Sports Club Rasta Vechta is a German

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club based in

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta (district), Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. The club plays in the

ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the ...

, the second tier of professional

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Founded in 1979, the club spent the majority of its history in the lower-tier German leagues. In 2012, the team promoted to the second-tier

and ever since it has been balancing between relegation from the BBL and promotion from ProA.

History

Foundation

The club was founded on 26 June 1979 as the basketball team of the Antonianum Gymnasium, with former students playing in the team. The name of the club, "Rasta", is a tribute to

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

music because

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

's ''

Rastaman Vibration ''Rastaman Vibration'' is the eighth studio album by the reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in April 1976. Critical reception Reviewing for ''Rolling Stone'' in 1976, Robert Palmer said that on the album Marley consummately perfo ...

'' was playing when the name was decided.

Recent years

In the 2012–13 season, Vechta won the German second-tier

after beating Gloria Giants Düsseldorf in the finals. This season, they entered their new home arena, the

Rasta Dome Rasta Dome, stylized as RASTA Dome, is a sports arena in Vechta, Germany. The arena serves as the home venue of SC Rasta Vechta of the Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) ( English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for ...

. After winning the ProA in its first season in the new arena, Vechta was promoted to the first-tier

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

(BBL). In 2013, the arena, which had an original capacity of 2,000 spectators, was expanded to accommodate 3,140 fans in order to meet minimum size requirements for the Basketball Bundesliga. However, the team finished last in the 2013–14 season and were immediately relegated back to the ProA. In the 2015–16 season, Rasta once again promoted to the Bundesliga. Just like the previous BBL adventure, the team would relegate again in its first season back.

National playoffs and European debut (2018–2020)

In April 2018, Vechta promoted to the BBL for the third time, after defeating PS Karlsruhe Lions in the ProA semi-finals, 3–1. In the 2018–19 Basketball Bundesliga, Vechta had an incredible season under Spanish head coach Pedro Calles. Vechta claimed the fourth place in the regular season to advance to the BBL playoffs for the first time in club history. In the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, it eliminated

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketba ...

with a 3–1 score. In the semi-finals, Vechta was swept by title favorites Bayern Munich. In the 2019–20 season, Rasta made its debut in Europe as it qualified for a spot in the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercontin ...

(BCL). In Group B, the German team finished in the 5th place.

Honours

**Winners: 2012–13, 2017–18 ***Runner-up: 2015–16

Players

Current roster

Notable players

Austin Hollins Austin Hollins (born November 8, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota. Early life and h ...

(born 1991), American basketball player for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

Ike Iroegbu Ikenna Ugochukwu Iroegbu (born March 14, 1995) is an American-born Nigerian basketball player for Treviso Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Iroegbu played college basketball for Washington State University, and is a member of the Nigerian ...

(born 1995), American-born Nigerian basketball player for the

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

of the

* Scott Machado, American-Brazilian *

Ish Wainright Ishmail Carzell Wainright (born September 12, 1994) is an American-Ugandan professional basketball player who last played for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the senior Ugandan national ...

(born 1994), American-born Ugandan basketball player for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Season by season

European record

Head coaches

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vechta, Rasta Basketball teams established in 1979 Basketball clubs in Lower Saxony Vechta (district) 1979 establishments in West Germany