Coach Alexis Roque: "I Would Have Preferred to Stay in Cuba, But I Had to Support My Family Financially"

We've extensively covered the successes of Cuban coaches in other countries; cases like Iván Pedroso, Yansen Pérez, Carlos Rafael Gil, Alexander Navas, and many boxing coaches are clear examples. Today, we turn our attention to a coach from Villa Clara who is raising the bar for athletics in Panama, Alexis Roque.

How did you come to the Isthmus, through a free contract or through Cubadeportes?

I've been in this country since September 2013; I came through a sports agreement with Cubadeportes until December 2017. After that, I continued under a personal contract.

Do you train in the capital? How many students do you have? Are they all male, and in what disciplines?

I train in Panama City with middle-distance runners, regardless of gender, and some athletes in other disciplines. I also train children to develop them. Our group consists of 15 runners at different levels.

What are the conditions like in Panama?

Panama has a very hot and humid climate, not ideal for endurance events, but the work is progressing, and the sports leaders are supporting us. We just need to keep pushing forward.

Do you plan to settle in Panama, return to Cuba, or go to Spain? Tell us about your family.

Personally, I would have preferred to continue my life in Cuba because I'm a country boy who loves Santa Clara. But I had to support my family financially. If the National Middle-Distance and Long-Distance Base had remained in Santa Clara, I would probably still be there. Some things you can change, but others are beyond your control, so you have to keep moving forward.

My wife and children are in Cuba, and if things don't improve, who knows where they will end up. I can't clip their wings. I had to go out and hustle to help my family, missing out on being there during good and bad times.

My children are leaving. I have to respect their decisions because I made mine. Currently, my wife's parents are older, and we need to take care of and support them. This is our daily reality, Julita.

Names, specialties, records, and best performances of your students?

I arrived in 2013 to train Andrea Ferris, who was already a prominent figure. We won three medals in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m steeplechase at the Bolivarian Games held in Trujillo, Peru. In the 1500m, we set a national record that still stands.

In 2014, Andrea won silver in the 1500m at the South American Games in Santiago, Chile, and gave birth to her daughter that same year, so I returned to Panama from Arequipa, Peru, where I was training her.

In 2014, I began developing new athletes, the most advanced being 800m runner Chamar Chambers and steeplechaser Diddier Rodríguez.

Chamar broke the national 800m record four times, the first time breaking the 1:48.05 mark, a Panamanian record that stood for 51 years from 1971 to 2022. Recently, on May 11, at the Ibero-American Championships in Cuiabá, he lowered it for the fourth time to 1:45.27, one of his greatest achievements.

Chamar Chambers is a multiple-time champion in the Isthmus, winning the 800m and 400m at the Central American Games, fourth and sixth in the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, and the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile 2023. He also won the Ibero-American title in Cuiabá. We are trying to secure the mark for Paris 2024, but it will be challenging as he competes infrequently.

Diddier Rodríguez has broken the national 3000m steeplechase record five times and once in the 5000m. The 3000m record of 9:10.04 dated back to 1983 and stood 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.

His resume includes multiple medals at the Central American Championships, bronze in the 3000m steeplechase at the South American Games in Asunción 2022, fourth and seventh at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, and the Pan American Games in Chile. He also won bronze at the Ibero-American Championships.

Do you believe these young athletes can rise in the next Olympic quadrennial?

Yes, if they continue as they are, faithfully following the training and participating in some competitions, I believe they can. I train them, and they are like family to me; I trust them.

What upcoming competitions could qualify you for Paris with some of your students?

At this moment, the athlete with the best chance is Chambers; he needs to lower his personal best by 0.57 seconds. We will try in Panama, Brazil, which has a good competitive calendar, and Central America. The deadline is June 30 to run 1:44.70; it's a big task, but the desire to achieve it is even bigger.

If you make it to Paris, what would it mean to you?

Going to Paris would be the realization of a childhood dream, the dream I had of being in the Olympics after watching Alberto Juantorena and Lasse Viren run in Montreal '76, but now not as an athlete, but as a coach. It would be my first time at such a significant event.

Let's take a trip back to Cuba. What did the Middle-Distance and Long-Distance Base in Santa Clara mean to you as an athlete and coach?

