Love surprised the teammates

Pastanursen and Merekat’s family was completed with a new arrival in September 2025

Unexpected things can happen when you get lost playing video games competitively with coworkers. Whereas in the stories of the Kanaliiga players, the work community has become closer and the commitment to the employer has improved, the story of this article is more touching and personal than the usual, albeit positive, more common experiences of playing in the Kanaliiga.

Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences JAMK employees MereKat and Pastanurse, i.e. Kati and Juuso, played Kanaliiga together for the first time in January 2023 in JAMK’s Overwatch team. From Overwatch, the road went forward, when Hiilikuitukenkä, a player known from JAMK’s PUBG team, suggested joining the PUBG team. The feeling of good cooperative play and the comfort of the game moments that came from the time of Overwatch carried over to the new game as well.

Getting together between Kat and Juuso was mainly playing at the beginning. Gradually, however, they started spending time outside the games as well; initially with coffee and lunch breaks during working days. The joint discussions began to move from gaming to other topics as well, and at some point both of them started to develop the feeling that, in addition to gaming, their thoughts about the rest of life also coincided quite well.

“In the summer of 2024, we went out for sushi together and during the meeting we both realized that we were actually on a date. Since then, we have actually shared our lives, and it is not really known if those first dates ever ended.”

The couple works in different positions at JAMK: Kati works as a project manager for projects related to internal development, and Juuso works in the helpdesk as a technical expert. At work, their paths did not cross as often, but with joint tournament games, it was also easy to get to know each other face to face at work.

Competitive video gaming is often intense, and in tight situations, emotions may also heat up between teammates. On the other hand, coping with intense situations together also brings connection, which is difficult to achieve other than through competitive sports or other seamless cooperation. The effect of Kati and Juuso’s relationship has specifically been more the latter.

“The experiences of the league games have brought the differences closer, especially in the early stages of the relationship, and it has been felt that they have strengthened teamwork even outside the playing fields.”

The teamwork went so well on the playing fields and in other life, that there was more good news for 2025: First, in the summer of 2025, a good friend of both players, a workmate who partly influenced history, and a friend from Kanaliiga’s PUBG fields, Hiilikuitukenkä, was able to perform an honorary mission and act as a fake pastor at Kati and Juuso’s wedding. The surprising Kanaliiga romance got even more rounds in September 2025, when the couple had a real addition to their family with a little one who already enjoyed the adrenaline of the Kanaliiga games during pregnancy.

“It was worth going along to play in the Kanaliiga, when you never know what’s waiting around the corner!”