Emmi Kolehmainen becomes quarterback for the Tampere Saints

Emmi Kolehmainen becomes quarterback for the Tampere Saints

The Tampere Saints will have a new quarterback for the 2023 season. Emmi Kolehmainen, who led the Mikkeli Bouncers in the Women’s Maple League last season, will be the new quarterback for the Saints. Emilia Räty, who has been the quarterback for the Saints for years, is not leaving the team but is moving on to new challenges with the familiar team.

Head coach Mikko Aspinen explains the background of the change:

“Emilia “Putka” Räty has had a long-standing dream to also try her wings outside the quarterback position, so we made the bold decision to give Putka a chance to showcase her skills elsewhere as well. This naturally led to the situation where we had to bring in new blood as the quarterback both from within the team and look at the situation outside the team.”

The choice of the new quarterback has been influenced by both Räty and Aspinen, who both know Kolehmainen and her playing style well.

“Putka did an excellent job in recruitment to fill her shoes, which led to a conversation with Emmi. Emmi is familiar to me from my time in Kuopio, which made the decision relatively easy because she knows what kind of offense has been run before and I know Emmi’s strengths well,” says Aspinen.

Aspinen is confident in the choice and believes Kolehmainen will quickly adapt to the new team.

“Emmi is an extremely conscientious, hardworking, and game-reading playmaker and athlete. Her experiences as the quarterback for the Steelers and Bouncers in recent years show that she will continue to develop in the quarterback position and I believe that our quality wide receiver corps will quickly get on the same page with the new quarterback .”

Kolehmainen is also looking forward to the opportunity to be part of the Saints family. The level of the Saints’ work and the opportunities for development offered by the team were key factors in her decision to move to Tampere.

“The Saints have been doing great work for Finnish American football for several years. The large roster and familiar coaching staff were key when I considered which team would offer opportunities for both personal development and team success.”

In addition, Kolehmainen says that her study situation made it possible to find a suitable team outside of Savo and South Karelia after the Mikkeli Bouncers women’s team announced that they would not be able to put together a team for the 2023 season.

Kolehmainen is convinced of the level of the Saints’ training and coaching and the good training conditions offered by Tampere for winter training.

“I expect high-level training during the winter season, where we will hone our cooperation to the best for the summer. Tampere has excellent facilities for training and it is especially nice that in the winter you don’t have to wear five layers of clothes to be able to train in a cold bubble hall.”

“I expect tough games in the league during the summer and it’s also nice to see what results we can achieve with hard winter training when we face the best teams in the country,” Kolehmainen continues with a look towards the coming summer.

Finally, Kolehmainen says she is very grateful for the opportunity to play in the Saints’ team at the league level and hopes to be able to help the team succeed in their first summer with her contribution.

Welcome to the Saints family, Emmi Kolehmainen!

Writer: Veera Jalava

Picture: Mikkeli Bouncers