Sarasota Paradise names head coach for their first professional season

Playing days are well behind Mika Elovaara. It has been more than 20 years since he suited up competitively.

Even so, the longtime soccer coach still finds time to put on a pair of cleats and trot up and down the pitch, with the ball practically glued to his feet.

The spirit of a 5-year-old still burns within him, as he is endlessly enamored with that adrenaline rush of sprinting toward the net without a defender in sight.

“There's no way you can be involved in professional sport unless you actually really love it,” Elovaara said. “My love for the game and my love for playing the game has not subsided at all.”

His newest adventure won’t ask the 50-year-old to make any slide tackles or take any penalty kicks. Instead, he’s been tasked to navigate a historic moment.

The Sarasota Paradise, which is based at Lakewood Ranch's Premier Sports Campus, named Elovaara its head coach and technical director on Oct. 8 ahead of the club’s inaugural season in the United Soccer League’s League One.

Founded in October 2022 by current CEO Marcus Walfridson, the Paradise formerly competed in the South Florida Division of USL League Two for three seasons. It was an amateur team during that span, drawing from a local pool of collegiate players and aspiring professionals.

The club was promoted to League One — a professional league — this past February, with its first season in that new setting slated to begin in March 2026.

“In Mika, we get someone who's very intelligent," Walfridson said. "He's very, very good at tactics, he's very good at methodology, and he’s very good at pedagogics. So we get someone who is more than just a head coach and who wants to and will win games. We also get someone who can help me build the entire club.”

Photo by Hunter Butler

Elovaara was previously the Richmond Kickers’ head assistant coach, as well as the team's director of player development and methodology, dating back to 2019. His introductory season there coincided with the Kickers’ first in USL League One, and in 2022, he helped them to the best regular-season record while setting what was then the league’s single-season goals record.

He also boasts a multi-destination, multi-year stint of coaching at the NCAA Division I level. From 2014 to 2017, Elovaara was the Richmond women’s soccer associate head coach. That followed his time as an assistant for UNC Wilmington women’s soccer spanning from 2008 to 2011.

There was a time, though, when none of those experiences were even imaginable. 

Growing up in Oulu, Finland, he was just a boy who fell in love with the game by joining his first team at 5 years old. It was only when he got into his late teens that he considered moving to the United States to live and compete.

Elovaara was a three-time national champion and team captain at Kastelli Sports Academy in Finland. But when his top teammates began focusing on the pro pathway and looking at Division I programs in the United States, he wasn’t as eager to do so.

“Through popular culture, you see American life, but ultimately, the only way as a high school kid is to do an exchange year abroad,” Elovaara said. “And I never wanted to do that because I was in a very high-level academy, and I didn't want to risk anything for my soccer development.”

That made his eventual commitment to UNC Wilmington a true leap of faith. His 79 games played for the Seahawks — tied for second-most in program history — in four years as a starter from 1995 to 1998, though, wound up rewarding his roll of the dice.

He promptly crossed back over the Atlantic Ocean to play professionally in Finland after graduating with a bachelor of arts in English from the North Carolina-based university. But over 150-plus games later, Elovaara decided to end his playing career and to move into the coaching ranks.

The Paradise head coaching job presents a blank slate, and an opportunity unlike any other in his career. He’s fully invested in facilitating a winning club that thrives alongside the people who lift it up.

“The No. 1 definition of success is a true integration in the community — the emotional connection that happens when a club is actually part of the community,” Elovaara said. “If we're in a game, whatever the score line happens to be, (that) will reveal the emotion."

Photo by Lori Sax

He wants to hear the cries of joy on every goal. He wants to see the stands packed for every match. But he also knows neither can happen without the occasional frustrations at team shortcomings or anger toward officials.

The two principles of a well-run professional organization, in his mind, are taking care of players and understanding soccer operations. Sarasota will develop its athletes for the next levels — USL Championship and Major League Soccer — while maintaining a global perspective.

Before him lies the task of building a roster from scratch. The club has already hired a chief scout for the process, and is prioritizing domestic talent in its search.

Scouring through Florida and the country at large will take time, and that’s to ensure every player buys into what Walfridson and Elovaara are doing together.

“You'll find quick examples every year of clubs that spend a lot of money and have a lot of really good players on paper, but they don't win,” Elovaara said. “Why they don't win is the culture that's being created.”

The Paradise have their guy. He’s resided comfortably in the coaching ranks for some time, and knows this league well.

That five-year-old version of himself can’t help but smile.