… And yet

Por: Ragnar Alarcón

Lacks in the discovery and recruitment of child-age talent; insufficient specialized and up-to-date knowledge of technicians, referees and athletes; nepotism and other arbitrariness in the formation of selections at each level and in all categories; disrethroes, meagging demand and lack of professionalism; the lousy condition of the facilities; the application of obsolescent methods; insufficient fogueo and resistance to international procurement… Put into question the current state of health of the sport in Cuba, about this and more specialists and amateurs argue to consider it at least urged of intensive care since, of course, the migratory phenomenon – talent flight will call it others – and the diferendo with the United States – call it blocking, tell it however, name it as it deems – are its carcinomas, its main and until now incurable tumors.
All or almost all of us are helped by the most questionable reason that our judgments may be, but it is appropriate to orient the analyses to and from the greater evil, at the counter-breath of fragmented glances by virtue of sports disciplines, geographical areas, life stories, fortuitous events or personal experiences. This, because the diseases of our sport are not deprived of baseball, football or volleyball, are not major or minor in Manzanillo, Guaracabuya or Centro Habana, they do not hurt more or less in national competitions, Central American tournaments or Olympic Games. These conditions carcome all disciplines, swarm equally in every corner of the archipelago and make us punish Cubans as soon as the scenario exists.
The main problem of sport in Cuba, above all possible debates and arguments, is systemic, anquilorated as it is in the past, asleep as it remains on preterite laurels. To listen to it from that perspective will mean placing your finger on the sore at once and only then undertaking its revitalization (which could not happen outside of a similar process in society as a whole, because one is an expression of the other).
Designed to lead sports management in Cuba since 1961, the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) faces the challenge of detonating its foundations to undertake a transformation that guarantees cardinal foundational purposes even and, above all, recognizes the demands of today – media, legal, scientific, structural… – with the purpose of consummating them (otherwise, any change or variation will be just one act of the worst travestism imagined).
At the moment, its management, let’s say with the benefit of doubt through, promotes and promotes the sport of excellence, but, for example, it does not have a system of structures that avoids competition gaps during the year and guarantees the dispute of national tournaments of various sports (the most popular in the first order) at all levels, without their calendars getting in the way or the media attention to some condemns the visibility of others.
Now, because the global sporting context requires it, it must enter into partnerships with other professions, first of all with institutions of law, given the need to establish, in accordance with constitutional principles, a legal instrument that sustains and sign the agreement with the media, the relationship with migrant athletes (to begin with, the issue that integrating national teams is contingent on participation in domestic championships) , plus the hiring of coaches, athletes, referees and various specialists, among many other issues.
Desiring to lose credibility and legitimacy (or what remains of them), it has the task of creating digital platforms (one global, others in each sport) to inform with transparency about their work, seduce children and young people, and, more importantly, foster regular interaction with journalists and amateurs.
And believe it, these are just three of the roads that the agency has not yet traveled, started to dislodge recently or simply travel with more sons-in-law than hits (the best sample button is the official website of the National Baseball Series); three ways that require attitude, of course, but also a lot of aptitude; three of the various lines of work to amortize all the above-targeted ills and also attract fans, increase practitioners of all sports, and highlight and protect the nation’s sporting history. Ω

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