Athletes are understood at Leppävaaran lukio upper secondary school

Olivia Kauppi and Kaspar Varik study at the Leppävaaran lukio upper secondary school. Olivia is in her third year of the general studies programme, but has athlete status at the upper secondary school. Kaspar, on the other hand, is a second-year student and in the sports programme.

Kaspar is a competitive swimmer. He competes in sprints in the ranks of Gladius, a club from Kirkkonummi: “I applied to the sports programme, because there I can focus on sports,” Kaspar says.

Olivia’s sport is golf. She applied to the general studies programme, because she had just started playing golf when she was applying to upper secondary schools. However, with the status of an athletic, she gets the same benefits as sports programme students; exemptions from studying because of training or games.

Olivia and Kaspar have not really utilised the athlete benefits, but the benefits have made their everyday lives easier. Once a week, Kaspar needs to leave school early. “Competitions are seldom scheduled to take place during the week and the camps are infrequent. But if I come home from a competition around midnight, I can get an Urhea coordinator’s permission to go to school a little later the next morning,” Kaspar explains. “Teachers understand that we follow the sports schedule.”

Olivia has also had only some absences from school due to golf. There are training camps from time to time. There has been one special occasion: Olivia participated in the Ski & Golf competition during her school day. Sorry, golf and what?! 

“In Ski & Golf, the competitors ski a giant slalom course. Then they play two rounds of golf. The slalom course time is multiplied by two and added to the golf score,” Olivia clarifies. Olivia finished second in the junior series.

Olivia’s mother was a factor that influences her choice of sport. Gitta Kauppi has also competed in skiing and played golf – and continues to do so today. “I’ve skied all my life, and I was brought along to the golf course even when I was a baby,” Olivia says.

Another reason for Kaspar to apply to the Leppävaaran lukio upper secondary school was that he wanted to get to know new people. His other friends did not apply to the same school. Kaspar still thinks he is the only swimmer in the school. Olivia does not know many golfers at the school either. The athletes at Leppävaara engage in a wide variety of sports, but: “The biggest majorities are hockey and football players. There are also a lot of basketball players,” Kaspar says.

Olivia and Kaspar have both made a lot of new friends. This is thanks to their sociability and active approach. “On the first day, I went to sit next to a stranger and started chatting with them. We started playing billiards together and we still play sometimes,” Kaspar says. Olivia has been and Kaspar currently is a peer supporter.

Olivia’s best upper secondary school memory so far has definitely been the skiing course in 2023. “In my first and second year, I took a skiing course where 16 of our students and 16 students from the Haukilahden lukio upper secondary school go on a week-long skiing trip. In my years of participation, we went to Pyhä,” Olivia says.

Kaspar’s best upper secondary school memory has been the volleyball tournament that led to winning bronze.

Olivia will graduate next spring. Her dream is to study and play in the United States. The Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä also interests her. In terms of golf, the goal is to make it to the Ladies European Tour.

Kaspar’s graduation is a little further away, but he already has plans for the future. “I could go to the Police University College to become an officer or I could apply to the National Defence University. In my military service, I’d like to become a combat diver.”

Kaspar is switching from competitive swimming to volleyball, but the switch has not been completed yet. Even now, his free time is spent on various ball games: volleyball, basketball, padel... At the moment, Kaspar plays volleyball in three different groups.

Kaspar and Olivia are satisfied with the Leppävaaran lukio upper secondary school: “The school has a great team spirit and the students are happy. The teachers are good and can make different subjects more comfortable for the students,” they both say.

Kaspar’s and Olivia’s advice to ninth-graders is to listen to themselves. “You don’t have to apply to a high-average upper secondary school, if you don’t want to go there. You also don’t have to go where your friends go if you don’t want to.”