jueves, 1 de enero de 2015
The day I booed… MIREYA LUIS
Reinaldo Cedeño Pineda
–Mamita !
Mamita!!!
I screamed loudly at Armando
Mestre Sports
Palace , in Santiago de Cuba , in 1983. I shouted again
and the stands seconded the claim in a chorus:
–We want Mamita!!!
A call to the legend: Mercedes ¨Mamita¨
Pérez , member of the world champion team in 1978. The women’s volleyball match
between Cuba and United States
was being dominated by the visitors thanks to the excellence of their players.
Mamita´s magic was needed urgently.
The northern sextet had in its ranks the
giant Flora Hyman, the short Rita Crocker, the efficient Debbie Green … The
setter drew the ball in the air and the court trembled after every American
spike. The previous year, at the World Cup in Peru , they had won the bronze
medal; but their rise had not stopped. Cuba was facing , perhaps, the best
team in the world.
Eugenio George, the Cuban coach, announced a
change. Now Mamita is going to play, I thought… but instead of Mercedes Pérez,
the player who appeared in the court was an inexperienced sixteen-years-old
girl, not even very tall, with an unknown name: Mireya Luis.
Spellbound by the game I was witnessing,
nothing on her impressed me. I did not know seeing the strategy or the
generational renewal and I booed her, almost viciously.
I left the Sports
Palace convinced that a medal at the
Pan American Games in Caracas
-in August of that same year- would be difficult to reach. In addition to United States ,
the Peruvian girls also have a very strong team, with the lefty Cecilia Tait
and central blocker Gaby Perez del Solar.
The Venezuelan capital was a battle. The
stellar veteran Imilsis Téllez was still the Cuban setter. Mireya made her
debut in style. Cuba
managed to get to the title discussion. The 3-2 win over the formidable
American squad came out of all odds. I still remember the hugs, the jumps.
Mireya was news. A few weeks ago, she had
become a mother and her participation was not assured. Would she still own her
fabulous strength in the jump and attack? The question hung in the air, but she
took care of clear them. I could not believe it when I saw her coming from the
bench. I cried so much in front of the TV screen that the shouts must have been
heard in the very center of Europe .
The history of Cuban Volleyball is known
(glorious history). The women’s team was dubbed The Spectacular Dark-skinned
Girls of the Caribbean and they won three consecutive Olympic Games: Barcelona 92, Atlanta 96
and Sydney 2000.
I particularly remember another of their
success such as the World Cup in Brazil in 1994. The Cuban players
won all matches without losing a set; including the final against the host. The
matches between them were train crashes; but the game of the Caribbean
athletes silenced the local public support.
An expert said that the Cuban squad had
become a “machine” of playing volleyball. Mireya was the locomotive.
In China , “Luis” became queen. Her
name opened all doors. Each of her points was echoed. She enjoyed playing and
infected her teammates. When the team resented, she put character. A “scoopful”
by Mireya used to be the perfect remedy. And no one dared to steal her an
individual award, not risking the Chinese public -usually calmed- to invade the
court.
Mireya Luis is one of the athletes with
greatest record in the history of Latin American sport and a living legend of
universal volleyball. Charismatic and respected, after her retirement, she
joined the Athletes Commission of the International Olympic Committee and is
currently helping to the development of beach volleyball in Cuba .
Now that there are Caribbean spikes in many
teams in the world, and other Cuban girls playing volleyball got a bronze medal
at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz , my mind flooded with memories of
thirty years ago.
I owe
Mireya an apology; an excuse with rigor. You do not witness the birth of a star
every day.
Article in Spanish: El día que chiflé a Mireya Luis
http://laislaylaespina.blogspot.com/2015/01/el-dia-que-chifle-mireya-luis.html
Suscribirse a:
Enviar comentarios (Atom)
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario