Founded in 1909, Varala is a pioneer at the sports institute scene in Finland, especially in the field of women’s gymnastics. The institute was originally founded to promote women’s physical education. The strong and devoted women who founded the institute strongly believed that someday their efforts in promoting sports education would be rightly understood and recognised.
To this day Varala continues to be a leading force as a sports education. Nowadays the three main areas of activity are vocational education for sports instructors and coaches; high performace training center and a wide range of services related to leisure time activities & wellbeing at work.
Background
The oldest sports institute in Finland was founded in 1909, originally to promote women’s sports and physical education. Founded by women ahead of their time with enough vision to know their efforts in sports and physical education would be recognised with time.
The original building – today known as Villa Varala – was a summertime villa built for industrialist Heikki Liljeroos in 1892. The wood used to construct the villa were from the village where Liljeroos originates from called Varala in Kangasala. This served as an inspiration for the name of the institute. Designed by engineer Karl Snellman, the villa represents the jugend architecture of its time.
Services
