Toon van Helfteren
 Van Helfteren in 2011 | |
| Feyenoord | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Dutch Basketball League |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 20 February 1951 Tilburg, Netherlands |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Listed height | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Career information | |
| Playing career | 1971–1983 |
| Coaching career | 1990–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1971–1983 | Punch Delft |
| 1983–1986 | Elmex Leiden |
| 1986–1990 | DAS Delft |
| As coach: | |
| 1990–1992 | DAS Delft |
| 1997–1998 | EBBC Den Bosch |
| 2000–2001 | Virtus Werkendam |
| 2001–2005 | EBBC Den Bosch |
| 2005–2006 | Amsterdam Astronauts |
| 2007–2008 | Rotterdam |
| 2008–2014 | ZZ Leiden |
| 2013–2019 | Netherlands |
| 2019–present | Feyenoord |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Anton "Toon" van Helfteren (born 20 February 1951) is a Dutch former basketball player and current coach of Feyenoord Basketball. Van Helfteren played in the Dutch Basketball League from 1971 till 1990. He was the coach of ZZ Leiden from 2008 till 2014. He also was the coach of the Dutch national basketball team for six years, starting in 2013 and ending in 2019.
Playing career
Van Helfteren played in the Dutch eredivisie from 1971 till 1990. Between 1983 and 1986 van Helfteren was a member of Elmex Leiden. In 1986 Van Helfteren won the Dutch MVP award.[1] He also played 207 games for the Dutch national basketball team, which makes him the all-time leader in games played for the Netherlands.[2]
Coaching career
Van Helfteren has coached multiple Dutch teams in his coaching career, which include Den Bosch, Werkendam and ABC Amsterdam.
In 2008, Van Helfteren became the coach of Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden. With Leiden, Van Helfteren won the Dutch national championship twice: in 2011 and 2013. He has also won the DBL Coach of the Year award three times when he was with ZZ, in 2010, 2011 and 2012. After the 2013–14 season Van Helfteren left the team, which he won six trophies with.[3]
In 2013, Van Helfteren became the head coach of the Dutch national team. He coached the team before, from 1993 till 1997. He led the team to its first EuroBasket appearance in 25 years. At EuroBasket 2015, the Netherlands had a 1–5 record and was eliminated in the preliminary round.
On 15 April 2019, Feyenoord Basketball announced van Helfteren had signed a two-year contract with the team starting from the 2019–20 season.[4]
Honours
As player
- Eredivisie Most Valuable Player (1): 1985–86
- Eredivisie assists leader (1): 1986–87
As coach
- Dutch Basketball League (2): 2010–11, 2012–13
- NBB Cup (2): 2009–10, 2011–12
- Dutch Supercup (2): 2011, 2012
- DBL Coach of the Year (4): 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012
References
- ^ MVP award at j-dus.com (history of Dutch basketball) (in Dutch)
- ^ Special milestone for coach Van Helfteren at NBB.nl (July 25, 2013) (in Dutch)
- ^ "Leiden neemt afscheid van Van Helfteren". Ad.nl (in Dutch). 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-14.
- ^ "Van Helfteren naar Feyenoord". basketballleague.nl. Retrieved 15 April 2019.