The Boreal Striker

#helmarit #uefa2025

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As I write this, the UEFA Women's European Championship 2025 is underway.

FUN FACT:

The nickname Helmarit for the Finnish women’s national football team comes from the boreal owl, which is called helmipöllö in Finnish. Helmarit is the plural form and roughly translates to “the Boreal Owls.” The name was chosen to match the men’s national team’s nickname, Huuhkajat (the Eagle Owls), creating a thematic link between the two.

The men's team got the name Huuhkajat after a real eagle owl made its home at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2007, during a match. The owl became a kind of mascot and symbol for the team, and the nickname quickly caught on with fans and media. To maintain a similar spirit and symbolism, the women’s team later adopted Helmarit as their own bird-based nickname.