On The Record with Jorge Del Valle Gutierrez, Head Coach, Cuba Women’s Water Polo Team

Lima, Saturday August 10, 2019 - Mayelin Bernal from Cuba, shoulder turned, attempts a shot during the Women’s Bronze medal Water Polo match against Brazil at the Complejo Deportivo Villa Maria del Triunfo at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 . Enrique Cuneo / Lima 2019 Mandatory credits: Lima 2019 ** NO SALES ** NO ARCHIVES **
Cuba's Mayelín Bernal scored 18 goals at the 2019 Pan American Games. Photo Courtesy: Enrique Cuneo / Lima 2019

LIMA, PERU. Of the many different water polo teams that participated at the 2019 Pan American Games, Cuba’s program offered perhaps the most potential. A once-dominant program—in 1991 Cuban men’s polo beat the U.S. in the Pan American gold medal match, the last team to accomplish that feat—Cuba has enjoyed a long and successful history in the sport.

pan_american_logo.svgJust not recently. The Cubans have not medaled at Pan Ams in a decade, when their women won bronze at the 2007 Games. Still, they remain a potent force in regional polo, last week finishing fourth and fifth respectively for their women’s and men’s teams. Add in a vibrant Cuban polo community in Hialeah, a community in Miami that contains the highest percentage of Cuban Americans in the U.S. and the results for the island nation 90 miles off the Florida coast could improve quickly.

[On The Record With Alex Donis, Coach for Hialeah Storm and Hialeah High School Water Polo]

After his women’s team lost the third-place match to Brazil, head coach Jorge Del Valle Gutierrez, who represented his country in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, spoke with Swimming World about Canada and the U.S.—the hemisphere’s major players—his country’s need to investment in a sport that it once excelled at and how relations between neighbors are impacting the growth of polo in the region.

-Your team played both the USA and Canada. Any thoughts about why those are so good?

In reality the reflection of [USA and Canada] is that they’re a well-formed team. We’re a team that barely taking the course in the world of sports in this case in water polo. We are a young team. and I honestly believe that we have to work harder than usual to try to match those performances of the USA and Canada.

– There’s only been two women’s teams that have ever made the finals of the Pan American Games: Canada and the U.S. This may be good for those two teams but not necessarily good for the region.

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Jorge Del Valle Gutierrez. Photo Courtesy: M. Randazzo

I believe that the main reason for this outcome is due to economic factors. This is because without money we can’t develop natural conditions for kids to participate in tournaments. I believe we have to create an infrastructure where everybody can participate in a competitive environment. This will create great participation and from that we can select the most outstanding participant of this sport.

In Cuba it takes hard work but I think this creates a lot of differences. In the United States, possibly in Los Angeles you have more hundreds of water-polo [players]. In Cuba we only have 50 water polo players of female gender. If we take in consideration teaching, we still don’t possess or perhaps haven’t created the conditions to teach young kids the basic of water polo.

I personally believe that’s the fundamental difference.

– There is a core of developing players in Miami. What possibilities might there be for these athletes to play for the Cuban national team? 

I believe [Cuba] should develop them on their own. This is because every country has their own condition and these conditions allow the athlete to bring their best. There’s another problem is nationality. If you’re not Cuban or even if you’re a Cuban-American you can’t play with [the Cuban national team].

Lima, Saturday August 10, 2019 - Women’s Bronze medal Water Polo match between Cuba and Brazil at the Complejo Deportivo Villa Maria del Triunfo at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 . Enrique Cuneo / Lima 2019 Mandatory credits: Lima 2019 ** NO SALES ** NO ARCHIVES **

Cuba’s Mairelis Zunzunegui Morgan is center of action. Photo Courtesy: Enrique Cuneo / Lima 2019

It is most fundamental for athletes to develop themselves in their own country. This brings the most real condition to develop their sport to the highest level.

– The best women’s polo play is in the United States, 90 miles away from Cuba. What would it take for Cuban women—or any of your country’s players—to compete for American universities? 

This will be very good. but, the government of the United States will not allow Cubans to attend their universities. It is very difficult as long as we have different form of government. Maybe in other places, for example, we have athletes that visit Europe; playing in America would be good but it is almost impossible [now].

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