Never before had I interviewed someone living in Paris, the City of Light, now the world's Olympic capital. By sheer luck, I got to know Karel Negrete Vázquez, a former basketball player and a friend of my dear Lieter Ledesma. Karel is the son of Georgina Vázquez Payrol, a prominent player of the national basketball team in the 70s. Did being the son of such a renowned basketball figure inspire you to take up the sport?
“I was born into the world of sports,” Karel shared. “My mom was part of the national basketball team, participating in events like the Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama 70 and the Pan American Games in Cali 71. My father, Dr. Eduardo Negrete Torres, was a well-known 800-meter runner in the era of Juantorena and one of Cuba's most recognized sports doctors. Their influence played a significant role in my athletic passion.
Life in Paris: A New Chapter
As an attorney and basketball coach living in Paris, what is your current situation like? Karel explains, “I studied Law at the University of Havana and later worked as a university professor in Political Theory and Political Philosophy at the Faculty of Economics and Social Communication. I also taught Political Economy and worked as a prosecutor in the business system as part of my mandatory social service. In 2008, I met my wife Naiara, who is French, and after two years of traveling between Cuba and France, we married and moved to Paris in 2010.
A Leap into Coaching
What do you do now in the French capital? Karel states, “In France, I completed a master's degree in Literature and became a professor of Spanish Literature. I also underwent federal training to become a basketball coach. I resumed my passion, starting as a player before being offered a coaching position. I trained as a coach here in France, obtaining a regional basketball coach diploma, which allows me to coach at the regional level. I have been coaching clubs in Paris for over 10 years with good results, including being a municipal champion in the 14-15 age category in the Ile de France department. Basketball is very popular in Paris and France in general, second only to soccer and rugby. With modesty, I have tried to learn from French sports, which are very different from ours. In Cuba, we were very passionate; in France, communication is crucial, and players are much more rational.
“In Cuba, if we were told to throw ourselves on the cement floor to get the ball, we wouldn't think twice. Here, they have all the conditions and resources, but I have sometimes had to pay with my salary for the licenses of players who couldn't afford it and were not accepted by the club if they didn't pay. Not everything is rosy.
Family Life in France
Has your family grown? “Yes,” Karel smiles. “I founded a family in France with my wife, and we have two beautiful children, Diego, who is 8, and Anna, who is 6. Diego initially wanted to play soccer because everyone called him Diego Maradona, but he quickly switched to basketball after finding soccer too tough. He also plays the trumpet at the music conservatory. Anna is into gymnastics; let's see if she likes it and continues. Her coach told me she has all the physical conditions for the sport. We will see.
Supporting Cuban Athletes
About 50 athletes will represent Cuba in the upcoming Olympics, and another twenty will compete for other countries. Will you support them equally? “I would support all of them. A Cuban is a Cuban wherever they are. Athletes competing under the Cuban flag are a source of pride for me, and seeing them is an emotion. Those with other flags, the same.
“When I was an athlete, I realized all the limits imposed on us. Although things have changed a bit, there are still sports where contracting doesn't exist. Other countries have many athletes of different nationalities. One is not only from where they are born and raised but also from where they live, develop, and form a family. This applies to coaches too. For example, the coach of the Uruguayan soccer team is Argentinian. Iván Pedroso has created one of the best jumping academies in the world with Cuban technical and training foundations. What Pedroso does in Spain cannot be done in Cuba due to the lack of conditions. Why not contract Pedroso so that Cuban athletes can train with him? Let them live, work, and if they want to compete for Cuba later, let the country welcome them with pride.
“It is not a problem; on the contrary, having three Cubans occupy the podium in a competition like the triple jump in Paris is something to celebrate. These athletes were trained in Cuba, not in Spanish, Italian, or Portuguese sports schools. It’s a pride for every Cuban that these athletes achieve good results. Our athletes are not exempt from the economic crisis the country is going through, along with injustices, bureaucracy, and poor decisions. It's no longer like in my parents' time, a generation I admire and respect greatly. Many are aging, some have passed away, and those who live often do so under poor economic and living conditions. The active life of an athlete is 10 to 15 years at best, if they don't get injured or have other personal problems. If you can't advance economically in that time thanks to your sports results, you know you won't be valued the same afterward. That's the law of life and sport. Today, with even more difficult conditions, we need to be much more flexible. The formation of an athlete is tougher due to the country's economic conditions. It's a hard process, the work and all that our parents have to do to ensure proper nutrition because sports schools have significant food issues. Also, with sports equipment and facilities. Every base coach that forms champions with nothing deserves a gold medal. Listening to him, I realize he speaks with solid foundations about the current reality in Cuban sports, and I might be wrong, but Paris will be a clear example of that reality.
