ES / EN
- July 13, 2025 -
No Result
View All Result
OnCubaNews
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors
OnCubaNews
ES / EN
Home Sports

The day I booed… Mireya Luis

by
  • Reinaldo Cedeño
    Reinaldo Cedeño,
  • Reinaldo
    Reinaldo
December 5, 2014
in Sports
1

–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.

Related Posts

Long jumper Lester Lescay during his participation in the European Team Championships

Lester Lescay: “I left Cuba because I didn’t want to spend my youth there.”

July 5, 2025
Leonor Borrell during the induction ceremony into the International Basketball Federation’s Hall of Fame held this Sunday, May 18, in Bahrain. Photo: FIBA.

Leonor Borrell, a menace on the court

May 26, 2025
Leyanis Pérez on the awards podium at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing, China. Photo: Andrés Martínez Casares/EFE/EPA.

Cuba in Top 5 at World Indoor Championships

March 25, 2025
Yoandri Betanzos achieved multiple successes in world competitions as a representative of the Cuban athletics team in triple jump. Photo: Jorge Luis Coll Untoria.

Yoandri Betanzos: “The Cuban triple jump school is the best in the world”

February 15, 2025

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.

Cuba did not attend 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles -following most countries of the then socialist block; but in the next universal championship at Czechoslovakia, in 1986, it would prove its progress.

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.

Cuba did not attend the 1988 Olympics, again. The 1989 World Cup was a revenge for girls that could not be tested in Seoul. They climbed to the top of the podium. Mireya was chosen as the best spiker and was part of the ideal team of the tournament. She repeated that condition in the most demanding events.

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.

 

  • Reinaldo Cedeño
    Reinaldo Cedeño,
  • Reinaldo
    Reinaldo
Tags: LiteratureVoleibol cubano
Previous Post

Cuban doctor to be released from Geneva hospital Ebola free

Next Post

The new immortals of Cuban baseball (I)

Reinaldo Cedeño

Reinaldo Cedeño

Vivo en una ciudad con nombre de Apóstol y apellido de país: Santiago de Cuba. No creo en el horizonte, basta dar un paso más.

Reinaldo

Reinaldo

Next Post

The new immortals of Cuban baseball (I)

Cuban Jeslie Mergal, second in Miss Intercontinental 2014

Photo: Roberto Ruiz

The Harmonica Man

Comments 1

  1. bruh says:
    10 years ago

    bruh

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The conversation here is moderated according to OnCuba News discussion guidelines. Please read the Comment Policy before joining the discussion.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Most Read

  • OFAC.S. Department of the Treasury. Photo: Marita Pérez Díaz.

    OFAC fines U.S. company over $600,000 for shipping to Cuba

    25 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 6
  • Los Palacios, land of Cuban rice harvested by Vietnamese

    15 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
  • Trump reinstates hard-line Cuba embargo as Havana condemns US measure as “criminal”

    33 shares
    Share 13 Tweet 8
  • Lester Lescay: “I left Cuba because I didn’t want to spend my youth there.”

    19 shares
    Share 8 Tweet 5
  • San Juan Hill: heritage in the attic?

    15 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4

Most Commented

  • Photo: Kaloian.

    Private sector and tourism in Cuba. Why not?

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • About us
  • Work with OnCuba
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Moderation policy for comments
  • Contact us
  • Advertisement offers

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • World
  • Cuba
  • Cuba-USA
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Infographic
  • Culture
    • Billboard
  • Sports
  • Styles / Trends
  • Media
  • Special
  • Cuban Flavors

OnCuba and the OnCuba logo are registered® trademarks of Fuego Enterprises, Inc., its subsidiaries or divisions.
OnCuba © by Fuego Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}