8/15/2001: Atlantis at Havana Exhibition Sevens
Emil Signes
September 14, 2001
JUNE 26, 2013
Note of June 2013: Interesting tour, lots
of good times and great stories. Behind the scenes there were also some
"issues." And the now-infamous
"cigar story." This is the article on
the Cuba portion of the trip as prepared for Rugby
Magazine.
Atlantis Tour of Cuba,
Caymans:
The Cuba Portion
Emilito
The Atlantis invitational sevens rugby team traveled to the first
Cayman Island Sevens this year, where it won 4 and lost 3, going
down in the Plate Final. Its performance there is outlined
in another article in this issue.
En route to the Cayman Islands, Atlantis made its second visit to
Cuba, where it played two tune-up matches, one with Cuba “B” and
one with the Cuban national team.
From a rugby point of view, this part of the trip was
insignificant, but from a human relations point of view, it was a
beautiful thing.
The Tour Party
As last year, Omar Rivera was the tour manager and I
went as coach. Al Caravelli, who would put on coaching and
managing hats in the Caymans, was in Cuba as a player. Sue
Bercuk, as last year, was team physio. My son Stephen came as tour
photographer.
Doug Brown of Kansas City was the team captain and was joined by
teammates Mike Skahan and Steve Robke. Kurt Shuman, Kevin
Linzey, Sebastian Fitzgerald, and Paul Enright represented New
York AC. Our sole representative from the left coast was
Marc Vera of Olympic Club. Nick Humphries came as a player,
but an injury suffered in Conshohocken the previous weekend kept
him off the field the whole tour.
Atlantis Number, Name, Club
394 Doug Brown, Kansas
City Blues
267 Al Caravelli, New York AC
523 Paul Enright, New York
AC
563 Sebastian
Fitzgerald, New York
AC, Oxford U.
524 Kevin Linzey, New York
AC
398
Steve Robke,
Kansas City
Blues
564
Kurt Shuman, New
York AC
426
Mike Skahan,
Kansas City
Blues
543
Marc Vera,
Olympic Club
Cubans and Cuba
We were pleased to again see Paul Ruiz Mena, our
liaison from the previous year. Paul has begun a youth rugby
league for boys from 9 to 14, and it was wonderful to see them
playing before and between our matches. Kevin Linzey’s
12-year old cousin Danny Aron was with us and made his rugby debut
in Havana. A pretty unique experience, I would venture to
say.
Before game day, Omar and I met with Cuban captain Alexis Figueras
(“Figaro”) and their talented fly half Champierre Diaz. It
was heart-wrenching to hear Champierre tell us how he was selected
to represent the West Indies at the Cayman Island Sevens (the West
Indies were willing to pay everything) and then be told by the
Cuban government that he wouldn’t be allowed to go. “The
Cuban team went to France last year,” they reminded him, “and two
of you defected.” “But I came back,” was his futile response.
Off the field, we spent our first evening in the Cathedral Square
drinking mojitos and listening to beautiful Cuban music. I
was “amused” when team members asked how, after everything they’d
heard, Cubans could afford to be at such a nice place.
“Duh,” I refrained from saying, then noted, “98% of these people
are not Cuban. Cubans can’t afford to come here.” I
had to repeat that statement the next day at the beach.
Of course, that’s not entirely true anymore. An “upper
class” of Cubans is beginning to emerge, people that can afford to
live by spending dollars. Almost without exception
they are people that work in the tourist industry: bellhops,
prostitutes, cab drivers, waiters, etc. A story going the
rounds this year: “Oh, you’re only a brain surgeon,” a young woman
says as she turns down a suitor, “I thought you were a cab
driver.”
Our Matches
On the field, Atlantis easily dispatches Cuba “B”,
but the second game is a different story. Cuba scores off
the opening kickoff, and holds a 5-0 lead for most of the
half. We score to end the half, and end up with a difficult
21-5 win.
Post-match
After the match we have one of our most unique and fun rugby
experiences. One of the things that we insisted on this year
was an after-match function, at a place selected by the
Cubans. It was, of course, to be “our treat.”
We were taken to the “Rhumba Palace,” a little club about a
quarter mile from the pitch. The lights were dim and the
place was empty – not just of people, but of “things” as well:
nothing but chairs and tables. There were about 50 of
us. We agreed to buy a hundred beers (at 50 cents each), 50
sandwiches (at 20 cents each) and a couple of bottles of rum.
We sit in the hot, sweaty hall, quietly waiting for the
refreshments (they have to acquired “somewhere else”). When they
finally arrive, the beers are a bit “different” from what we are
used to. The rum comes in recycled 2-liter soft-drink
bottles. “Can we get a different brand of beer?” one of us
asks? Er, no, now you’re in the real Cuba. You get
what you get. The Cubans insist on paying for the rum, and
when they open their wallets, we see something we’re not used to –
not dollars but Cuban pesos.
Finally, we are somewhere that Cubans go.
Omar thanks the Cubans for their hospitality and opens up a huge
duffel bag sent courtesy of Matt Godek: dozens of boots, jerseys,
shorts, socks . . . things the Cubans could never afford.
Our players distribute many of the extra kit items they have
brought.
Kevin Linzey has a marvelous idea, and challenges the Cubans to a
boat race (a beer chugging contest). The Cubans exult in
their victory and challenge us to a song-singing contest.
The fun begins, culminating in a Cuban-led many-chorused version
of “Guantanamera.” Then we leave the Cubans to
whatever they are to do that evening, and go back to the hotel for
dinner.
Barbara Ann
We split up, and the group I’m with ends up at “El
Gato Tuerto,” or “The One-eyed Cat,” where we hear a vocal group
singing mixtures of Cuban songs, calypso medleys, and classic
American songs including doo-wop and THE best version of Barbara
Ann that I have ever heard.
The following morning we’re at the Havana airport and on our way
to the Cayman Islands, wealthy people, and $7 beers.