Ólöf Helga Pálsdóttir Woods (born 24 May 1985) is an Icelandic professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and a former member of the

Icelandic national basketball team The Iceland men's national basketball team ( is, Íslenska karlalandsliðið í körfubolta) represents Iceland in international basketball tournaments. The team is controlled by the Icelandic Basketball Association. Iceland has qualified for t ...

. She was a

multi-sport athlete A multi-sport athlete is an athlete who competes or trains two or more different sports. Most of these athletes played two or more sports from a young age – especially in high school – before deciding to usually concentrate on just one sport p ...

, playing several seasons in both the Icelandic top-tier basketball and football leagues. She won the

national basketball championship The National Basketball Championship is a men's national level basketball tournament, by the Basketball Federation of India, governing body of basketball in India. The competition is contested among the regional state teams affiliated under Ba ...

in 2012 and the Icelandic Basketball Cup in 2008 and 2012.

Basketball

Playing career

Ólöf came up through the junior ranks of

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...

, playing her first games with the senior team during the 1999–2000 season. In December 2001, she helped Grindavík win the Icelandic Company Cup, the team's first major trophy since winning the national championship in 1997. Her season was however cut short in March as she tore her

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

, causing her to miss the playoffs. She spent the 2002–03 season in the

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but returned the following season, averaging 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in 19 games. After spending her entire career with Grindavík, Ólöf signed with newly promoted

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. T ...

in July 2009. She helped Njarðvík to the Úrvalsdeild finals in 2011 by knocking out top ranked

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

in the semi-finals. In the finals, Njarðvík was swept by Keflavík in three games. On 18 February 2012, Ólöf helped Njarðvík to win its first major title when it defeated Snæfell in the Icelandic Cup finals. On 14 April, she led Njarðvík to the national championship, scoring 7 points and handing out 6 assists in the championship clinching game. In August 2012, Ólöf had a serious accident that caused massive nerve damage in her right arm. Due to the injury she missed all but three games of the 2012-2013 season and was ultimately forced to retire from playing basketball. She had a short comeback in 2018 with Grindavík, which she coached, appearing in two games due to injuries on the squad, and in 2020 when she appeared in one game with Grindavík-b in the second-tier 1. deild kvenna.

National team career

Ólöf played in seven games for the

from 2004 to 2012.

Coaching career

After her basketball career came to an end, Ólöf took up coaching for Grindavík's junior program. In November 2016, she came under scrutiny after her U-18 team defeated Njarðvík's U-18 team 101-2. In December 2017, Ólöf, was hired as an assistant coach to Grindavík's senior women's team. In February 2018, she replaced Angela Rodriguez as the head coach. She helped the team to a 4th place finish and a spot in the promototion playoffs where the winner would be promoted to the Úrvalsdeild kvenna. In the playoffs, Grindavík lost to KR in the semi-finals. In May 2018, Ólöf Helga was hired as the head coach of reigning national champions Haukar. Prior to her arrival, Haukar had lost several key players from the championship run, including

Helena Sverrisdóttir Helena Sverrisdóttir (born 11 March 1988) is an Icelandic former basketball player. Generally considered the greatest Icelandic female basketball player of all time, she was named the Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year, Icelandic Women's Ba ...

. In her first game at the helm, Haukar lost in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

to Keflavík, 77-83. For the season, Haukar ended with a 9-19 record and missed out of the playoffs. In February 2020, she led Haukar to the semi-finals of the Icelandic Cup where it bowed out against eventual cup winners Skallagrímur. On 28 February 2020, with 6 games left of the season, the board of Haukar announced it had fired Ólöf. At the time the team was in heavy playoff contention with a 13-9 record in fifth place, one victory away from third place. On 11 May 2020, Ólöf was hired as the head coach of

. She guided Grindavík to an 11-5 record and promotion back to the Úrvalsdeild.

Titles

* Icelandic champion: 2012 * Icelandic Cup (2): 2008, 2012 * Icelandic Company Cup: 2001

Football

Ólöf appeared in 35 matches in the Icelandic top-tier football league for

and Keflavík, scoring 8 goals. Playing the striker position, her best season came in 2004 when she helped Keflavík win 1. deild kvenna by scoring 24 goals in 15 matches, including 5 goals in the promotion playoffs.

Titles

* 1. deild kvenna (2): 2000, 2004

References

External links

Basketball statistics 2008-present
at '' KKÍ'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palsdottir, Olof Helga 1985 births Living people Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Women's association football forwards Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Olof Helga Palsdottir Guards (basketball)