Pieti Ilari Poikola (born 5 December 1977) is a Finnish basketball coach. He is currently working as the head coach of Lučenec in Slovak Basketball League.
 Poikola coaching Tampereen Pyrintö in 2011 | |
| BKM Lučenec | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Slovak Basketball League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 5 December 1977 Oulu, Finland |
| Coaching career | 1998–present |
| Career history | |
| As coach: | |
| 1998–2002 | Tampereen Pyrintö (women) |
| 2003–2004 | Aura Basket |
| 2004–2005 | Turun Riento (women) |
| 2005–2006 | FoKoPo |
| 2007–2008 | Turun NMKY |
| 2008–2015 | Tampereen Pyrintö |
| 2013–2016 | Denmark |
| 2015 | Tindastóll |
| 2016–2017 | Kouvot |
| 2017 | Finland Universiade |
| 2020–2022 | Lahti Basketball |
| 2024– | Lučenec |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
| |
Coaching career
editPoikola has won three Finnish championship titles as the head coach of Tampereen Pyrintö.[1][2]
Between 2013 and 2016, he was the head coach of the Denmark men's national basketball team. In 2015, a fellow Finnish coach Harri Mannonen joined him as an assistant coach.
In 2015, Poikola was named the head coach of Tindastóll in Úrvalsdeild karla, becoming the first Finnish coach in the Icelandic league. Mannonen followed him to Iceland. Poikola was fired after four games with a record of two wins and two losses. The reason for sacking was that his coaching style was too demanding for a semi-professional team and the players couldn't adjust to the changing of the training culture.[3]
In 2016, he returned to Finland and was appointed the head coach of Kouvot in Korisliiga. After Kouvot were eliminated in the play-offs, Poikola announced he will not continue with the team next season, but left to India to yoga.[4] In August 2017, he coached Finland Universiade team at the 2017 Summer Universiade tournament in Taipei, Taiwan, where Finland team finished in 7th place.[5]
Poikola had a hiatus from coaching until 2020. He travelled in Uganda, Myanmar, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka concentrating on his mind control by meditations.[1][6] He returned to coaching in 2020 as the head coach of Korisliiga team Lahti Basketball. He was sacked on 21 November 2022 after a five-game losing streak.[7][8]
On 4 June 2024, Poikola moved to Slovakia after he was named the head coach of BKM Lučenec in Slovak Basketball League.[9]
Personal life
editPoikola is a Master of Science (Finnish:Diplomi-insinööri) by education.
In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, Poikola was a candidate for the Green League but was not elected.[10]
Poikola has been married since late 2013.
References
edit- ^ a b Pieti Poikola, 43, jätti työnsä kolmeksi vuodeksi ja opiskeli kaukomailla kehon ja mielen hallintaa – nyt boheemi valmentajavelho tuo uusia oppejaan huippu-urheiluun, Yle, 4 January 2021
- ^ ”Keväällä parhaat Pyynikillä vierailevat joukkueet ovat Baltian liigasta”, Jälkipeli, 22 December 2013
- ^ Poispotkittu Poikola: Pelaajilla ei ollut valmiutta harjoittelukulttuurin kehittämiseen, Yle, 30 October 2015
- ^ Suomen pallokentiltä maailman toiselle puolelle – pettynyt päävalmentaja päätti jättää kaiken ja lähteä Intiaan joogaamaan, Yle, 26 February 2017
- ^ Suomen haastajat kaatoivat Argentiinan – Suomi universiadien sijalle 7., basket.fi, 29 August 2017
- ^ Susijengin otteluja tv:ssä kommentoivan Pieti Poikolan elämä muuttui Annapurnan rinteellä – nyt hän joogaa, pohtii puiden sielunelämää ja puhuu veden muistista, Helsingin Sanomat, 3 September 2017
- ^ Tappioputki oli liikaa Lahti Basketballin johtoportaalle – valmentaja Pieti Poikola sai lähteä, Yle, 21 November 2022
- ^ ”Mieleni on myrkytetty” – tv:stä tuttu Pieti Poikola kertoo, millaista on saada potkut, Ilta-Sanomat, 1 January 2023
- ^ Lucenec tabs coach Pieti Poikola, ex Lahti, eurobasket.com, 4 June 2024
- ^ Alpo Suhonen, Niina Repo ja Pieti Poikola vihreiden eduskuntavaaliehdokkaiksi, Vihreä Lanka, 27 November 2010