Magazine

Former synchro skaters to support current athletes and promote the discipline


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The Helsinki Rockettes Alumni at Worlds

You may have seen them in a synchro competition with their black and gold t-shirt and their "special number" in the back... In Finland, former skaters from the Helsinki Rockettes team have formed an alumni association that brings together more than 100 former synchro athletes.

Their goal is to reach out and give a helping hand to the athletes who are ending their skating careers with the Helsinki Rockettes, one of the most famous senior teams in Finland.

"We want to help with the thoughts they are having when the long skating career is coming to an end and point out that there are life and exciting opportunities ahead even after skating! We know – we have all been there," starts Maarit Helander, the actual chairman of the board in the Rockettes Alumni association. 

Founded in 2015, on the International Women's Day
The Rockettes Alumni is a registered association composed exclusively of former Rockettes skaters. "Our purpose is to support the synchronized skating team Helsinki Rockettes and promote Finnish synchronized skating. We also want to create connections of specialists for our members, and help each other gain many possibilities in the studies and in the work life. We are an amazing association of strong women," explains Maarit Helander.

Founded on the 8th of March 2015, on the International Women's Day, the Rockettes alumni are based in Helsinki. The association has an active board of five former Rockettes skaters, who are leading the association and take care of meetings and arrangements.

Actually, 109 former skaters (from all around the world) are members of the association. Maarit Helander hopes that they will be able to get more former Rockettes skaters to join the association, as there are more than 200 former Rockettes skaters in total.


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The Rockettes alumni board members: Taija Romppanen, Jenna Peuralinna, Tiia Poikajärvi, Linnéa Lindh and Maarit Helander.

A precious network
"Career evenings are popular happenings between our members. Our goal is that we always have a different type of theme for each career evening. Last time we had Eleonoora Hintsa from “Hintsa Performance” coaching company talking to us about the meaning of sleeping. The idea and interest of the particular theme came straight from our members," continues Maarit Helander. Among all former athletes, the association can count on many different fields and expertise.

In addition, the alumni also meet more casually to watch together Helsinki Rockettes on ice. "We've also had picnics outside. We have created mentoring partnerships between our alumni, for example, one of our members has been teaching mathematics to another one’s child. In our network, we are sharing open job positions and recommending workplaces to each other, etc." Maarit Helander enthuses.

A stipend for a few skaters
Each season, the Rockettes alumni give a stipend to one Helsinki Rockettes' skater. "This past season we were also able to provide lunch for the whole Helsinki Rockettes team in the National Championships."

Thanks to the alumni association, several Helsinki Rockettes athletes were able to receive a stipend. 

"We all have the same synchronized skating heart beating in our chests!"
"I’m very proud of our alumni association! We all have the same kind of experience skating in the same team over a course of time. The Rockettes' heart is strong in all of us. It is lovely to see so many alumni shirts at the ice rink in the competitions," adds Maarit Helander.

About 80 members do have the same alumni shirt, and of course, the shirt itself has been designed by a Rockettes alumni member. Maarit Helander: "I’m hoping to develop the alumni association to the next level: to have more interesting evenings and connections with each other every day. We could really have a fantastic connected network between all the 200 amazing former Rockettes skaters!"


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The famous RCKT alumni shirts

The Helsinki Rockettes is the oldest synchronized skating team in Finland. Founded in 1984, the team alumni have celebrated Rockettes’ 20th and 30th birthdays by organizing a big party. "We have now already started to plan the next 40-year birthday party in 2024", Maarit Helander notes.

"We would be more than happy to see even more alumni associations here in Finland, and why not globally too. We really want to recommend alumni activities to all teams! We all have the same synchronized skating heart beating in our chests!"