Félix Bañobre
Bañobre with Bochum in 2025 | |
| VfL AstroStars Bochum | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | ProA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 5 July 1970 London, England |
| Nationality | Spanish / British |
| Position | Swingman |
| Coaching career | 1989–present |
| Career history | |
| As a coach: | |
| 2016–2019 | SC Rist Wedel |
| 2019–present | VfL AstroStars Bochum |
Félix Bañobre Carballo (born 5 July 1970) is a Spanish basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach of the VfL AstroStars Bochum. He also holds British citizenship.
Early life
Even though Bañobre was born in London, his home town is A Coruña. Bañobre returned to his home country at the age of 15. Because of his height, he was approached by a scout from first division club CB OAR Ferrol.[1]
Playing career
Bañobre played as Swingman. In 2016, he recalled that as a player, he had been a good shooter who once scored 56 points in a game.[1]
Coaching career
Bañobre started coaching children and young people during his playing career. He also coached the professionals at his first station and a second division club.[1]
In Spain, he once had the later NBA players Ricky Rubio and Pau Gasol under his wing at an elite camp for the country's best talents.[1]
Later, he wanted to get out of Spain and was active in Denmark, coaching Team FOG Næstved in the first half of the 2013-14 season.[2] Then, he managed the German regional league club BC Erfurt in 2015-16.[3] In 2016, Bañobre already had 27 years of experience in the coaching sector.[1]
In August 2016, he moved from BC Erfurt to SC Rist Wedel, cooperation partner of Hamburg Towers.[1] In 2017-18, Bañobre simultaneously coached two teams (SC Rist Wedel in the ProB league and Hamburg's Under-19-side).[4] He later left Wedel and joined Bochum for the 2019-20 season.[5]
In his first year, he and the team qualified for the ProB playoffs. In the following season, Bochum was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga ProA. In their first year in ProA, they managed to stay in the league. In the 2022-23 season, the team barely missed the ProA play-offs,[5] finishing the regular season in ninth place.[6] In late April 2023, he extended his contract there until 2026.[5] In 2024, Bañobre's Bochum side suffered relegation from the ProA,[7] but remained in the league, because no teams were promoted from the ProB.[8] In the 2024-25 season, Bañobre led Bochum to its first ProA playoff appearance in team history.[9] They fell to regular season champions Jena (0-3) in the opening round (quarter finals).[10]
Coaching style
In mid-2016, Bañobre stated that he follows the “Spanish style of basketball,” meaning much freedom for the players while taking away pressure from them.[1]
Personal
He plays chess in his free time, collects exclusive wristwatches.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Der spanische Steuermann ist nun an Bord Frederik Büll (Hamburger Abendblatt), 6 August 2016. Accessed 12 December 2023.(in German)
- ^ Keseric, Boba (2013-12-09). "Felix Banobre fyret – Team FOG Næstved ansætter ny træner". Fullcourt.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2025-04-28. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ "Bittere Lektion für die Regionalliga-Azubis der Longhorns". www.nordbayern.de. 2015-12-20. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ "Hamburg Towers bauen Kooperation mit dem SC Rist Wedel aus". 2. Basketball Bundesliga. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ a b c Felix Banobre bleibt Trainer der Sparkassen Stars Bochum Markus Rensinghoff (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung), 27 April 2023. Accessed 12 December 2023.(in German)
- ^ "Tabelle ProA 2022-23". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Archived from the original on 2025-04-28. Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ Brendel, Dominik (2024-04-28). "ProA: Bochum steigt ab - Trainer Banobre kommen die Tränen". Westfalenpost (in German). Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ Ziser, Philipp (2024-12-09). "Eigentlich abgestiegen, jetzt spitze: Bochum ist das Sensationsteam der ProA". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ Ritter, Ralf (2025-04-27). "„Unbeschreiblich!" VfL-Basketballer schreiben Geschichte: Bochum spielt Playoffs". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-28.
- ^ Ziser, Philipp (2025-05-07). "„Letztes Jahr habe ich hier geweint" - Bochumer Basketballer scheiden bei Science City Jena aus". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2025-05-09.