An app that gets everyone moving

Would you like to exercise or maybe play a team sport recreationally, but do not have anyone to do it with? The SocialSports app, aimed at young adults, was created for this exact purpose.

Elias Reunamo and Aarni Kolehmainen, both in their twenties, had stopped playing target-oriented football. However, they wanted to continue playing social football, i.e. play in a more casual manner every now and then.  

It was difficult to get together a team, which gave them an idea: what if you could find co-players with the help of an app? This led to the creation of the SocialSports app with the aim of bringing together people who want to exercise or play sports with others.

All skill levels are welcome. The most important thing is to move together, which increases both physical and psychological wellbeing. 

“We want to lower the threshold and improve the accessibility of exercise and thus create an adult ‘lawn games culture’ that children know so well,” Elias Reunamo explains.  

 

He reminds us that even adults can exercise and play sports with people they do not know from before:  

“Sports and exercise are often more fun together than alone.”  

The best time to get people together is in the evenings, and the app is particularly well suited for team sports, such as volleyball, football and basketball.  

You can also use the app to search for friends for a joint outdoor workout or for a game of pétanque or Mölkky. 

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The City of Espoo has received EU funding for a project combining exercise, sports and digitalisation, which funds experiments made in Espoo. The SocialSports app was launched in late spring in collaboration with the City of Espoo.

People have slowly started to find the app, and the number of participants is continuously increasing.  

The purpose is to utilise the city’s free public sports areas, of which there are plenty. They include school yards and fields that do not have actual club activities.  

After you have downloaded the app on your phone, you can examine the map to see available sports events and sign up. You can also organise your own event. People willing to join can then sign up, and you can start playing basketball, for example.  

The app is free, but you can also choose to pay for the Premium version with no ads.  

Anyone over the age of 18 can sign up for the app. According to Reunamo, the challenges that various age groups have when it comes to exercise behaviour and sports vary: 

“We designed SocialSports to solve problems that particularly young adults have with sports and exercise.” 

• Download the SocialSports app to your phone from Google Play or App Store. 
• The app is free, but you can also choose to pay for the Premium version with no ads.
• Enter a username; no personal data will be asked. 
• Check the map to see available events and how many people can join. Sign up. 
• You can also organise your own sports event by selecting a location, name, category, description, date and maximum number of participants. 
• More information in Finnish: socialsports.fi(external link, opens in a new window).

Text: Marjo Tiirikka.

This article has originally been published in the Espoo Magazine 2/2023.

Read other articles in the Espoo Magazine.