Coaching
I joined Sokol Královské Vinohrady (SKV) in 2017 as an assistant to the men's team. Along the way, I coached in Slovenia during Erasmus, led the SKV juniors, and returned to the men's team in the Czech Superliga. I became the men's head coach in 2024 at the age of 27, one of the youngest head coaches in Superliga history. Over that time I coached more than 200 matches, over 100 of them in the Superliga, and we put together the best results in SKV's history by building a team around clear roles, dedication, and team spirit.
In summer 2025, I stepped down from my role as head coach to focus fully on my computer vision research career. I remain with Sokol Královské Vinohrady as a consultant to the team.
Beginnings in SKV
I joined SKV in 2017 as an assistant coach for the men's team. Before that, I coached kids in a local club — this was my first experience at the highest level. I was 20, new to the club, and honestly not sure if I was ready. Over time, I gained more responsibility, experience, and confidence.
In my first season with Michal Pazdera, we played in 1. liga (the second-highest league). We ended up winning it and earned promotion to the Superliga. In 2019, we managed to stay in the league by winning the first round of playdowns.
After that second season, Michal Kotlas and David Bouša took over the team, and I stayed on as their assistant. That year, we finished 8th after the regular season and made it to the playoffs for the first time in SKV's history. Unfortunately, we didn't get to play them, as the season was cancelled due to Covid.
iDnes.cz: Vinohrady poráží Znojmo v Livesport Superlize
A few months in Slovenia
During my Erasmus stay, I coached FBK Olimpija for a few months and refereed some league matches. After returning to Prague, my next chapter at SKV was taking over as head coach of the juniors.
The Juniors
In between my roles with the men's team, I coached the U19 team. I focused a lot on preparing players for senior floorball — not just technically, but mentally too. Much of that time was affected by Covid shutdowns, so we ran individual physical training and I mentored players online to help them stay connected to the sport. After Covid, in the 2021/22 season, we qualified for the top junior league and made the playoffs in our very first year there.
Some of the guys I coached are now part of our Superliga team. That's the most satisfying part of the job.
SKVFlorbal.cz: Rozhovor s trenérem juniorů
Leading the Men's Team
In 2022, I took over the SKV men's team alongside Jan Kapucián. While Jan handled management and off-court matters, I was mainly in charge of the floorball side. We built a team from mostly young players and tried to play simple, hard-working floorball.
In our first season together (2022/23), we finished 10th and made it through the pre-quarterfinal to reach the Superliga quarterfinals. In 2023/24, we made the playoffs again from 10th place, finishing with the best regular-season points total in the club's history. In 2024, I officially became the head coach. That season (2024/25), we finished 9th after the regular season and reached the top 8 in the playoffs again.
I'm proud we've managed to make SKV a regular playoff team — even without big names or a big budget.
Florbal.cz: Purkrabek přebírá tým SKV
SKVFlorbal.cz: Rozhovor s trenérem Purkrábkem
More than Coaching
I hold a Czech coaching B licence and used to referee women's and youth games in Prague, as well as league matches during my time in Slovenia.
Outside the field, I'm a PhD candidate in computer vision and AI at CTU. I use sport as a case study in my research and have shared some of it at coaching seminars.
If you'd like to know more…
We talked about some of this in a podcast for SKV (in Czech). It covers coaching, my view on floorball and SKV, and we even touched on how AI and computer vision could impact the game.
SKV Podcast #2 – Miroslav Purkrabek (in Czech)
Druhým hostem SKVělého podcastu byl 27letý trenér vinohradského áčka Miroslav Purkrabek.
skvflorbal.cz