Jukka Toijala

Jukka Toijala (born 9 May 1972) is a Finnish professional basketball coach and former player, he was the head coach of the Estonia men's national basketball team.

Jukka Toijala
Toijala coaching Kataja in 2010.
Estonia men's national basketball team
PositionHead coach
Personal information
Born (1972-05-09) 9 May 1972
Kouvola, Finland
NationalityFinnish
Career information
Playing career1993–2006
PositionGuard
Coaching career2006–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1997Kouvot[1]
1998Echo Houthalen[2]
1998–2000Kouvot
2001–2003Kataja
2003–2006Kouvot
As coach:
2006–2010Kouvot
2010–2016Kataja
2010–2019Finland (assistant)
2016–2018Steaua Bucuresti
2018–2019Trefl Sopot
2019HBA-Märsky Helsinki
2019–2024Estonia

Coaching career

Kouvot

After announcing his retirement from playing career, Toijala stayed in Kouvola with Kouvot and was named the head coach of the team in March 2006, after Risto Piipari.[3]

Kataja Basket

In 2010, Toijala decided to stay in Finland and signed a deal with Finnish team Kataja Basket.[4] He departed the club in 2016.[5][6]

Steaua Bucaresti

Toijala worked as the head coach of Steaua București in the Romanian first league from 2016 until 2018.[7] Toijala led Steaua to the finals of the Romanian league twice, eventually falling short on both occasions.[8] Due to political turmoil inside the club, Toijala was released in October 2018. The club later sued Toijala and four players under contract to the court to avoid paying them salaries for the ongoing 2018–19 season.[9]

Trefl Sopot

After his release, he briefly worked as a head coach of Polish club Trefl Sopot in 2018–2019.[10][11]

Since 2019, Toijala is the head coach of HBA-Marsky Helsinki in the Finnish second league.

National team

Since 2010, Toijala has been the assistant coach of the senior Finnish national basketball team.

Estonia

On 23 October 2019, Jukka Toijala was named the head coach of the Estonia senior national team.[12] Toijala led Estonia to qualify for EuroBasket 2022 final tournament, where the team eventually finished 19th place.[13] After a successful three-year spell, it was announced on 23 November 2022 that Toijala had extended his contract with Estonia, signing a deal until the end of February 2026.[14]

References
  1. Jukka Toijala, player stats, basket.fi
  2. Toijala pelikelpoinen, mtvuutisetfi/MTV Oy, 18 December 1998
  3. Toijalasta Kouvojen päävalmentaja, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, 21 March 2006
  4. Jukka Toijalan Kataja-pesti varmistui, basket.fi, 10 June 2010
  5. Luottamuspula päätti Toijalan pestin - "Olen roikkunut kuusi viikkoa löysässä hirressä" Suvi Hakkarainen (Yle Urheilu), 17 May 2016. Accessed 15 January 2020. (in Finnish)
  6. Toijala potkuistaan: Päällimmäiset tunteet ovat valtava pettymys ja suru Jani Leinonen (karjalainen.fi), 17 May 2016. Accessed 15 January 2020. (in Finnish)
  7. "Steaua CSM EximBank, prima finalistă a Ligii Naționale de baschet. După 21 de ani, militarii luptă din nou pentru titlu". 11 May 2017.
  8. Pieti Poikolan kommentti: Romanian koripallokulttuuri on kova koulu, jossa valmentaja Jukka Toijala niittää menestystä, Yle, 22 June 2018
  9. Susijengi-valmentaja poliittisten erimielisyyksien keskellä Romaniassa – potkut ja haaste oikeuteen!, MTV Oy, 3 October 2018
  10. Jukka Toijala Trefl Sopotin päävalmentajaksi, basket.fi, 27 November 2018
  11. Suomalaisvalmentajalle jälleen potkut – työt Puolassa kestivät vain hieman yli kolme kuukautta, Satakunnan Kansa, 5 March 2019
  12. "Eesti korvpallikoondise peatreeneriks sai soomlane". Sport (in Estonian). 23 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  13. Estonia team profile, FIBA
  14. Jukka Toijalalle pitkä jatkosopimus Viron päävalmentajana – ”Projekti on liikkunut oikeaan suuntaan”, suomikoris.com, 23 November 2022

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