Thirty-one-year-old Bohačík has spent two years in Strasbourg and one year in Bamberg. For the team of new coach Francesco Tabellini, who replaced sports director Ladislav Sokolovský on the bench, he is another reinforcement after Spencer Svejcar from Ústí nad Labem, Sukhmail Mathon from Ostrava, Thomas Bell from Bristol and Tya Gordon from Tartu.
“The hiring of Jaromír was one of the main goals for us this summer and we are very happy that it was successful. He is a very experienced player who should help us on the field, but also in the cabin. In addition, he knows the Nymburk environment,” said the general manager Nymburk Ondřej Šimeček.
“Jaromír doesn’t need to be introduced because the Nymburk fans know him much better than I do. But I’m really happy to have such a player on board. It’s a blessing for any coach to have such a successful player in the team. He brings us experience as well as leadership,” said Tabellini .
Bohačík worked in Nymburk from 2017 to 2020 and won two titles with him. With the national team, he won a historic sixth place at the World Championship in China in 2019, and the year before last he was present at the premier participation of the independent Czech national team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He is supposed to help Nymburk to return to the throne, where he was absent this year for the first time since 2004 after the semi-final defeat with Opava.
Benda: Some decisions are hard
Benda played 818 games in 22 seasons in the league, which ranks him in third place on the historical charts behind David Machač (854) and Radek Nečas (904). He scored 8334 points and added 4802 rebounds. The native of Jihlava started playing in the league in Brno, wearing the Nymburk jersey since 2007.
“Some decisions are difficult, even if you have known for a long time that one day they will come. Petr Benda is a legend of our club and of Czech basketball. A person whom we greatly respect as a person and professionally, and that made our decision not to extend the contract much more difficult. However, all the same just as Petr disarmed us with his performances on the field, he also disarmed us at the negotiating table when he told us that he would end his career as a professional athlete,” said Šimeček.
Benda will continue to operate in the club in a different role, the form of which is in question. “Petr will just exchange his jersey, cleats and ball for a shirt, mobile phone and computer. He will partially help us in the field of sponsorship and obtaining new business opportunities. And although I know it will not be an easy mission, I believe it will be just as successful. Because as he approached the career of a professional athlete in the same way he approaches his career outside the basketball court. Just Petr Benda,” added Šimeček.
Photo: Vlastimil Vacek, Law
Petr Benda in the jersey of the national team
Benda did not want to continue his career elsewhere than in Nymburk. “I had offers from other teams as well, but none of them were motivating enough for me to continue my playing career. That’s why I decided to quit and focus on a new career. I’ve experienced a lot with basketball on the court, now I’m looking forward to I get to know that more also from behind the scenes,” Benda stated.
He will say goodbye to his career on the field. “We want Petr to be able to enjoy the full ovation of the audience once more and for the fans to have the opportunity to say goodbye to their favorite during the match,” said the club’s press spokesman David Šváb. Benda’s number 4 jersey will be ceremonially retired. “Already in the summer, the new players had a request for number four, but they had to choose another one, because this number will forever belong to Peter in Nymburk,” added Šváb.