We have widely publicized the successes of Cuban coaches in other places; cases like Iván Pedroso, Yansen Pérez, Carlos Rafael Gil, Alexander Navas, and a large group of boxing trainers are clear examples of what has been stated.
Well, today we will talk about a Villa Clara native who is making a mark in athletics in Panama: Alexis Roque. How did you arrive in the Isthmus, through a free contract or via CubaDeportes?
I have been in this country since September 2013; I came through a sports agreement with Cubadeportes until December 2017. Later, I continued on a personal contract.
Do you train in the capital, how many students, all males, in which disciplines?
I train middle-distance runners in Panama City without distinction of gender, and some athletes from other disciplines. I also train children to begin shaping them. Our group consists of 15 runners at different levels.
What conditions do you have in Panama?
Panama has a very hot and humid climate, not suitable for endurance events, but the work is coming along, and sports leaders are supporting us. All that's left is to go for more.
Are you thinking of putting down roots in Panama, returning to Cuba, or going to Spain? Talk about your family.
Personally, I would have preferred to continue my life in Cuba, as I am a country person who loves Santa Clara, but I had to support my family financially. Maybe if the Fondo Base had remained in Santa Clara, I would probably still be there, but things happen for a reason. There are things that one can change, but others do not depend on you, so you have to move on.
In Cuba are my wife and children, and if our land does not improve, they will end up who knows where. I can't clip their wings. I had to go out to fight to help the family, and I have stopped being by their side in good and bad times.
They, my children, are leaving. I have to respect their decisions, because I have made mine. The truth is that as of today, my wife's parents are older and it is time to take care of them and help them in every way. The certainty is the day-to-day life we live, Julita.
Names, specialties, brands, and best performances of your disciples?
I arrived in 2013 as I mentioned, with the objective of coaching Andrea Ferris, who was already a prominent athlete with high-level results. With her, we won three medals in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m steeplechase events at the Bolivarian Games held that year in Trujillo, Peru. In the case of the 1500m, setting a national record that is still standing.
In 2014, Andrea won the silver medal in the 1500m at the South American Games in Santiago, Chile, and that same year she gave birth to her daughter, so I returned to Panama from Arequipa, Peru, where she was training (she lived there with her husband, who was a Peruvian athlete).
Already in the Isthmus, in 2014, I began the training of new athletes, of whom the most advanced today are the 800-meter runner Chamar Chambers and the hurdler Diddier Rodríguez.
Chamar broke the national record for the 800m four times. In the first of these, he left behind the time of 48 seconds and five hundredths of a second, a Panamanian record that stood for 51 years, from 1971 to 2022. Recently, on May 11, at the Ibero-American Championships in Cuiabá, he broke it for the fourth time with a time of 1:45.27, which constitutes one of his greatest achievements.
Chamar Chambers has been a champion several times in the Isthmus, in the Central American Isthmus in the 800m and 400m, South American Games in Asunción 2022, 4th and 6th in the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador and Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023, and Ibero-American monarch in Cuiabá. We are trying to achieve the qualifying time for Paris 2024 because it seems difficult based on points; he competes little.
Diddier Rodríguez has broken the national record for the 3000m steeplechase five times and once for the 5000m; the three thousand mark, 9 minutes 10 seconds 4 hundredths, dated back to 1983, remained valid for 39 years until 2022. He recently lowered it to 8:39.22 at the Ibero-American Championships. The 5000m record dated back to 1986.
In his résumé, he stands out as a multiple medalist at the Central American Isthmus Championship, bronze in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the South American Games in Asunción 2022, 4th and 7th at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador and the Pan American Games in Chile, and bronze at the recent Ibero-American Games.
Do you think these young people can excel in the next Olympic quadrennial?
Yes, if they continue as they are, faithfully following the training and if they can participate in some competitions, I consider that yes. I train them and for me, they are part of my family; I trust them.
Upcoming competitions that will allow you to travel to Paris with one of your students?
At this moment, the athlete with the most possibilities is Chambers; we will have to lower his personal best to 0.57 sec. We will try it in Panama, in Brazil which has a good competitive calendar, and in Central America. The deadline is June 30 to run 1:44.70; the task is truly great, but so are the desires to achieve it.
What would it mean to you to be able to attend Paris?
If I go to Paris, it would be a dream come true, the one I had as a child to be at the Olympics watching Alberto Juantorena and Lasse Viren run in Montreal '76, but not as an athlete, but as a coach. It would be the first time I could attend an event of such magnitude.
Let's take a little trip to Cuba. What did the middle and long-distance running base of Santa Clara represent for you as an athlete and coach?
