The Finish league is approaching the start of the season, and with the help of expert Robert Åberg we take a closer look at the women’s league. Who will win the league? Which player will stand out?
The women’s Aktia League will be contested in the 2025–26 season with seven teams. Each team faces the others four times during the regular season. After that, the playoffs begin with quarterfinals, where the third seed meets the sixth and the fourth faces the fifth in best-of-three series. The top two teams advance directly to the semifinals, which are played in a best-of-five format – as is the final series. Last season, Grankulla IFK won the gold, Helsingfors IFK took silver, and Dicken from Helsinki secured the bronze.
Which team will win the league this season and why?
– HIFK are the frontrunners. The squad remains intact, and their star backcourt player Kira Härkönen is expected to return from injury in the spring. Until then, her role will be capably filled by the 2007-born talent Linda Juvala. The only real threat to their crown this season would be if national team goalkeeper Roosa Niemi – who has struggled with health problems in recent years – is unavailable for the playoffs.
– Last year’s champions GrIFK have lost national team center Ninni Jensen to Huddinge and their key two-way player Ella Paukku to the Dutch league. Meanwhile, bronze medalists Dicken have seen a real exodus: young star Emilia Siggberg has moved to Skuru, national team back Matilda Peitsaro also joined Huddinge, captain and playmaker Jessika Gammals has retired, and the club is still dealing with several long-term injuries. BK-46, last season’s fourth-place team, have brought in a new coach – men’s gold-winning mastermind Andreas Rönnberg – and with the squad largely intact, they will be in the medal fight.
Which player will stand out?
– For years, Johanna Svanbäck (née Hilli) has dominated the Finnish league, and as long as she stays healthy that will continue. Her game sense is on another level, often drawing two defenders and creating easy opportunities for teammates. The closest challenger to her is Härkönen, but her knee injury still keeps her sidelined, though she may return in time for the playoffs.
Which player will have her big breakthrough?
– Youth national team playmaker Linda Juvala showed great promise at the European Championship this summer. She will see plenty of minutes in Härkönen’s absence. Juvala is a multi-talented athlete, also part of Finland’s development team in flag football, which has Olympic ambitions for Los Angeles 2028. Another player to watch is Cecilia Heinrichs, who moved from Dicken to GrIFK over the summer. With both of last year’s gold-winning centers gone (Jensen to Sweden, Reinikainen forced to retire through injury), Heinrichs has big shoes to fill. Born in 2006, she impressed at the summer’s European Championship and now gets the chance to prove herself in the league.
Which player, team or event will be the most disappointing?
– My fear is that the disappointment could be Cocks. The team took a big step forward last season, at times challenging – and even beating – the top sides. They finished with 18 points, the same as fourth-place BK-46. But they have now lost three of their experienced foreign players, replacing them with much younger imports. Do the newcomers have the maturity to handle the pressure? The key, however, is that goalkeeper Marijana Gezovic remains, and with her between the posts, the defense can still feel secure.
What are you looking forward to the most?
– With many of last season’s stars leaving for opportunities abroad, the overall level of the league is likely to dip temporarily. New players will get their chance, and it will be fascinating to see who steps up and takes charge. Over the last decade, the championship race has usually been about two or three teams. This time, HIFK may stand out as clear favorites, while GrIFK and Dicken need time to integrate their new rosters. At the same time, teams like BK-46 and Atlas have strengthened relative to the top trio, so hopefully we will see a much tighter league and perhaps even some upsets in the quarterfinals.
Robert Åbergs background includes around 15 years as a player in Finland’s top league, followed by coaching at different levels, including in the women’s league. He also runs a Facebook group called “Streamade handis-matcher” where, for more than 10 years, he has been writing and analyzing upcoming championships and matches in an everyday, easy-to-understand way. Almost daily, he shares legal streaming links to the games with the aim of making it simple for people to watch both national and international handball.