Vaasanseudun urheiluakatemia information in english

The Vaasa Region Sports Academy is one of Finland’s 19 official sports academies. The Finnish Olympic Committee coordinates the academy network, whose main function is to promote athletes' opportunities to combine sports and studies.The Vaasa Region Sports Academy is a regional cooperation network and service entity for aspiring elite athletes, elite athletes, and local sports clubs. VSUA enables the simultaneous pursuit of studies and high-level sports at the lower secondary level (grades 7–9), upper secondary level, and tertiary level.

Other tasks include enhancing daily training and providing and developing support services.The Sports Academy offers athletes various support services based on their classification/level. The support services are partially free of charge or subsidised by the Sports Academy. The Sports Academy offers some joint training sessions for athletes studying at a university of applied sciences or university. More information will be available on our website during the autumn.

At the moment there is approximately 80 VSUA student-athletes at the tertiary level from Novia, Vaasan Yliopisto, Åbo akademi, Hanken, Vaasan ammattikorkeakoulu or Helsingin yliopisto.

Application

At the moment we do not have a english application form for university student-athletes. Please make a short introduction about yourself to martin.grandell@vsua.fi (name, contact information, university, sport and highest achievements 2024-2025). Please read the below:

The Sports Academy is aimed for elite athletes.

Criteria for membership:
- A study place at one of the Vaasa Region Sports Academy's partner schools (Novia, Åbo Akademi, Hanken, VAMK, University of Vaasa, University of Helsinki – Faculty of Law). Adult elite athletes who are not currently studying may also apply and be accepted into the Sports Academy.
- The athlete trains with determination and structure and aims for national or international excellence in their sport.
- The athlete is among the national elite or competes at the international level within their age group, or the athlete’s membership in the Sports Academy is justified in another way – for example, by playing in one of VRIA’s representative teams in team sports.
- Sport-specific criteria and selection are done in cooperation with the national sport federations and clubs.
- The Sports Academy’s activities must add value to the athlete’s pursuit of national or international top-level performance.
- The athlete and the national sport federation must comply with the regulations of the Finnish Center for Elite Sports (FCEI).
- Athletes are accepted into the Sports Academy until further notice and may be excluded if the athletic criteria are no longer met.

From now on you can find english information about the sports academy HERE

For more information in english:
VSUA managing director: Jens Wallin, 0505355499, jens.wallin@vsua.fi
Dualcareer responsible: Martin Grandell, 0408525003, martin.grandell@vsua.fi