Thanks Damian for this awesome topic. This is the case with Estonia as well.
Back in 2010 I entered to an Estonian Got Talent TV show, I made it to finals. After it was over I got load and loads of e-mails from guys who wanted to take up freestyle. I gave them some tips and they went try them out. Unfortunately I got busy with performing and some interviews, so it was difficult for me to answear to all theire questions as fast as they wanted. I got many TV performances after that as well and I was thinking that freestyle is going to be big. I think there were like 7-8 guys who took up it seriously and another 15-20 who were just trying it out. In Spring 2011 I got in touch with one event organizer, who wanted to make little freestyle competition in Estonia. I got excited, because this would have been the first comp in Estonia. I made little promotional TV performance for them and after that I said that they are going to invite Azun as well. In summer, when it was the time for the event to take place, they just dissapeared and nothing happened. It was a bull shit, they just wanted to promote there beach soccer in TV, but they needed to do it in a different way - nobody was going to give a damn about beach soccer and wouldn't let them on air, so they needed something fresh like freestyle. I was even told some words that I have to say, I did. But as it turned out, they didn't give a damn about freestyle. So I contacted with red bull. I did it also in 2009 and they sayd me that after the event in Latvia and Lithuania they want to make it in Estonia as well, but on the next year, when the new seoson of RBSS starts. In 2011 nothing happened, so I sent a new letter. They told me that there's no point in freestyle football event in Estonia, the level is soooo low and there aren't many freestylers around - but we did, around 10 guys (you are going to laugh, but that's the biggest scene we have ever had), So we got turned down from RBSS as well. Our scene started to fall apart, training, training and more training isn't that motivational after some months, at least for all those freestylers. we had our group of 5 freestylers, now there's only me left. We haven't been talking for about a year now. I understand those guys, what's the point in training, when the only way to show your skills is to perform infront of your mom? Guys lost theire motivation, didn't get any LPs and there wasn't any competitions going on. Yeah there's an oppurtunity to go abroad, but that's expensive. Busking is not allowed here and if you could, you won't make more than 5€ in a day - people don't give a fu*k about football or that kind of stuff.
Also, what's already mentioned, people here don't like football that much. Our biggest stadium is ment only for 10 000 people and it's been sold out only 3 times. Our leagues are unprofessional, there are only 5 clubs who can pay for theire players (they are semiprofessional, because they don't pay for all of theire players). Our main sport is basketball or skiing I would say.
What to do? I think some kind of competitions should be held here. I remember finnish guys saying that after the first RBSS freestyle got bigger, guys saw that it's fun and you can achieve something. And after all freestyle is a street sport, at least I think so. It can't be taught like litterature, it has to come inside of a player.
pallur
