From Lima to Lund: Fabio Valdivia Joins IK Eos

We are happy to share that Fabio Valdivia Santillana will be a new coach for Eos Damer Utveckling, in Basketettan Dam, for the 2026/27 season. Fabio arrives with eight professional seasons as a player in Spain and a coaching background built alongside strong coaching staffs. He will also continue his playing career with Eos Herrar A in Superettan.

“I firmly believe that the players are the stars of the game, and that we, as coaches, must give them the tools they need and work on their behalf.”

The road from Lima

Fabio's professional playing career spans eight seasons. Four of them were spent across two clubs in Zamora, where he helped earn the promotion to Liga EBA, followed by two seasons as first-team point guard at Óbila Club de Basket in Ávila, and shorter, more recent stops at Segovia and Moraleja.

Coaching ran alongside his playing career almost from the start. He began as an assistant at Torrejón, working with kids aged 10 to 15, then learned how a top-tier staff operates during his years in Zamora, and is now pursuing Level III, the highest coaching certification in Spain. His biggest results came at Óbila, where he coached the club's junior and senior women's teams to a league championship, a Cup final, and promotion, all built around a genuine team identity.

Fabio was born in Lima, Peru, and started playing basketball at age four thanks to his older brother, despite Peru's lack of a basketball tradition. His family moved to Spain when he was seven, and he kept at it, coming up through every age group at Torrejón Basketball Academy near Madrid, which he still considers the place where it all began.

In good company

Like many clubs in Swedish basketball, Eos has some experience with Spanish coaches, and Fabio now follows that pattern. He joins on the recommendation of two coaches with their own history at the club, Erik Ugarte, now with AIK in SBL Dam, and Emiliano Rey, now with Köping in SBL Herr, both of whom left strong impressions during their time at Eos.

He also visited the club in person before joining and came away impressed by its organization, its youth and community work, and the closeness between the first team and the development team. He was not short on good things to say about Lund either.

“I felt it was a place that embodied the values I wanted to continue growing with, and it had everything I was looking for.”

Wearing several hats

Fabio's role at Eos is a genuinely broad one. He and Justin Berry, the new SBL Dam head coach, will share leadership of Damer Utveckling, a setup increasingly common in Swedish basketball. Fabio will also play for Eos Herrar A and head coach the 2010 girls youth team. He will also contribute to the player development efforts, working on both physical preparation and individual skill work. It is a lot of hours in the gym, and he would not want it any other way.

Off the court

Away from basketball, Fabio describes himself as laid-back, someone who does not need much to enjoy the little things. He stays close to his family and friends, though he will be the first to admit that switching off from the game can be a bit difficult. He is a bit modest and reserved when it comes to talking about himself, but people will get to know him better as time goes on.

We welcome Fabio to the Eos family!