Ice hockey club condemns tighter driving permit rules for minors

New rules limit driving licence age exception permits for underage ice hockey players to the two highest competition levels, Kiimingin Kiekko Pojat says. Yle reports that the club considers the change unfair because its under 18 teams play in the second division.

Authorities tightened the conditions for permits for 17 year olds in May, while also banning driving at night. The need to travel for hobbies must now be confirmed by a sports federation rather than an individual club. Permits may be granted because of long distances or a lack of public transport, as well as for school or work.

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association, the Football Association and the Finnish Baseball Association set their guidelines in early August. The Ice Hockey Association limits permits linked to ice hockey to the junior Finnish championships and Mestis, excluding lower divisions.

Club says lower divisions also involve serious training

Kiimingin Kiekko Pojat says the change treats young players unequally. The club’s under 18 teams train mainly in Linnanmaa in Oulu, with players travelling from places including Jääli, Muhos, Ii, Kiiminki and Haukipudas, sometimes from tens of kilometres away.

Team manager Petri Seppänen questioned why the association defines serious participation as beginning in the first division, saying players in lower divisions can also pursue the sport seriously. Team manager Anne Haataja called the decision discriminatory, while guardian Pasi Haataja said young people are being treated differently based on their competition level.

Club chair and managing director Mika Halonen said all the club’s teams play competitively, regardless of age group or division. He said the stricter rules would increase the burden on parents and make family life more difficult.

Players rely on permits to reach training

Jaakko Alatalo, 17, received a permit soon after turning 17. He said having a car had made everyday life easier for both him and his family because his parents no longer needed to drive him or arrange lifts.

Atte Honkala, 16, is waiting to see whether he will receive a permit under the new rules. In addition to his parents, grandparents, relatives and friends help take him to training. Honkala said he sometimes has to cut back on schoolwork to arrive at training on time and hopes to become a professional ice hockey player.

Ice Hockey Association communications director Henna Malmberg said the restrictions were based on equality and transparency. She said the criteria should be as similar as possible between sports, within each sport and for individual players, reducing room for interpretation and unequal treatment.

Malmberg said authorities had not provided a precise definition of serious participation, so sports federations had set their own guidelines. She acknowledged that the stricter practice could cause frustration but said it resulted from changes to the law and updated official guidance. Traficom said the reform aims to reduce traffic accidents involving young people and is not intended to make participation in hobbies more difficult.