Spotlight on Carlos Fernandez

It’s been the best ever start to a BBL season for the new look Worcester Wolves and Carlos Fernandez.

The Spaniard has been an integral part of Paul James’ team which is on quite a roll right now and still unbeaten in the BBL Championship. It’s a situation which means Fernandez is absolutely thrilled with his first few months of British Basketball action.

“Everything has been great so far” he explains.

“We have a great group of guys and great chemistry off the court too which translates into the games. I didn’t get too much playing time during the last two years, so now I’m really enjoying being an important part of the team.

“I knew it was going to take me a few games to get my full confidence back. But, I feel like I am helping the team and getting better with every game. “Meanwhile off the court, there is nothing I can complain about. I love Worcester as a city and I love the Wolves fans!”

And, as if to emphasise the fact he genuinely loves life in Worcester he adds,

“I’m even starting to get used to the weather!”

It’s a big difference from home for the unassuming Fernandez who like most Spanish kids, found his way into the sport at an early age and was pushed hard by his folks to make it as a pro. “I’m from Leon and my family is the most important thing I have in the world. My parents have always been loving but also demanding. They have always supported me in whatever I decided to do.”

“I’m just a regular 24-year-old guy that really enjoys playing basketball. I started playing at school when I was eight and year after year, basketball became more and more important in my life.

“Basketball has given me not only great moments, but also a lot of friends and important values in life.”

Fernandez only had a fleeting experience at College, he attended Illinois Tech having started studying at the University of Leon.

“It was a great opportunity for me. Moving overseas and living in a city like Chicago when I was only 20 toughened me up as a person.  “Basketball-wise, I got to learn a different style of play, which helped me to grow up as a player.”

On his return to Spain, he was then handed the chance to play in the second tier of Spanish basketball, a league still widely accepted as being better than most top flight leagues elsewhere in Europe. While it was a great grounding at the start of his life as a pro-player, Fernandez couldn’t resist answering the call from Wolves when it arrived.

He said, “Right after college, LEB Gold was my first professional basketball experience. It is a really tough league, full of very experienced players.

“Having the chance of playing with some of them was great for me. I matured as a player and it made me understand the game a little bit better.

“At one point during last season I felt like a needed a change. Although being involved in a top competition like LEB Gold was great, I wasn’t getting as much playing time as I wanted. I felt like this was stopping my progression as a player.

“That’s when I heard from the Wolves.

“Coach James showed a lot of interest and I felt like it was the right thing to do. I wanted to feel important in a team and enjoy playing basketball again. The opportunity to take my Masters degree was also decisive. “My studies have always been an important part in my life. Between basketball and classes, I have never have too much free time!”

Since leaving his homeland and life in LEB Gold, Fernandez has watched some of his friends make it to the European big league.

“I am not friends with Gasol or Calderon but I do have some friends playing in ACB (the top Spanish League)!

“Some of my former team-mates took the big step to what is considered the second best league in the world. Now they tell me how it is to play among great players like Rudy Fernandez or Juan Carlos Navarro in front of 15,000 fans.”

There has never been a better time to be a Spanish athlete, Spanish sports fan or in the case of Fernandez, both. These are heady days for Spanish sport and as I desperately try to convince him of how boring winning everything in basketball and football must be, he refuses to take the bait.

“Ha, ha, not a bit!” laughs the forward.

“We have to love and enjoy the ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish sports that we are living. And, it’s not only the national teams winning everything in basketball and football.”

Sensing an opportunity to hammer home the point and perhaps educate me that Spain are seemingly out for world sporting dominance, he gleefully adds,  “It is also Rafa Nadal winning tennis tournaments all around the world, Pau Gasol winning NBA Championships for the Lakers, Alberto Contador dominating in cycling, Fernando Alonso in F1 racing, and so on.”

“I think this is indicative of how important sport is in Spanish society.”

While Fernandez winning some silverware this season in Worcester isn’t likely to add his name to such an ‘A-list’ of Spanish sporting accomplishments, it would still be celebrated with the same kind of passion and vigour by Wolves’ fans and make one proud family from Leon joyously happy.