Marjukka Virta

Marjukka Virta

Personal information
Nationality	Finland
Born	(1983-02-08) 8 February 1983 (age 41) Karinainen (Finland)
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	154 lb (70 kg; 11 st 0 lb)
Sport
Country	Finland World
Position	Forward
Shoots	Left
Team	Team Finland Sr. Lapinlahden Luistin -89 [fi], Ringeten SM-sarja Turun Ringette, SM Ringette Hyvinkää Ringette [fi], SM Ringette Espoon Kiekkoseura [fi], SM Ringette Tuusula Blue Rings, SM Ringette NoU Ringette [fi], SM Ringette
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd WRC 6 1 0 SMRC (Nationals) 9 ? ? Total 15 1 0 Ringette World Ringette Championships Representing  Finland 2002 Canada 2004 Sweden 2007 Canada 2010 Finland 2013 Canada 2016 Finland 2019 Canada SM Ringette Championships (Nationals) 9
Updated on August 28, 2023

Marjukka Virta (born 1983 in Karinainen, Finland) is a retired elite Finnish ringette player who played forward in semi-professional ringette in Finland and for the Finland national ringette team, but now coaches the sport.[1]

Virta (now retired as a player) has won six World Ringette Championships gold and one silver as a player for Team Finland Senior. For six of those national team world victories, Virta was the captain.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

As a semi-professional player, Virta played in Finland's SM Ringette league, Finland's premiere ringette league, formerly known as Ringeten SM-sarja.

The Finnish ringette association, Ringette Finland, froze Virta's jersey number 4 on November 1, 2022, in Turku and is the first Finnish ringette player in history to receive this honour.[9] The freeze officially took place in the Rajupaja Areena before the game against Team Canada.[10]

Career

Marjukka Virta has been playing ringette since she was 8 years old and during her junior career played for the TPS Turku sports club. She eventually won the Finnish junior championship silver medal. Virta played ice hockey for a time as well,[11] but in 2006 decided to focus only on ringette because of the sense of belonging.[12]

World Ringette Championships

Virta has competed as a ringette player for Team Finland and was captain six times.[1]

At her first world championships, the 2002 World Ringette Championships, she won silver.[13][14]

At the 2007 World Ringette Championships, the final was between Team Canada and Team Finland. Both teams played in overtime because with just over a minute remaining in regulation time, Virta scored the goal that tied the game 4-4. It was her teammate, Anne Pohjola, who scored the game-winning goal that allowed Finland to win the gold medal and the world title.[15][16]

At the 2010 World Ringette Championships, she was named captain of the Finland national ringette team and once again led her team to the world title.[17]

At the 2013 World Ringette Championships she was chosen as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.[13]

As a coach, she was one of the assistant coaches of 2022 Team Finland Senior at the 2022 World Ringette Championships when the team won gold.[1]

SM Ringette

Virta joined the semi-professional elite national ringette league of Finland. Ringeten SM-sarja, now called SM Ringette, is known as the Finnish national ringette league by English speakers.

Finland's Association of Sports Journalists selected Virta as the best ringette player of 2014, and in 2020 she was awarded the Agnes Jacks Trophy as the most valuable player in SM Ringette.[18] She was selected to the All Stars team of SM Ringette in 2003, 2008, 2010, 2020 and 2021.[19]

While a player, Virta represented various clubs including: Turun Ringette, Hyvinkää Ringette [fi], Espoon Kiekkoseura [fi], Lapinlahten Luistin -89 [fi], Tuusula Blue Rings, and NoU Ringette [fi]. As a player with Lapinlahden Luistin -89, she won the national championship twice and since 2016 has been the player-coach for the team.[13]

She won the Finnish championship with the Lapinlahti team in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021 and with Nokia (NoU) in 2015 and 2016.[20][21][22]

Virta last played for Lapinlahden Luistin -89 [fi] for the 2021–22 season after which she retired as a player. She finished in second place after the 2021–22 season in the all-time point statistics of SM Ringette. She has played 620 matches in the SM division and scored a total of 3,088 power points (1,408 goals and 1,680 assists).[23] She crossed the 3 000 power point mark as the second player after Anne Pohjola and the 600 game mark as the fourth.[1]

Statistics

Club

International

Statistics per competition

Year	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM		Results
2007	World Ringette Championships[24]		4	10	10	20	-	8		Gold
2010	World Ringette Championships[25]		5	7	11	18	-	2		Gold

Trophies and individual honours

Awards

• 2 Finnish national championship titles (SM Ringette)
• Gold Medal at the 2007 World Ringette Championships
• Gold Medal at the 2010 World Ringette Championships

Individual honours

See also

• Ringette
• Finland national ringette team
• World Ringette Championships
• SM Ringette
• Salla Kyhälä
• Anne Pohjola
• Susanna Tapani

External links

• "Profile of Marjukka Virta in the Finland national team at the 2010 World Championships" (in Finnish).
• "Club Lapinlahden Luistin-89 for whom Marjukka Virta played" (in Finnish).

