I had to leave the national team and even Kladno because of State Security
Stáhnout obrázek
Vlastimil Sýkora was born on May 4, 1922 in Kladno. He became a league hockey player in the Kladno team and coached the team since the mid-1950s. In 1959 he successfully led his team (then called TJ SONP Kladno) to the Czechoslovak league title. He also led the national team, but in 1960 he was unable to participate in the Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, California, allegedly due to State Security pressure. In the 1960s, he was forced to end his coaching contract in Kladno, then he trained in Vítkovice, České Budějovice, Gottwaldov (today‘s Zlín), Pilsen and Chamonix in France. In 2011, he was inducted into the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2013, Vlastimil Sýkora died at the age of 91.
