Sarasota Paradise's new Head Coach Mika Elovaara. Provided photo.

In 2026, the Sarasota Paradise will enter into its inaugural professional season in the United Soccer League’s (USL) League One. For the organization, that means new players, new jerseys and yes, a new leader on the pitch. Last week, the club announced that Mika Elovaara had been appointed as the newest Head Coach and Technical Director heading into 2026. The 50-year-old Elovaara, who hails from Finland, has spent his entire life in soccer, from his days playing at UNC Wilmington to coaching throughout the NCAA Division 1 and professional ranks. He most recently worked for USL League One’s Richmond Kickers, where he has served as Head Assistant Coach and Director of Player Development and Methodology since 2019.

“As I learned about the club’s core values and ambition over the interview process, it became clear that I’d love to be a part of it,” says Elovaara. “It is an incredible opportunity that is actually unique in the whole world of sports. It’s very American to be able to have an expansion club and start building a professional roster from scratch. It just doesn’t happen elsewhere.”

Elovaara, who describes himself as "ridiculously competitive”, relays that he is a players’ coach, through and through. "More so than other sports, soccer is the players’ game, because there are no moments in the match where the coach can really take the time to talk to the team, other than at the half. It’s a game where the coach’s job is to make themselves unnecessary over the course of the match,” says Elovaara. “For me, the best approach over the years has been to truly get to know the players as people, to actively engage in conversations with them—sometimes getting a win on Saturday requires far more of those in-person meetings than just the X’s and Os.”

Success for the Paradise in its first year in USL League One cannot be measured by merely the club’s win-loss record. Growing the Paradise’s status within Sarasota, further ingratiating the city’s only hometown professional sports team to a rapidly growing fanbase is also a goal of the club’s. “When you go to a game as a fan, you’re gambling with your emotions. You’re saying, ‘here’s my heart, let’s see if you’ll break it or boost it tonight,’” says Elovaara. “Since the fans are willing to go through that with the team, I want to make sure that we do everything we can to truly be part of the community, so that the people that are a part of our match day experiences live through that roller coaster of pain, patience and winning with us.”

Sarasota Paradise's new Head Coach Mika Elovaara. Provided photo.

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