Kai Haaskivi (born 28 December 1955) is a retired Finnish

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He starred in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, playing outdoor as well as

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

. He also played for the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

. He now coaches in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Playing career

Professional

The 178 cm midfielder began his NASL career in the summer of 1978 with the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

. Haaskivi played in 1979–80 with the Houston Hurricane and 1981–82 with the Edmonton Drillers. He led the league in assists in 1981 with 21 and helped the Drillers win the 1980–81 NASL indoor championship and was named the MVP of the finals. He finished his NASL career with 112 points in 135 games. Haaskivi began his

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

career in the league's inaugural season of 1978–79 with the

Houston Summit Houston Summit were a professional indoor soccer team that operated from 1978 to 1980. They played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1980, the franchise was moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Blast. Their roster mainly inclu ...

. Playing the next season with the Summit as well, he was named an MISL all-star in both seasons. The team lost the championship to the

New York Arrows The New York Arrows were an indoor soccer team that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1978 to 1984. They were the MISL's first dynasty, winning the first four championships. H ...

in 1980. Haaskivi went on to star with the Cleveland Force from 1982–88. While with the Force he led the league in assists in the 1986–87 season. He then played one season for the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Including one championship victory as the original Baltimore Blast, the team has won 10 c ...

before returning to Cleveland as player-coach of the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

in 1989. He retired as a player after the 1991–92 season when the MISL, by then named Major Soccer League, folded. The Crunch moved to the National Professional Soccer League. Haaskivi served as color analyst on the team's radio broadcasts. Haaskivi finished his career in the top ten of several MISL career statistical categories, including fifth in points with 683, tied for ninth in goals with 297, second in assists with 386, and eights in games played with 425. He was an eight-time league all-star selection and was named MVP of the 1987 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.

International

Haaskivi played 12 full internationals for Finland, notching three goals in the process. In a 1982 friendly in Helsinki against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, celebrating the Finnish F.A.'s 75th anniversary, he scored on a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

as the Finnish team lost 1–4. He also scored against Italy's World Cup Legend, Dino Zoff, in Turin, Italy during a 1978 World Cup qualifier.

Coaching career

During the mid-1990s he served as the first director for

IMG img or IMG is an abbreviation for image. img or IMG may also refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics *IMG (file format), file that stores a complete and uncompressed copy of the contents of a storage device * IMG, a prefix for camera ima ...

's soccer academy in

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

. He was assistant coach of the U-17 U.S. National (boys) Teams. From 2001 to 2004 he was head coach and general manager of Pittsburgh Riverhounds, an

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

team. He also coached in Cleveland as the men's and women's head coach for the Myers University Mustangs, and NAIA school. Served as the director of coaching for the Cleveland United and the Braden River soccer club in Florida. Currently works for the US Soccer Federation as a Youth National Team Scout.

Awards and honors

In September 2006, Kai was inducted to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame and in March 2013, Haaskivi was one of six men named to the 2013 class of the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame. The other inductees are

Gordon Jago Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his professiona ...

Preki Predrag Radosavljević ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Радосављевић; born June 24, 1963), better known by the nickname Preki (), is a former soccer player and coach. He is currently an assistant coach with Seattle Sounders FC in Major Le ...

, Zoltán Tóth, Brian Quinn, and

Mike Stankovic Mike Stankovic (born November 11, 1956) is a retired Serbian Americans, Serbian-American association football, soccer defender (association football), defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North Ame ...

Personal

Haaskivi is brother-in-law of former star Finnish ice hockey player Matti Hagman and uncle to Calgary Flames Left Wing

Niklas Hagman Niklas Hagman (born December 5, 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was a third round pick of the Florida Panthers, 70th overall, at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with Florid ...

. His father, Olavi Haaskivi, served as the Director of Coaching for the Finnish Football Association for 35 years. His son is the actor Olli Haaskivi. Daughter, Nina Haaskivi.

Notes and references

General

Citations

External links

Kai Haaskivi
Profile at SoccerInCollege.com

at NASLjerseys.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Haaskivi, Kai 1955 births Living people Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Dallas Tornado players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Finland men's international footballers Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Finnish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Houston Hurricane players Houston Summit players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Footballers from Lahti Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC coaches Finnish football managers 20th-century Finnish sportsmen