As an athlete, I belonged to the national team from 1984 to 1990, although without outstanding results. It was the golden era when the Cuba brothers, the Conde twins, Juan Linares, Ángel Rodríguez, Navel Parra, Lázaro Pereira, and several others were the leading athletes in the discipline.
My training as an athlete began at the Teacher Training School of Santa Clara in 1977 under the guidance of Physical Education teachers Nelson Martin and Pedro Monteagudo, and it was in the Orienteering group they formed that I discovered I liked running; that's how I started.
And when I finished my degree, I dedicated myself to athletics with Professor Abelardo Montiel at Campo Sport in Santa Clara.
Many speak with affection and respect about Professor Montiel.
Montiel was everything to me: a father, a friend; he was the one who instilled in me the love for being a coach. He always led by example and did not seek or understand justifications for doing the work.
In September 1987, the National Background Base was founded in Villa Clara, and I was part of that institution for four years as an athlete. Starting in 1991, the year I graduated with a degree in Physical Education, I stayed on to assist while learning and gaining experience.
At the time when the VC Base closed in 2011, we were a group of coaches who had won 6 medals in the last three editions of the Pan American Games, 2 of each color.
The closure of that center was a major branding mistake for many reasons: it was part of a chain reaction that left the middle and bottom in Cuba in the dark. The Base operated with austere resources, but the main thing was the love with which people worked there, the sense of belonging.
And like everything that happens over there, they had been trying to close it for years. Every time a new National Commissioner was appointed, and there were several after Jesús Molina, someone sold them that idea of closing the Base. They would come, see us pushing forward, and not only did they not close it, but they supported us, until the staff reduction came and they reduced us to 0.
The Base was not only for training athletes, but because it was located in Fajardo, it became a training entity for coaches, it was a link with the professional training of the Faculty for those who graduated from the Physical Education career.
Many young people emerged from there who, upon finishing their studies and not continuing in high-performance sports as athletes, would return to their provinces, well-trained. It was not uncommon to see more than one budding coach quickly standing out. We lost all of that without mentioning that the names of our athletes were lost in the ether.
I trained many athletes at that base, including a great athlete, Andy González, who is the Central American and Pan American champion, as well as the Ibero-American champion, a finalist in the Youth World Championships, and a semifinalist in London 2012. He is like a son to me. It is thanks to his great results that Panama has hired me.
Cuban athletics today, so many talents spread throughout the world: triple jumpers, sprinters, hurdlers. What do you think?
The first thing is that the exodus of coaches and athletes has been significant for years, mostly linked to Cuba's economic situation. As a Cuban myself... how I wish many of those athletes could represent Cuba on the international stage! Many of them were trained there, and it is our flag and our idiosyncrasy; however, I believe that this could have been avoided. How? By allowing them to join clubs, leagues.
They had no choice and today it is being done, but it took a long time to understand and we lost many athletes and coaches. I will always wish success to all Cubans wherever they are and in whatever circumstances they find themselves, not only in sports, but in any social sphere, for a simple reason: we were born in the belly of the Green Cayman and that can't be changed by anyone.
Good luck to our compatriots in Paris 2024, whether they are inside or outside the island!
Regarding Paris, what do you think about Cuban sports at the Olympic event?
Cuba's chances of winning medals will always exist, especially in combat sports and athletics. In the latter, the field of jumps could contribute, especially in the triple jump, and I don't know how Juan Miguel is doing. If Iván Pedroso's master hand rescues him, there will be a fight, no one should doubt that. At this point, those are the best chances I see... oh! for the future, there will always be athletes reaching stellar levels, but for Paris, it's not yet time for them— they are still inexperienced with the potential for great things.
Current situation in Cuba. Villa Clara, your province, has been worse than ever punished by constant blackouts. What do you think about that?
It is no secret the economic difficulties that exist and that considerably worsens the life of the average Cuban; a major issue is the electrical power supply. As a country, our lack of liquidity to buy fuel greatly limits its acquisition, and on the other hand, no less important, is that the power plants are old and not only need repairs but replacement, and today that is not possible.
A shame, but it's very true. Grateful for your words.
I would like to tell you something else: to thank all the people who have contributed to our development as individuals and as professionals, starting with my mother and my whole family who taught us to be honest and hardworking.
My teachers at all educational and sports levels, as well as all the students I have had the opportunity to work with in these more than 30 years as a coach, to whom we taught and also learned from them, as well as all the friends and coworkers with whom we shared the journey up to this day, thank you Julita and Cibercuba for the deference!
What do you think?
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