VOLLEYBALL Daenan ”Kofi” Gyimah, who arrived to reinforce the Hurrikaani in early January, is hovering on the field at his own heights. Joe Heri, who arrived in Finland with Gyimah, has kept his feet firmly on the court, and Heri, who is recording his friend’s footage through the camera, has become familiar to the volleyball crowd during the spring.
After focusing on music for the past three years, Gyimah decided to get back to the volleyball courts. The decision came at just the right time for Heri´s life situation, as he was reading for the final exams at the university.
– I graduated a couple of weeks before leaving for Finland. I thought about it for maybe a day and thought, why not. This seemed like a great opportunity to experience something unique together with Kofi, Heri says.
– Originally, Joe came in mainly because of the music, but he quickly was doing everything with the team. That’s just the way he is, adapts to every situation, Gyimah says.
The two have been working together with music for a long time. Heri is responsible for some parts of Kofi´s music brand, and in Loimaa he also helps his friend with daily matters and is practically his right-hand man.
– The presence of Joe helps a lot. When you’re in an apartment in a foreign city by yourself, it’s easy to go a little crazy. It makes it easier to have someone as your roommate who shares the same experiences. Our time here has deepened our friendship even further.
Heri, who loves photography, has also found his place on Hurrikaani´s social media team. He says that it´s great to capture the everyday life of a team filled with positive energy.
– I’m trying to make content for Hurrikaani on social media from an angle that may not have been done before. I do my best to capture moments from the season that players can watch after the season and reminisce about what a great season this was.
He says the team has welcomed him brilliantly and says he is surprised that he has been treated as a full member of the team – and community.
– The home fans are great. In every home game somebody comes up to me. They just thank me for the good content that I´m capturing. It´s been really nice and makes me feel more like part of Loimaa.
Moving from Toronto to Loimaa could be quite a culture shock, but Heri says a smaller city is great for the current situation. There aren’t as many distractions and it’s easier to concentrate to practicing and music.
– Even though Loimaa is a small town, it is very beautiful and there is a lot of nice scenery in nature. There are places that look like this in Canada. So it´s not been like a big shock to us.
Heri says he has mostly followed basketball. He says that he has learned a lot about volleyball in Loimaa and at the same time he has developed in his main action, which is photography.
– Volleyball is familiar to me through Kofi. He was always the guy when it came to volleyball. Still, I beat Kofi when we were kids. Just to let you know, Heri grins.
– You just had to say that, Gyimah sighs.
Speaking of defeating Gyimah; There has been no stopper for the Canadian in the Finnish Championship league. The middle blocker, who was selected for the league all-star team in January and February, believes he will continue to improve his game, as the break from the sport has been shown especially in passing.
– After three years of not playing, certain things don’t work so easily. Serving has certainly been one of those things, because there is very little room for error. I feel like I can still improve in the playoffs and I’m slowly starting to be the player I used to be serving wise.
He plans to continue playing volleyball and making music at the highest level possible
– Music is what´s paying the bills. Really not here for the money. Between the car and what I pay to Joe, I´m losing money. So, we´re here just to work and to win.
The duo is currently fully focused on the playoffs starting next week, but the collaboration will continue beyond the season. After the end of the Championship League, there will be a training period for the Canadian national team in Ottawa.
– We can´t say the official date that the album is coming out, but it´s going to start rolling out in the playoffs and after the season Joe and I can run around promoting the album together.
– Hopefully we will win first and have time to celebrate the championship a few days before returning to Canada, Heri added.