As an athlete, I was part of the national team from 1984 to 1990, although without outstanding results. It was the golden era with athletes like the Cuba brothers, the Conde twins, Juan Linares, Ángel Rodríguez, Navel Parra, Lázaro Pereira, and many others leading the way in the specialty.

My athletic training began at the Santa Clara Teacher Training School in 1977 under the guidance of physical education teachers Nelson Martin and Pedro Monteagudo. In the orientation race group they formed, I discovered my love for running; that's how it all started.

When I finished my studies, I dedicated myself to athletics with professor Abelardo Montiel at the Campo Sport in Santa Clara.

Many speak fondly and respectfully of Professor Montiel.

Montiel was everything to me: a father, a friend; he instilled in me a love for coaching. He always led by example and didn't understand or accept excuses for not doing the work.

In September 1987, the National Long-Distance Base was founded in Villa Clara, and I was part of that institution for four years as an athlete. After graduating with a degree in Physical Culture in 1991, I stayed to help and gain experience.

When the Villa Clara Base closed in 2011, we had a team of coaches who had won six medals in the last three editions of the Pan American Games, two of each color. Closing that center was a major mistake for many reasons: it was part of a cause-and-effect chain that left middle-distance and long-distance running in Cuba in the dark. The Base operated with modest resources, but the love with which we worked there was the main thing, the sense of belonging.

As with everything in Cuba, they had been trying to close it for years. Every time a new National Commissioner came, and there were several after Jesús Molina, someone would sell them the idea of closing the Base. They would visit, see us progressing, and not only would they not close it, but they would support us until the staff reduction came, and we were reduced to zero.

The Base was not only for training athletes but also for being situated at the Fajardo, it became a training entity for coaches, a link with the professional training of the Faculty for those graduating from the Physical Culture course.

Many young people graduated from there, and if they didn't continue in high performance as athletes, they went to their provinces, well-prepared, and it wasn't uncommon to see more than one young coach quickly excelling. We lost all of that, not to mention that our athletes' names disappeared into the ether.

At that base, I trained many, including a great athlete, Andy González, Central and Pan American champion, as well as Ibero-American champion, world youth finalist, and London 2012 semifinalist. He is like a son to me. Due to his great results, Panama hired me.

Cuban athletics today: so many talents spread around the world, triple jumpers, sprinters, hurdlers. What are your thoughts?

The exodus of coaches and athletes has been significant for years, mostly linked to Cuba's economic situation. As a Cuban, I would love to see many of these athletes represent Cuba on the international stage. Many were trained there, and it's our flag and our identity. However, this could have been avoided by allowing them to join clubs and leagues.

They had no choice, and now it's happening, but it took too long to understand, and we lost many athletes and coaches. I will always wish success to all Cubans, wherever they are and in whatever circumstances, not just in sports but in any social sphere, for one simple reason: we were born in the bosom of the Green Caiman, and that doesn't change.

Success to our compatriots in Paris 2024, whether inside the Island or outside!

Speaking of 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 athletics, the jumps area could contribute, especially in the triple jump, and I don't know how Juan Miguel is doing. If Iván Pedroso's masterful hand rescues him, there will be a fight, no doubt about it. At this point, these are the greatest possibilities I see. For the future, there will always be athletes who will rise to stellar levels, but now they are rookies with great potential, but for Paris, not yet.

Current situation in Cuba. Villa Clara, your province, has been hit harder than ever by constant blackouts. What are your thoughts on this?

The economic difficulties are no secret, and that significantly worsens the lives of ordinary Cubans; a major problem is the electricity situation. As a country, our lack of liquidity to buy fuel severely limits its acquisition. Additionally, and not less importantly, the power plants are old and need not just repairs but replacements, and today that is not possible.

A shame, but it's true. Thank you for your words.

I would like to say one more thing: thank you to all the people who have contributed to our formation as individuals and professionals, from my mother and my entire 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 worked with in these more than 30 years as a coach, whom we taught and also learned from, and all the friends and colleagues with whom we have shared the journey until today. Thank you, Julita, and thanks to Cibercuba for the courtesy!