Helgi Jóhannsson (23 June 1929 – 4 April 2003) was an Icelandic basketball coach and player.[1] He was one of the main pioneers of modern basketball in Iceland and was a founding member of Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur's basketball department.[2] As a coach, Helgi won a record 8 men's national championships from 1954 to 1964.[3][4] He played with ÍR in the 1964–65 FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague),[5] the first time an Icelandic team competed in a continental competition.[6][7] He was the head coach of the Icelandic men's national basketball team on three occasions, from 1961–1967, in 1970 and in 1978.

Helgi Jóhannsson
Personal information
Born(1929-06-23)23 June 1929
Kingdom of Iceland
Died4 April 2003(2003-04-04) (aged 73)
Reykjavík, Iceland
NationalityIcelandic
Career history
As player:
1951–196?ÍR
As coach:
1952–196?ÍR (M)
19??–19??ÍR (W)
1961–1967Iceland (M)
1970Iceland (M)
1978Iceland (M)
1992–1993ÍR (W)
Career highlights and awards
As coach:

In 1963 he was the head coach of the first Icelandic junior national basketball team when he coached the Iceland men's national under-18 basketball team during the 1964 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship qualification.[8]

Death edit

Helgi died on 4 April 2003 after battling cancer.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ Ágúst Ásgeirsson (11 March 2007). Heil öld til heilla - Saga ÍR í 100 ár. Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur. p. 568-569.
  2. ^ Rafn Marteinsson (28 November 1994). "Ný gullöld í vændum". Helgarpósturinn (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  3. ^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (6 May 2019). "Ingi Þór bætti metið yfir lengstu sigurtíð þjálfara". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  4. ^ Sigmundur Ó. Steinarsson (10 March 2007). "Fimm prinsar á ferð á gullárum ÍR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Gífurlegir yfirburðir Frakka gegn vængstýfðu liði ÍR-inga". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 20 January 1965. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. ^ "ÍR lék sér að Collegians - 71 stig gegn 17!". Alþýðublaðið (in Icelandic). 11 December 1964. pp. 11, 13. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Mennirnir á bak við liðið". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 January 1965. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Takmarkið með þáttöku er að öðlast reynslu í harðri keppni". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 10 April 1963. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Helgi Jóhannsson". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 10 April 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2019.