The President of the Republic awarded Kimmo Kiuru the title of Sports Counsellor.
The President of the Republic has awarded the title of Sports Counsellor to Kimmo Kiuru, 61, from Helsinki, in recognition of his long-term, nationally significant and exceptionally wide-ranging work to promote physical activity in Finland. Kiuru is widely known in schools in Tuusula for his work to promote physical activity among pupils and to strengthen the skills of teachers.
Kiuru has had a long career as a developer of physical education and coaching.
Kiuru has over 40 years of extensive experience in the field of sports. He has worked in teaching and coaching and has also been involved in international sports coaching. He holds two Master’s degrees in Sports Science from the University of Jyväskylä and is currently conducting doctoral research on physical activity among children and young people.
Since 2016, Kiuru has served as the Active School Coordinator for the municipality of Tuusula, where he is responsible for developing a culture of physical activity, funding projects, guiding school communities and collaborating with sports clubs. In 2019, he was awarded the National Active School Recognition Award by the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Kiuru also leads the Central Uusimaa Active School collaboration (Tuusula, Kerava, Järvenpää) and is a member of the national Active School expert group. In addition, he has played a key role in the development of the Tuusula sports coaching programme since 2012 – as a result of this work, Tuusula was accepted as a cooperation member of the Urhea Sports Academy in the Helsinki metropolitan area in 2016.
The title was awarded for lifetime achievements in promoting physical activity in Finland.
The title of Sports Counsellor is awarded to individuals who have made a significant and long-lasting contribution to the promotion of physical activity.
According to the proposal, Kiuru’s career has been exceptionally impressive, particularly in promoting physical activity among children and young people and in developing cooperation between school physical education and municipalities and sports clubs.
– We warmly congratulate Kimmo on his title of Sports Counsellor! His long-term work to promote a physically active lifestyle among students in Tuusula and to strengthen the skills of teachers has been truly impressive. Kimmo’s motivation and wealth of ideas are inspiring – we hope that at least a little of his enthusiasm will rub off on all of us. Kimmo’s role in this field will only grow stronger when the promotion of physical activity becomes mandatory under the amended Basic Education Act, says Acting Head of Education Jyrki Aronen.
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