Vimpelin Veto ( "Draw of Vimpeli"; or simply Veto) is a Finnish professional

pesäpallo Pesäpallo (; ; , colloquially known in Finnish as pesis and also referred to as Finnish baseball) is a fast-moving bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport that is often referred to as the national sport of Finland and has some presence in other ...

team from

Vimpeli Vimpeli (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population de ...

. It was founded in 1934. Vimpelin Veto is playing in the top-tier

Superpesis The Superpesis is the highest level of the Finnish pesäpallo league system. Contested by 13 clubs in men's league and 12 clubs in women's league, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Ykköspesis. Seasons usually run from ...

. Vimpelin Veto has participated in many sports in Finland over the years, such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Since 2010s, the club's main successes have been in

. Vimpelin Veto has won the men's Finnish Pesäpallo Championship (

) six times in years 1960, 1965, 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2022. The home ground of Vimpelin Veto is the Island Field. Its well-known competitor is ''

Sotkamon Jymy Sotkamon Jymy ( "Huge of Sotkamo"; or simply Jymy) is a Finnish professional pesäpallo team from Sotkamo. It was founded in 1909. Sotkamon Jymy is playing in the top-tier Superpesis. Sotkamon Jymy has participated in many sports in Finland over ...

'' from

Sotkamo Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region about east of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu. Vuokatti, in west of Sotkamo, is the most populous village in the municipality and also a popular skiing resort. Both Hiidenportti ...

, known as long-time rival of Vimpelin Veto.Viikonloppu on suuri mahdollisuus: ”Mestaruus pitää ottaa, ei se mistään itsestään tule”
- Pesis.fi (in Finnish)

History

Vimpelin Veto was founded in 1934. Although the club was and still is a general club, it is primarily known for pesäpallo. Vimpeli was promoted to the main league in 1938 and is one of the longest-standing pesäpallo clubs. Vimpeli won its first men's medal in 1940 and celebrated the Finnish championship in 1947 and 1948 and the silver medal in 1949. Vimpeli's history includes two great seasons of success. The first was between 1958 and 1968, when Vimpeli won medals for 11 consecutive seasons. Vimpeli won the championship in 1960 and 1965, silver in 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1966 and bronze in 1958, 1963, 1964, 1967 and 1968. Vimpeli won a surprise silver medal in 1975, but otherwise Vimpeli spent a long time in the bottom of the main league, the Ykköspesis and the Suomensarja. A new upswing began in the 2000s. Vimpeli was promoted back to the

in the autumn of 2003. After a few seasons of wonderment, things started to happen. Star players like Henri Puputti, Sami Haapakoski, Antti Kuusisto and Jere Dahlström were brought in and the result was inevitable: Vimpeli won bronze in 2009 and a year later the Finnish championship was celebrated at Island Field. In their second successful season since 2009, Vimpeli has won three championships, five silver and four bronze, the latest coming last summer. In total, Vimpeli has won five championships, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals in its history. In the juniors, Vimpeli has won a total of 41 medals. The only women's medals, two championships and a silver, came in the 1940s. Vimpeli dominated the 2010s with ''

''. Between 2011 and 2017, the teams met in seven consecutive finals. Sotkamo won the first five finals and Vimpeli the last two.

Culture

Vimpeli is a small municipality of only 2,800 inhabitants in

South Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobothnia is the ninth largest in terms ...

. The club plays a strong role in the village. Vimpeli is one of the most traditional places in pesäpallo. Pesäpallo plays a central role in the identity of the local community. The club's home ground has a legendary reputation. The municipality also has a national baseball museum and a pesäpallo statue. The village's Nelimarkka bakery also has a legendary reputation among pesäpallo fans. Vimpeli has traditionally started its Sunday games at 1 pm (13:00), unlike other places, because pesäpallo and church services have had to be coordinated.

Achievements

Men's Pesäpallo ''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vimpelin Veto Pesäpallo teams in Finland Sports clubs and teams in Finland Sports clubs and teams established in 1934 Vimpeli