The Finnish Biathlon Federation has long used Suomisport as its license sales platform. Starting from the 2025–2026 season, the Federation will also require its member clubs to use Suomisport as the registration channel for national events. Kontiolahti Athletes were among the first clubs to try out the new practice.

A clear procedure for the sport community, data for the federation

In addition to license sales, the Finnish Biathlon Federation has used Suomisport to organize its own training and competition events. The ease of event management and the clear benefits led the Federation to adopt it also for its clubs. Suomisport’s event management tool is free of charge for clubs.

– We wanted to modernize and unify competition registrations for national and Finnish Championship events. Using Suomisport will also reduce the workload for clubs, as competition fees can be handled directly through the system, says Lauri Elo, Field Manager of the Finnish Biathlon Federation.

With the change, the registration process for national competitions such as Finnish Championships becomes clearer, and the Federation gains consolidated data on competition participation.

– We wanted Suomisport to be introduced immediately across all competition activities, so we added event registration to the national competition rules. This way, the procedure is clear and consistent for everyone, Elo continues.

National competitions only via Suomisport

According to Elo, Suomisport brings many advantages for competition registration.

– The biggest help is the automatic license check, which was previously done manually. Suomisport also ensures accurate information about the athletes entering competitions, and the registration lists always come in the same format, Elo explains.

Clubs independently create their competition events in Suomisport. They can also conveniently collect payments at the same time as athletes register.

Having registration, participant, and payment data centralized in Suomisport benefits both clubs and the Federation.

Kontiolahden Urheilijat confirm the benefits

Kontiolahtden Urheilijat were quick to adopt the new practice. The club successfully managed the registrations for the Finnish Championships in summer biathlon, with more than 300 participants, through Suomisport.

Jarno Lautamatti, Executive Director of Kontiolahden Urheilijat, is pleased with Suomisport.

– In addition to license checks, the registration report provides all the necessary information about the participants. A club user can also register athletes from their own club. The organizer’s workload is reduced, as there is no need to manually transfer all entries into separate spreadsheets—the registrations are available in one report with all the required details, says Lautamatti.

Lautamatti also sees Suomisport as a broader support for the club’s daily operations.

– Our aim is to start using Suomisport as a member service in the coming season. The service will thus become part of Kontiolahti Athletes’ daily operations. Expectations are high, Lautamatti concludes.