27.05.2025
The former coach Horst Valášek made a significant mark on hockey history, not only in the Zlín region. He got familiar with the environment of the Zlín and Vsetín clubs very well, leading the latter to the Extraliga in the first half of the 1990s and subsequently winning two championship titles with them. He received a commemorative medal from the Thomas Bata Foundation for his extraordinary contribution to sport.
“We award the medal to people who, through their approach to life or work, inspire those around them to embrace the values of Tomas Bata and help others to grow and discover their potential. Mr. Horst Valášek fulfils all these attributes not only through his professional approach, but also through his human approach. It was he who helped many athletes develop their talent and deepen their character and values. We are very honoured to have such personalities in our midst,” says Gabriela Končitíková, Director of the Thomas Bata Foundation, adding that in the past, the medal was awarded to entrepreneurs Ivan Baťka (Fosfa a.s.) and Stanislav Martinec (KOMA Modular) and actors from the Zlín Municipal Theatre, who brought the life story of Thomas Bata Jr. to life on stage in the performance entitled Baťa III.
Horst Valášek received the commemorative medal during a special evening at the Bata Villa, where the successful times in Vsetín were remembered. Thirty years have passed since Valaši (the Wallachians) won their first championship title. “Those were the best years of my life. I did what I enjoyed, and what's more, I did it with people who also enjoyed it, not to mention that Vsetín was a fantastic hockey town,” said Valášek, who was applauded by the crowded room, led by his former players Rostislav Vlach, Zbyněk Mařák, Libor Forch, and Ivo Pešat. “It's a great honour for me, Bata himself was my idol,” said the maker of the Wallachian miracle, unable to hide his emotion.
The talented goalkeeper and later successful coach Horst Valášek was born on 8 October 1941 in Kravaře. From an early age, he pursued several sports, and by the age of eighteen he was even playing as a forward in the division for the Opava club. However, when the Slezan hockey team advanced to the highest federal league in 1959 and the eighteen-year-old Valášek was given a chance to play as the team's second goalkeeper, his sporting future was decided.
He later enlisted in the army in Jihlava and, after a stint with Motorlet Prague, moved to Zlín in 1966, where he played for another eleven years. In 1977, he ended his playing career and became a coach. First he coached youth teams, and later he also led the Gottwaldov A-team. Players such as Roman Hamrlík, Tomáš Němčický and Martin Kotásek passed through his hands. At the end of the 1980s, he left for Geretsried in Bavaria, which he lifted from the second division to the top flight.
In 1993, he returned to his homeland as an experienced coach, lured by first division club Vsetín, which was building a strong squad for the new season. Valášek was in charge there. He brought Vlach and Raděvič with him from Germany to the Lapač arena, and in Zlín he raised the once-written-off Roman Čechmánek to national team heights. Later, Antonín Stavjaňa, and a number of other players joined the team. Valášek's protégés shocked the entire hockey world. Not only did they celebrate promotion to the top league in the spring of 1994, but they won it outright a year later. And they won again the following season.
After the golden “double” Valášek returned to his hometown of Zlín, only to later head back to Germany once more. He ended his coaching career to applause at the age of 63 in the first division in Freiburg.