Notes and references

1. Karttunen, Anu (18 November 2020). "Ringettelegenda Marjukka Virta vannoi keväällä lopettavansa pelaajauransa, mutta joutui pakon edessä pyörtämään päätöksensä – "Minä uhrauduin"" [Ringette legend Marjukka Virta swore in the spring that she would end her playing career, but was forced to change her mind - "I sacrificed myself"] (in Finnish). Yle. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
2. Siukonen, Markku (2005). Urheilun vuosikirja 26. Minerva Kustannus Oy. p. 311. ISBN 952-5591-08-5.
3. Siukonen, Markku (2008). Urheilun vuosikirja 29. Minerva Kustannus Oy. p. 265. ISBN 978-952-492-156-5.
4. Siukonen, Markku (2011). Urheilun vuosikirja 32. Minerva Kustannus Oy. p. 284. ISBN 978-952-492-483-2.
5. Siukonen, Markku; Tikander, Vesa (2014). Urheilun vuosikirja 35. Minerva Kustannus Oy. p. 264. ISBN 978-952-492-855-7.
6. Tikander, Vesa (2017). Urheilun vuosikirja 38. Urheilumuseo. ISBN 978-952-6644-11-0.
7. Tikander, Vesa (2018). Urheilun vuosikirja 39. Urheilumuseo. ISBN 978-952-6644-12-7.
8. Tikander, Vesa (2020). Urheilun vuosikirja 41. Urheilumuseo. p. 281. ISBN 978-952-6644-16-5.
9. Ismo Huotari (25 August 2022). "Menestyneen ringettepelaajan pelinumero jäädytetään: "Tosi mahtava juttu ja merkitsee minulle paljon" | Le numéro de match d'un joueur de ringuette qui a réussi est gelé : "C'est vraiment une bonne chose et cela signifie beaucoup pour moi"" [Successful ringette player's game number frozen: 'It's really a good thing and it means a lot to me']. savonsanomat.fi (in Finnish). savonsanomat. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
10. "Ringette osaksi Tahdon päänäyttelyä MM-kisojen alla". Suomen Ringetteliitto. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
11. "Marjukka Virta | Stats and Facts". eliteprospects.com. 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
12. Henry Järvinen. "HIKI: Jääkiekko vaihtui ringetteen" [HIKI: Ice hockey changed to ringette]. www.slu.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
13. "Rajojen rikkojat: Marjukka Virta 600 ottelua & 3000 pistettä". Ringette (in Finnish). Retrieved 13 October 2022.
14. Siukonen, Markku (2003). Urheilun vuosikirja 24. Kopijyvä Kustannus Oy. p. 235. ISBN 952-5092-92-5.
15. "Ringuette: les Canadiennes vice-championnes du monde" [Ringette: Canadian vice-world champions]. www.multisport.qc.ca (in French). 5 November 2007. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
16. "'Suomi juhlii ringeten MM-kultaa" [Finland celebrates Ringette's World Championship gold]. yle.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on January 14, 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
17. "Kapteeni-Virta johdattaa joukkueensa kultataistoon" [Captain Virta leads her team to the battle for gold]. yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 5 August 2011.
18. "Agnes Jacks -trophy ja Vuoden pelaaja". Suomen Ringetteliitto. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
19. "All Stars -kentälliset". Suomen Ringetteliitto. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
20. "Neljän vuoden finaaliodotus päättyy Lapinlahdella – Ringettelegenda Marjukka Virta haluaa palata kultakantaan monesta eri syystä". Suomen Ringetteliitto. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
21. Tikander, Vesa (2019). Urheilun vuosikirja 40. Urheilumuseo. p. 287. ISBN 978-952-6644-14-1.
22. Tikander, Vesa (2022). Urheilun vuosikirja 43. Urheilumuseo. p. 292. ISBN 978-952-6644-19-6.
23. "Kaikkien aikojen tilasto" (PDF). Suomen Ringetteliitto. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original (pdf) on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
24. "2007 World Championships - All players". www.leaguestat.com (in French). Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
25. "2007 World Championships - Marjukka Virta". www.leaguestat.com (in French). Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2011.