Ruben Garabaja is new RK Eurofarm Pelister coach

Posted on 24. July 2025.

The champion of North Macedonia has a new coach, and once again, he comes from Spain. Former pivot of the Spanish national team, Rubén Garabaya, will lead Eurofarm Pelister for the next two seasons. Following in the footsteps of Raúl González, David Davis, David Pisonero, Roberto García Parrondo, and Raúl Alonso, the 46-year-old Garabaya becomes the sixth Spanish coach in Macedonia, and the second one in Bitola.

“The Eurofarm Pelister project continues from where it left off at the end of last season. As the reigning champion of Macedonia and a participant in the EHF Champions League, the club will begin preparations for the 2025/26 season tomorrow, once again entrusting the team to a Spanish expert. After a mutual agreement to part ways with Raúl Alonso, the club opted for a similar model – a young and ambitious Spanish coach to carry on the growth process. Rubén Garabaya Arenas is the new head coach of Eurofarm Pelister for the upcoming season, with an option to extend the cooperation if both parties are satisfied. A trophy-winning name from his playing days and a young coach with great potential, Garabaya is arriving in Bitola today and will hold his first training session with the team tomorrow at the ‘Boro Čurlevski’ sports hall,” the club said in an official statement.

Garabaya, aged 46, boasts a rich collection of medals from his playing career. He earned 168 caps for Spain as a line player, scored 318 goals, and won the World Championship title in Tunisia in 2005, silver at the 2006 European Championship in Switzerland, bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and another bronze at the 2011 World Championship in Sweden.

He began his career with Ademar León (winning the Copa del Rey and the EHF Cup Winners’ Cup), and also played for Frigoríficos del Morrazo and Valladolid. In 2007, he joined FC Barcelona, where he won three ASOBAL League titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, and reached the EHF Champions League final in the 2009/10 season. From 2010 to 2018, he played for Naturhouse La Rioja in Logroño, where he ended his playing career and began his journey as a coach.