Natália Hejková (born 7 April 1954) is a Slovak basketball coach and former player. In 2019 she was included in the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

Biography

Hejková was born on 7 April 1954 to Vsevolod Hejk, a Russian-Czech engineer, who was posted to Slovakia to oversee road construction and a Slovak schoolteacher Mária Hejková (née Buociková). She was born and raised in

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of ...

, where she started playing basketball at the age of 14. Hejková is single and childless. In spite of her Russian family background and record of coaching Russian teams, she supports the exclusion of Russian athletes from international competitions following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Playing career

In 1972, following her high school graduation, Hejková started to study law at the Charles University in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. During her studies, she played for the university basketball team Slávia VŠ Praha. Following her graduation in 1979, she joined the team TJ SCP Ružomberok, where she remained until her retirement in 1986.

Coaching career

Following the end of her playing career, Hejková was offered to become the head coach of TJ SCP Ružomberok, which was going through a rough time, as a temporary emergency measure. She stayed in the position from 1987 to 2003, winning Slovak title ten times in a row as well as two European Championships. Following her departure from Ružomberok, she coached

Sopron Basket Sopron Basket is a Hungarian women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian National Championship since 1986. It plays its home games in the Aréna Sopron. Sopron won ...

, WBC Sparta&K, which won 2 Russian Premier League Championship with Hejková as the head coach,

MBC Dynamo Moscow MBC Dynamo Moscow (russian: МБК Динамо Москва) was a Russian basketball team from Moscow. It was active for 93 years (from 1923 until 2016) as professional club, before being dissolved due to financial problems. The club had sever ...

and Ros Casares Godella. In 2012 she returned to Prague to become the head coach of

USK Praha USK Praha, ( cs, Univerzitní Sportovní Klub Praha, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha ( cs, Slavia Vysoké Školy Praha), is a Czech professional basketball club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague ...

. Under Hejková, the team won the national title ten times and achieved a record of 256 games without defeat in the row. She also coached Slovak and Russian National Women's Team.

Recognition

In 1998 Hejková received the

Order of Ľudovít Štúr The Order of Ľudovít Štúr ( sk, Rad Ľudovíta Štúra) is the third highest Slovak state decoration (after the Order of the White Double Cross and the Orders, decorations, and medals of Slovakia#Andrej Hlinka Order, Order of Andrej Hlinka) ...

, 3rd class from the president

Michal Kováč Michal Kováč (3 August 1930 – 5 October 2016) was the first president of Slovakia, having served from 1993 through 1998. Early life Kováč was born in the village of Ľubiša in then Czechoslovakia in 1930. He graduated from the present ...

. In 2019 she has been included in the

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...

Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hejkova, Natalia 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Žilina Slovak women's basketball players Order of Ľudovít Štúr FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Charles University alumni