Mihaly Szerovay is Finland’s first “football professor”
For Szerovay, moving to Jyväskylä and the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences is a welcomed return to his old home town. Szerovay completed his doctoral degree at the faculty in 2018. After that he has worked as a lecturer of football sciences in Southampton, England. In 2007–2012, Szerovay played professionally as a goalkeeper for Jyväskylän jalkapalloklubi (JJK).
“I am honoured and extremely happy to have been selected for this position. I think it takes some time for me to digest the news, but I am really happy to return to Finland,” Szerovay says.
The representatives of the University and the Football Association are also very happy about the selection, though the choice was not an easy one because of competent international applicants.
“We received thirteen excellent applications and it was difficult to choose from high-quality candidates. Selecting Mihaly was supported by his familiarity with the Finnish society and culture and his internationality,” says Ari Lahti, the chair of the Football Association of Finland.
“The academic position of the football professorship and research in collaboration with the university creates an opportunity to get more academic people to join football,” Lahti says. “In addition to the development of top football, the professorship promotes research-based work in Finnish football clubs, thus increasing physical activity in the lives of children and adolescents.”
The Rector of the Ģֱ sees the position as a new and important opening move in the world of universities.
“The joint effort brings us a world-class expert who creates significant additional value for both academic research and practical activities,” says Rector Keijo Hämäläinen. “This is exactly what we were trying to achieve.”
Academic competence to promote football
Szerovay finds his new position as an excellent opportunity to combine practice and research to promote football.
“I understand the role as an enabler and a facilitator,” Szerovay says. “My aim is to impact to benefit football, society and the academia. The main elements to draw on in order to achieve the impact include research, education and networking.”
Szerovay would rather emphasise the opportunities of the role rather than challenges, although identifying potential challenges is important as well.
“My first months will be dedicated to setting goals, mapping out knowledge needs and identifying stakeholders nationally and internationally,” Szerovay says.
Hannu Tihinen, the sports director of the Football Association of Finland, is very happy about the historic moment after two years of preparation.
“We found an excellent person for creating a research plan for Finnish football and futsal,” Tihinen says. “Mihaly has a superb combination of internationality and knowledge of Finnish society and culture. He understands the importance of both the top football and the grassroots and he has fantastic presentation skills. It is an honour to get him to our team.”
The professor of practice is responsible for leading research at the Football Association of Finland, building a research program and network for football and futsal development, and overseeing national and international multidisciplinary football research. The duties also include coordinating the R&D activities of the Football Association of Finland as well as developing education and coaching activities. The position is placed at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences of the Ģֱ.
More information:
- sports director Hannu Tihinen, Football Association of Finland, hannu.tihinen@palloliitto.fi, +358503099345
- Heikki Herva; Ģֱ, heikki.herva@jyu.fi, +358504432400
