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

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 (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, 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 List of cities ...

, where she started playing basketball at the age of 14. Hejková is single and childless.

Playing career

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

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. 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 Hungary, Hungarian professional women's basketball club from Sopron. Founded in 1921 as the women's section of Soproni Vasutas Sportegylet, Soproni VSE, it has played in the Hungarian national championship for women's, Hungarian ...

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

MBC Dynamo Moscow MBC Dynamo Moscow () 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 several successful years in the highest divisi ...

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

USK Praha USK Praha (, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha (), is a Czech Republic, Czech professional basketball Club (organization), club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague. USK Praha plays in the National Bas ...

. Under Hejková, the team won the national title ten times and achieved a record of 256 games without defeat in the row. The team also achieved two EuroLeague titles under her leadership, those being in 2015 and also 10 years later in 2025. Following the 2025 EuroLeague victory, she ended her coaching career at the age of 71. 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 () 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) conferred by the President ...

, 3rd class from the president Michal Kováč. In 2019 she was inducted in the

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hejkova, Natalia 1954 births Living people Sportspeople from Žilina Slovak women's basketball players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Charles University alumni Slovak expatriate basketball people in Russia Slovak expatriate basketball people in Hungary Slovak expatriate basketball people in Spain Slovak expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic