Returning as the World Team defensive backs coach, Heikkinen is the head coach of Finland's senior national team. Heikkinen has won three European Championships and eight national championships as a coach or player. The five-time Coach of the Year in Finland was inducted into the SAFL Hall of Fame in 2008.

What does it mean to you to represent your country as a member of the World Team staff?

It's a huge honor. The experience last year was incredible and I only realized it when I got home how big it was and I was very happy to be invited to do it again. It's a great honor and I also believe that if I manage to do a good job it's also a good representation of my country.

Why did you get into coaching?

I was player in the 80s but I am a teacher by training so it was only natural for me to get into coaching at the end of my playing career and I've been doing it ever since.

Who is your favorite coach?

We had a lot of American coaches come to Finland in the 80s and 90s - NFL coaches, college coaches - and I was so blown away by the way they were able to manage people so I admire many of them.

Why did you start playing football?

I was doing all kinds of sports and was very much into lifting weights when I was a teenager. Then the sport came to my hometown and they were recruiting people. Whoever they saw and they liked they asked to play. I was actually recruited by a coach named Hugh Wyatt who was very active in Europe and the United States. I went to practice a couple of times and after that I knew I wanted to play.

What do you hope to take from this event to help improve football in your country?

I am hoping for the same thing as last year. I am the head coach of the Finnish National Team and we went into training camp last year using the same top-down learning model we use here. That was very different from what we had at home. Way up north where I'm from we're maybe too systematic so it really changed the way we build our national team. They realize now it's all about evaluating and scouting your team. I think that is a big reason why we beat Sweden for the first time in seven years and I owe that to this program.