Brynjar Karl Sigurðsson (born 17 September 1973) is an Icelandic businessman, basketball coach and former player. He played several seasons in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla and was a member of the Icelandic national team. Following his basketball career, he founded the company Sideline Sports which designed coaching software used by the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

and the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

. A controversial figure in Iceland, he has been scrutinized for his coaching methods and fight with the

Icelandic Basketball Association The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketbal ...

to let his junior women's team compete in boys tournaments. In February 2021, the documentary '' Raise the bar'' which follows him and his girls teams, premiered in Iceland.

Early life

Brynjar was born in

Breiðholt Breiðholt () is a southeastern district of Reykjavík, Iceland. It includes three neighbourhoods: ''Neðra-Breiðholt'' (Bakkar , Mjódd and Stekkir ), ''Efra-Breiðholt'' (Hólar , Berg and Fell ) and ''Seljahverfi'' (Sel ). It is one of th ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

in 1973. He started training basketball at the age of 9.

Basketball career

Club career

Brynjar spent most of his career with Valur and ÍA. In 1996, he was slated to play for freshly promoted

KFÍ The Vestri men's basketball team, commonly known as Vestri, is a basketball team based in Ísafjörður, Iceland. The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag Ísafjarðar and held that name until it merged with newly founded Íþrótta ...

during the 1996–97 season but he eventually signed back with ÍA. In January 2001, Brynjar transferred from Valur to ÍA, which by then was playing in the second-tier 1. deild karla. He appeared in four games the rest of the season, averaging 27.3 points per game. The following season, he averaged 32.2 points in five games as a player-coach. He resigned in December the same year due to unpaid salary from the club. In 2009, Brynjar had a short comeback in with FSu, for whom he was the head coach, when he scored 20 points in a loss against Snæfell.

National team career

Brynjar played 11 games for the Icelandic national team from 1994 to 1995.

Coaching career

In May 2001, Brynjar was hired as a player-coach for ÍA. He resigned in December the same year due to unpaid salary. In 2005, he founded the FSu basketball academy in

Selfoss Selfoss may refer to: *Selfoss (town), Iceland *UMF Selfoss, a football club based in Selfoss **Selfoss men's football **Selfoss women's football *Selfoss (waterfall), Iceland *Selfoss Airport Selfoss Airport is an airport serving Selfoss, a to ...

. In 2008, he guided the team to promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla after beating Valur in the 1. deild karla promotion playoffs. In 2021, he became the head coach of 1. deild kvenna club Aþena. In 2024, he guided the team to promotion to the top-tier Úrvalsdeild kvenna for the first time.

Handball career

In 2011, Brynjar was selected to Valur's roster for its game against

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

in the Icelandic Handball Cup finals despite never having played professional handball before. The game plan was for him to see spot minutes as a defender in the first half but due to Valur playing a man short for an extended amount of time, he eventually did not see any playing time in Valur's 26–24 win.

Executive career

In October 2021, Brynjar was announced as the new chairman of Leiknir's basketball department.

References

External links

Úrvalsdeild statistics 1989–2001
at

Icelandic statistics 2009-present
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdsson, Brynjar Karl 1973 births Living people Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson Brynjar Karl Sigurdsson