10-Year-Old Valma Joins Aamulehti as Matchday Junior Reporter

Ten-year-old Valma Ruokolainen has been chosen as Aamulehti’s Junior Reporter for the league’s Youth Round and will report from Saturday’s Ilves–VPS match at Tammela Stadium.

Ilves are fighting for points as they try to keep hopes alive of reaching the upper continuation series. The Youth Round celebrates junior players, youth coaches and their parents across the league.

Valma, from Nokia, has played as a goalkeeper and took up the sport following her older sister Sylvi. She began in Ilves youth teams, has spent recent seasons with FC Nokia and dreams of one day playing for Finland’s senior national team.

On Saturday she will shadow veteran sports journalist Pekka Aalto. She will conduct interviews and file reports for Aamulehti. Follow the paper’s channels to catch her coverage.

The initiative follows other youth journalism projects in the region, such as a 14-year-old who launched a youth news site.