Tampereen Pyrintö (basketball) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pyrintö
Leagues	Korisliiga
Founded	1941; 84 years ago (1941)
History	Tampereen Pyrintö (1941–present)
Arena	Pyynikin Palloiluhalli
Location	Tampere, Finland
Team colors	White and Red
Head coach	Tero Vasell
Championships	3 Finnish Championships 2 Finnish Cups
Website	www.pyrinto.fi
Uniforms
Home Away

Tampereen Pyrintö, often called just Pyrintö, is a Finnish basketball team from the city of Tampere. It's part of a larger sports club with the same name. Both the men's and women's teams of Pyrintö play in Korisliiga, which is the top basketball league in Finland.

Since 2010, Pyrintö has also played in international basketball competitions like the EuroChallenge and the Baltic Basketball League.

Team Success

Pyrintö has achieved great success in Finnish basketball. They have won several championships and cups.

Finnish Championships (Korisliiga)

• Champions: Pyrintö has won the Korisliiga championship three times: in 2010, 2011, and 2014.
• Second Place: They finished as runner-up in 1958, 1980, 1981, 2001, and 2016.
• Third Place: They earned third place in 2009.

Finnish Basketball Cup

• Champions: Pyrintö has won the Finnish Basketball Cup twice: in 1969 and 2013.
• Second Place: They were runner-up in 2000, 2009, 2011, 2019, and 2021.

Baltic Basketball League

• Fourth Place: In 2014, Pyrintö reached fourth place in the Baltic Basketball League, an international competition.

Current Team Players

Here are the players who are currently part of the Tampereen Pyrintö men's team.

Tampereen Pyrintö roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. SG 5 Tomas Pihlajamäki 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) PG 7 Valtteri Leppänen 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) PG 9 Lassi Kilpinen 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) G/F 10 Osku Heinonen 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) G 12 David Gonzalvez 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) F 14 Eero Lehtonen 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) F/C 16 Panu Peltokangas 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) PG Valtteri Mervola 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) PG Antero Lehto 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) PG Trey Niemi 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)	Head coach Miikka Sopanen Assistant coach(es) Damon Williams Santeri Liljeberg Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 24 July 2021

Retired Jersey Numbers

Damon Williams is a legendary player for Pyrintö, holding many club records.

Some basketball teams honor their most important players by "retiring" their jersey numbers. This means the number is usually not worn by new players. Pyrintö has retired several numbers, and they are displayed in their home arena. However, most of these numbers can still be used by current players, except for Damon Williams's number 32.

Tampereen Pyrintö Retired Numbers
N°	Nat.	Player	Position	Years Played
5		Arvo Jantunen	N/A	1949–1966
7		Olavi Ahonen	G	1960–1970
7		Ismo Niemi	N/A	1978–1987
8		Jarmo Laitinen	N/A	As player: 1979–1989 As head coach: 1985–2008
8		Antti Nikkilä	N/A	1996–2014
15		Kalevi Tuominen	N/A	1952–1963
32		Damon Williams	F	1999–2016

Famous Players

Many talented players have been part of the Pyrintö team. To be listed here, a player usually played at least one season, set a club record, won an award, or played for their national team.