Nobody is bigger than the Game

When former European champion and PBA touring pro Jouni Helminen was elected President of the Finnish Bowling Federation (FBF) in December 2006, the then 36-year-old thought he would serve for a two-year term until December 31, 2008.

In the ballot Helminen beat Heikki Sarso by 12 to 10 votes. Sarso was at that time not only the incumbent president but also the president of the World Tenpin Bowling Association and therefore the No. 1 tenpin bowling official in the world.

Surprisingly, just one year after his election Helminen has announced that he has resigned from the post "due to personal attacks" by Sarso.

Bowlingdigital's editor Herbert Bickel talked with Jouni Helminen short after his victory in the 2008 Brunswick Ballmaster Open, the most prestigious tournament in his country and one of the most coveted titles in the sport world wide.

HB: When you were elected President of the Finnish Bowling Federation Bowlingdigital wrote that "this was a big surprise". It's even a bigger surprise to hear that you have resigned after just one year. What happened? How can a former rival force you to step down?

JH: Let me give you a brief overview how the system of Finnish Bowling Federation (FBF) works. Every three years representatives of the local bowling federations elect a council consisting of 22 members. Every two years the council members elect the FBF presidium and also the president.

Theoretically the council should supervise the presidium and the president, but this is nothing but theory. The president and his vice president do all the work. However, according to the statutes the council is the governing body and higher than the presidium.

When I was elected president in December 2006, Heikki was seeking re-election as WTBA president. He complained that it would detract his chances for re-election when he would go to the WTBA Congress without an official post in the federation and he convinced the council members to elect him as the council president.

As Heikki and I have personal differences since many years, I knew this would become a problem. Well, sometimes you wish you wouldn't be right, But unfortunately, I was. And since Heikki was not re-elected as WTBA president and fell into anonymity from one moment to the other, it became worse.

HB: According to what we have heard the main reason for your decision was what happened at the last FBF council meeting. Is that true?

JH: The information is correct. The council meeting was on December 8, 2007, short after our presidium meeting. It was the understanding in the presidium that we had a successful first year in our term where we launched a new website, made some tools for local associations to help them get new members, made a TV deal with a national sports channel of seven shows a year and started the renewing of our national average system which is still a MS DOS based.

I think we got a lot of positive things done within one year which is a pretty short period.

The council meeting took eight hours and all I heard from Heikki were complaints without real issues that I felt like - and according to other people that were in the meeting I wasn't the only one that felt like that - they were simply personal attacks. Most of the council members that come from all regions in Finland were upset about Heikki and some of them even left the meeting before it was over.

I realized that Heikki would never stop as long as I would be the president so I decided to resign - for the good of the sport and the good of our federation.

HB: Though it took a while until the news reached us, we have learned that it was a big deal among the Finnish bowling community and in the media. Don't get it wrong but it's hard to believe that this was news for TV.

JH: Oh, yes, it was a huge issue in the Finnish media. There was even a report in the Sport News on prime time in the Finnish TV. Actually I made the Sport News four times about this within a year. First they made a story about me running for the presidency. Second story was made right after my election. Third one was made on the same day I resigned.

Fourth time they made a story was when Jari Ratia, one of our national team members published an address for Heikki on his Website and asked him to resign from all his duties in our sport. A total of 1,300 people signed the address to support the application. They also interviewed Jari about that.

HB: What happened? Did Heikki Sarso understand the signs and resigned?

JH: Not at that time.

HB: Well, this sounds like the typical stereotype of an official who retains the status quo rather than working to improve things. However, it looks like you fell victim to malicious trick by an unforgiving rival and he won. Will Heikki Sarso possibly become the new FBF president?

JH: No, definitely not. I officially resigned on Monday, December 10th. On Saturday, the 12th of January, the final day of qualifying in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open the FBF council got together at Tali Bowling and to elect the new president.

Heikki wasn't a candidate. The only candidate was Harri Järvinen and he is our new president now. He was a member of the FBF presidium and I got to work with him for a year. I actually asked him to continue my work before I resigned. I wish him good luck.

HB: What happened with Heikki Sarso?

JH: He finally resigned from all the duties in FBF after the council meeting that elected Harri Järvinen as our new president.

HB: You have taken a break from the European Bowling Tour since fall 2007, because you're busy with the 20-lane bowling center in Lahti you bought in summer of 2007. With all the work in your bowling center and the trouble you had with Heikki Sarso before and especially over the Ballmaster weekend, it sounds like a miracle that you were able to win this tournament. How difficult was it?

JH: After I resigned I was left alone, so I was able to practice and concentrate a little bit more on the bowling side. In any case it was not easy. Federation thing was still up all the time. But when Harri Järvinen was elected as the new president it was a big relief for me. Now I know that federation is in good hands. During Sunday I managed to block everything out and I said to myself: 'Just roll that bowling ball'.

HB: You were close to the title a couple of times. You finished second in 1997 and have been in top eight several times. Does it give you a special satisfaction that you won the Ballmaster Open under these circumstances?

JH: Of course it does. This is the tournament I have always wanted to win. When you consider what has happened during the last month, this does not change the past, but it eases my mind.

HB: What' are your plans for the future? Are you back as one of the "touring players" on the European Bowling Tour or will you focus on your bowling center business?

JH: I am planning to bowl about half of the tour stops this year. My work load limits some of my bowling right now, but I'm still really motivated to bowl on the EBT. I'm hoping that I can get enough points to qualify for the World Ranking Masters, which will be in Europe for the first time (Italy). From October 12-19 our bowling center in Lahti will host the Ebonite Lahti Open, which is a challenger tournament on the 2008 European Bowling Tour. I won't bowl as we are running the tournament for the first time and I want to be involved personally so that our tournament will be a great experience for all participants.

HB: Is there a chance that Jouni Helminen will return as a bowling official some day?

JH: Yes it is possible. This resignation was by no means a protest against FBF, it was only on personal level with the two leaders. I'm working in our federation's tournament committee and continue to work for bowling at grass roots level. This game has given me so much and I still want to give it back.

But we just have to remember that nobody is bigger than the game, and that's what the whole incident was all about.