Who knew that web development could be a type of sport? Senior software engineer of Innokas’ software development services Heikki Miinalainen did, as he has done web development competitively for several years now.

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“I originally got a tip from my teacher when I was doing my degree in business information technology. I had already done customer work with full-stack website solutions, so I had the know-how. I did a few qualification tryouts with tasks from previous years competition encouraged by my teacher, and in 2018 I ended up winning a spot in our national team. That’s really how it started,” Heikki says when asked how he originally ended up doing web development competitively.  

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EuroSkills Gdańsk 2023 is the eighth edition of Europe's largest vocational education and skills excellence event, the EuroSkills Competition. Organized by WorldSkills Europe and 32 Member Countries, this biennial event brings together hundreds of young professionals from across Europe to showcase their skills and compete for the title of Best in Europe in their respective fields. With the participation of 600 skilled individuals aged under 25 from 32 countries, the event will feature competitions and demonstrations encompassing 43 different skills and trades. Anticipated to attract approximately 100,000 visitors from Poland and abroad, EuroSkills Gdańsk 2023 aims to promote vocational education, highlight the achievements of talented young professionals, and foster international cooperation in the field of skills development.

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On their site, EuroSkill describes that in their web development competition, the competitors use programming skills to create functionality, test, and debug websites on various devices in accordance with clients wishes. “We are only allowed to use certain technologies, mainly the industry standards you would use in your everyday work as well,” Heikki describes. The development work is also done with practical solutions in mind. “During our practice competition in Budapest, we made a relay race related app with a goal of helping the racers communicate and store information,” Heikki recalls.  

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While the competition itself is held in September, preparations have been made since the beginning of the year with at least one day per week dedicated to training. This July, Heikki will take part in a longer intensive training period. “I haven’t felt overwhelmed. Learning stress control and mental coaching has been a fundamental part of this experience as well,” Heikki says when asked if the long preparations have been exhausting.

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Thinking about how competing appeals to him, Heikki thinks only briefly before answering. “Of course, there is a certain pride involved in representing your country in an international competition like this. But mostly it’s how it allows you to develop as an expert outside of everyday work. Competing allows me to focus on the execution of the task and get into that state of flow. It’s engaging, but in the end just really a nice way to spend time. Plain and simple,” Heikki says.

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The European championship takes place in the beginning of September 2023 and Heikki thinks of it as a learning experience first and foremost. The attitude was already at the beginning of the coaching season that Heikki would compete to improve himself most of all. “Growing as an expert is the best takeaway from all of this,” he concludes.