse the duration of membership, to develop activities and to support communication and statistics. The data will be processed in accordance with data protection legislation and will only be kept for as long as necessary.
The last practices of the autumn season are on Friday 20.12. The spring season starts on Tuesday January 7th. Training registrations continue automatically for the spring season. If you want to make changes to your registration, please contact Nella Siilasmaa at nella.siilasmaa@gmail.com. Memberships will also automatically continue for the next year, if you wish to cancel your membership, please inform the club of this in January at the latest.
During the break from guided training, free courts for members of our club are available at Esport within the hall's opening hours. The following courts are available at following times:
Hopefully many can come and play!
Women's and girls' own badminton competition Espoo Women's Open is here again with 2025 edition! 25.-26.1.2025 at the Esport Center, competition is for new enthusiasts of the sport, Finland's top players, for all ages from under 11-year-olds to grown-up women, all in their own classes in a joint event!
Classes for hobby players, adults and juniors
The competition has separate hobby classes, in which you do not need a competition license or represent a club to participate. It is for everybody who enjoys badminton! Register for hobby classes by e-mail to elina.h.vaisanen@gmail.com. Registrations by January 10th, 2025. When registering, mention the player's name, singles or doubles (or both), date of birth for junior classes, possible club and the desired size of the competition shirt. All registrations will be answered, so make sure you get a reply to your email. Classes for juniors will be by age group: under 11 year-olds (born 2015 or later), under 13 year-olds (born 2013-2014) and under 15 year-olds (born 2011-2012).
There is a singles category and double category in adults hobby competition. You can register for both!
Registration for SSuL's official competition classes is done via tournamentsoftware, by January 10th, 2025: https://badmintonfinland.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/3E76F95A-F29D-4E5D-86D6-BE0958E3421C
Registration fees for hobby classes:
Hobby, adults: Singles €26, Doubles €20/player
Hobby, juniors: Singles under 13-15 years €26, Doubles €18/player
COMPETITION SHIRT FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS
As is traditional, this year's registration also includes a competition shirt with the new colors of 2025. You can get the shirt at the competition venue on the day of the tournament.