Anton J. J. "Toon" van Helfteren (born 20 February 1951) is a Dutch former
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 ...
player and current coach of
Feyenoord Basketball
Feyenoord Basketball, for sponsorship reasons known as Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord Basketball, is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Rotterdam. The team plays in the BNXT League and plays its home games at the Topsportcentrum next to De K ...
. Van Helfteren played in the
Dutch Basketball League
The Dutch Basketball League (DBL), formerly the Eredivisie, was the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands, run by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). Since 2021, the league has been replaced by the Belgian-Dutch BNXT Le ...
from 1971 till 1990. He was the coach of
ZZ Leiden
ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats.
...
from 2008 till 2014. He also was the coach of the
Dutch national basketball team
The Netherlands men's national basketball team ( nl, Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland.
The Dutch have reached the Eur ...
for six years, starting in 2013 and ending in 2019.
Professional career
A product of BC Paulus Tilburg in his hometown, he joined
Punch Delft
Delftse Studenten Basketball Vereniging Punch or simply Punch Delft is a Dutch amateur basketball team from the city of Delft. The team plays in the Promotiedivisie, the Dutch second division. Van Helfteren played 19 seasons in the
Dutch Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
from 1971 till 1990. Between 1983 and 1986 van Helfteren was a member of
Elmex Leiden
ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands
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, from 1986 to 1990 for
DAS Delft
DAS Delft is a Dutch basketball team based in Delft. During the 1980s and 1990s, they played in the top flight Eredivisie; today they play in the lower regional districts of Dutch basketball.
History
The team was founded in August 1968 as Delf ...
Dutch national basketball team
The Netherlands men's national basketball team ( nl, Het Nederlands nationaal basketbalteam) represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland.
The Dutch have reached the Eur ...
, which makes him the all-time leader in games played for the Netherlands. He debuted on December 12, 1971, against
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden
ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats ...
. With Leiden, Van Helfteren won the Dutch national championship twice: in 2011 and 2013. He has also won the
DBL Coach of the Year
The Dutch Basketball League Coach of the Year is an award given to the best coach in the Netherlands, Dutch highest professional basketball league. The award is given after the regular season and was first handed out in 1975 to Bill Sheridan.
Win ...
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.
On 15 April 2019,
Feyenoord Basketball
Feyenoord Basketball, for sponsorship reasons known as Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord Basketball, is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Rotterdam. The team plays in the BNXT League and plays its home games at the Topsportcentrum next to De K ...
announced van Helfteren had signed a two-year contract with the team starting from the 2019–20 season. On 10 June 2022, van Helfteren and Feyenoord extended his contract for one more season.
National team
Van Helfteren was the head coach of the Netherlands national men's team three stints, from 1993 to 1997, from 2013 to 2015 and from 2015 to 2019. He guided the Netherlands to the
EuroBasket 2017
EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...
, the country's first appearance since 1987 (30 years before).
Personal
In April 2019, Van Helfteren was knighted into the
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
for his services for Dutch basketball. He lives in
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...