José Luis Dámaso Martinez (born May 14, 1974) is a Spanish international professional basketball coach. He has coached professionally in Spain, Nicaragua and recently in El Salvador with A.D. Isidro Metapán and Quezaltepeque Basketball Club. Currently, he is the head coach of the Liga Municipal Monsenor Romero female team. The team competes out of Santa Ana,

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

in La Liga Mayor de Baloncesto Femenino. He is most known for winning a championship in the

ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

with Toros del Norte in 2015 and his team's subsequent victory in the FIBA COCABA Championship He has also served as the head coach of the Guatemalan male and female national teams for the

Central American Games The Central American Games () are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federations of the Central American Sports Organ ...

and

Centrobasket The Centrobasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA). Th ...

in 2017.

Early life

Dámaso was born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on May 14, 1974.

Coaching career

Spain

Dámaso began his professional career with Club Deportivo Nazaret (Valencia) first as a player and then as an eventual coach from 1992 - 1997. Afterwards he had a 14-year tenure with Albacete under its various club affiliates (C.A.B.A, CB Cinco y Albacete Basket). In the 2014 – 2015, Dámaso joined Fundacion Real Madrid before continuing his coaching career in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. In the Spanish coaching ranks, Dámaso is most known for his time spent with Caja Rural de Albacete C.A.B.A – a third division female team competing out of

LEB Plata The Segunda FEB, formerly known as LEB 2 and LEB Plata, is the third basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system and the second basketball division organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. Since 2019, three teams are promote ...

. There, his team won a match 206-20 against CB Villarrobledo – a Spanish national record for margin of victory that stood for many years.

Nicaragua

In 2015, Dámaso accepted a contract to coach Toros del Norte in the

. The team finished 15-3 (win-loss) in league play, defeating Leones de Managua in the finals, 4-1. With the victory, the team was invited to participate in the FIBA COCABA Championship - where the club prevailed, winning the regional club tournament held in

that year. Toros del Norte was then invited to compete in The

FIBA Americas League The FIBA Americas League ( Portuguese: ''FIBA Liga das Américas'', Spanish: ''FIBA Liga de las Américas''), officially abbreviated as the LDA, was the premier intercontinental basketball club competition played annually by clubs of the entire ...

- a tournament consisting of the 16 best club teams in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. In the following 2016 season, Dámaso joined Trini's de La Trinidad (Esteli) of the

. The team finished first in league-play at 16-5 (win-loss) and qualified for the championship finals. However they were eliminated by third-seeded Tiburones Movistar in the final round, 3-1. Despite the loss, Dámaso and Esteli were still invited to participate in the 2016 FIBA COCABA Championship.

El Salvador

In 2018, Damaso signed a contract with A.D. Isidro Metapan playing out of La Liga Mayor de Baloncesto in

– becoming the first Spanish coach in league history. In his first year the club was eliminated 3-1 in the first round of the LMB playoffs against fourth-seeded

Brujos de Izalco Brujos Mario Calvo de Izalco Fútbol Club are a Salvadoran professional football club based in Izalco, Sonsonate. The club currently plays in the Segunda División de El Salvador. History The club purchased the license of Quequeisque F.C. ...

however in his second season, A.D. Isidro Metapan made its second finals appearance in team history, ultimately losing to Santa Tecla. Following the season, Damaso signed with Quezaltepeque Basketball Club. In 2020 Damaso returned to coaching women's basketball by taking the head coaching position with Liga Municipal Monsenor Romero based out of Santa Ana,

. The team competes in La Liga Mayor de Baloncesto Femenino.

International career

Guatemala

In 2017, alongside fellow Spaniard Angel Fernández, Dámaso and Fernández combined to coach the men's and women's Guatemalan national teams for the 2017

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

as well as the women's national team for the 2017

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas (, , ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of the United States. Along with surrounding minor islands, it is one of t ...

, respectively. In that same year the Guatemalan Basketball Federation offered Dámaso full control of both squads for a three-four year development project meant to last beyond the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damaso Martinez, Jose Luis Spanish basketball coaches 1974 births Living people