Vammalan Lentopallo — Valepa is a volleyball team in southwest
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
founded in 1978. It is based in the
Vammala
Vammala is a former town and municipality of southwestern Finland, chartered in 1907. On 1 January 2009, Vammala was consolidated with the municipalities of Mouhijärvi and Äetsä, to form a new city named Sastamala.
Geography
Vammala was locat ...
district of the town of
Sastamala
Sastamala () is a town in Finland, located in the Pirkanmaa region. Sastamala lies on both sides of River Kokemäenjoki in the southwest corner of Pirkanmaa. The population of Sastamala is approximately , while the South Western Pirkanmaa, sub-reg ...
, in the
Pirkanmaa Region. Valepa plays in the highest level in Finland.
History
Vammalan Lentopallo was founded 1978, with the club's first season in SM-liiga in 1980-1981.
VaLePa is known to be a good place for young players. Many of the club's own juniors have reached professional level and other young talents have made their pro-level debut in the club. Some of the best-known of them are Olli-Pekka Ojansivu, Olli Kunnari, Mikko Oivanen and Matti Oivanen.
The team's best result to date is the national champion title, which it won twice (in the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 seasons). In 2012, it also won the Finnish Cup.
European competitions
Valepa played in the
CEV Challenge Cup
The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe.
The competition started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed to CEV Challenge Cup.
History
* # ...
in the 2008-2009 season, where it lost both the home match (1-3) and the return match in
Burgas
Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...
(3-0) to the
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
n ''Neftehimik'' team.
In 2012-2013 VaLePa played in the
CEV Cup
The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year.
Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed to CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 to CEV Cup. T ...
. The first round was against the Estonian team of
Selver Tallinn. VaLePa won through golden set after both teams had won a match (Selver - VaLePa 3-2, VaLePa - Selver 3-0). In the second round, VaLePa faced the Italian Andreoli Latina, which was stronger in the golden set (VaLePa - Latina 3-1, Latina - VaLePa 3-0).
New Arena
Season 2012-2013 was a big change for the club. Old small homeground Sylvää was abandoned for new bigger VexVe Arena. The team sometimes still train in Sylvää and second team also plays there some of their games.
Achievements
* Finland league bronze 1992, 2008,2013 and 2014
* Finland league silver 2011
* Finland league champion 2012 and 2014
* Finnish Cup winner 2012
* Finnish Cup runners-up 2013 and 2014
Team
Season 2018-2019
;Setters
*
Mikko Esko
* Arttu Lehtimäki
;Middle-blockers
*
Daniel Jansen Van Doorn (CAN)
* Markus Kaurto
*
Tommi Siirilä
* Mikko Karjarinta
* Rami Rekomaa
;Wing-spikers
*
Olli Kunnari
* Erik Sundberg
* Niko Suihkonen
;Opposite
* Arvis Greene (USA)
* Urpo Sivula
* Aaro Nikula
;Libero
* Alan Barbosa Domingos
;Head coach
* Radovan Gacic
;Assistant coach
* Janne Kangaskokko
;Club chairman
* Arto Satonen — also a member of the
Parliament of Finland
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Volleyball clubs in Finland
Sastamala
Sport in Pirkanmaa