Challenges and Solutions
Reaching high performance, those who, despite hardships, still achieve it… it’s not easy! In Cuba, when traveling for training camps or international competitions, only the number one and sometimes the number two from each team go. Those are the only trips they have all year. But numbers three and four of the national preselection don't go anywhere, and with their marks or game quality, they would be champions in any Latin American country where they could develop much more and in good conditions, participating in different events at their levels; and if they want later, they can return and compete in national events to qualify and represent the country. If the State wants to regain the formation of these athletes, contracts could be signed, or a type of tax could be created for high-performance athletes' prizes, licensed in Cuban sports federations. That money would go to schools, EIDES, ESPAS, or sports facilities. There is concrete evidence that many athletes would like to compete under the Cuban flag without limiting their sports careers. Sports today are one of the most monetized sectors with the most mobility. The conflict between who you are and where you come from is, for me, overcome. As an immigrant, you have to overcome all those barriers and realize that Cubans are not the only ones who emigrate. We are from where we are born and where we are received, like Mexicans, Colombians, or Africans. The cultural capital and training we possess give us an advantage in migration. I built myself up to 27 years old in Cuba, meaning my personality, culture, and training are Cuban; good, bad, or regular, but it has served me in this long migration journey. In France, I have had the opportunity to enhance everything I learned on the Island.
“As I said, sports have evolved a lot in technology and training methods. But Cuban athletes have an extra that makes them different. It's the willpower that overcomes all obstacles. That mental strength is shown later in competitions. Let's hope it shows in Paris. For example, the French national boxing team does their training camps in Cuba. There is a documentary about it, and one of the French boxers said, ‘We protest in France for what we don't have, but when we come here, we see that they do a lot with nothing.’ This doesn't mean it's good to struggle, only that conditions shape the human being. Just as I say that technology in sports helps to understand athletes, their performances, and preparation much better. Living conditions are also important. It's very difficult to compete when thinking about having to sell things for some money for the family or paying rent. All that influences performance and competitions. I expect the best from the athletes in these Olympics and always enjoy the medals they win, no matter what.
Early Sports Life
“My mom always supported me in my various sports endeavors. I practiced judo and karate at the Juan Abrantes university stadium and swimming at the Camilo Cienfuegos circle pool in 1989-1990. I also dabbled in fencing at the Adalberto Gómez primary school, where I had Professor Enrique Penabeya and another teacher whose name I can't remember. We created an ideal setting for practicing such a difficult discipline: crates served as platforms. We had all the weapons: epee, foil, and saber. We achieved good results, competing a lot until we reached the Provincial Championship held at the Prado Fencing School. I was a left-handed foil fencer, something that gave me an advantage. My mother was very happy because fencing is a beautiful and elegant sport, besides her sentimental connection with her companions who died in the Barbados plane crash.
“In the 70s, 80s, and part of the 90s, conditions for mass sports were a beautiful reality in Cuba. A costly sport like fencing could be practiced at the school level, and now, even in the national team, there are difficulties.
Transition to Basketball
How did you transition from fencing to basketball? “Simple: the training schedules for fencing and basketball didn't conflict, so I kept doing both sports, and believe me, I had a great time. I was tall, learned quickly, and my genetic makeup helped. We participated in inter-school competitions, and I joined the Plaza de la Revolución team; that’s when my true passion for basketball began. At that time, basketball was also very popular.
“How long did you maintain the duality of basketball and fencing? Until the municipal basketball competition coincided with the fencing eliminations at Prado. The issue was that in basketball, we were playing to qualify for the finals, and at Prado, it was the eliminations. I wanted to be in both but it was impossible. What did you do? My mom told me, ‘You decide.’ And I did; I went to the basketball game. That’s when my beloved but very short basketball career began. Looking back, I consider it a good decision; I had a lot of fun but took it very seriously, wanting to progress and training hard. I started basketball at 11, almost at the limit since you usually start much younger. I tell the boys who start late that, unless they are giants, they must work twice as hard. Basketball is one of the sports where being intelligent, skillful, and perceptive is very important. Ball handling, shooting precision and technique, and game vision and reading are acquired by working hard over time, and it's better to start very young. My advantage was my height: 1.70 meters at 11 years old, along with having very good hands and being left-handed. I played for Plaza de la Revolución, coached by Roberto Infante, until I was 15. I joined the Ciudad Habana team with coach Aldo and participated in the School Games. Conditions weren’t optimal, but we were happy. Receiving the first jersey that said Ciudad Habana was the best; also, they were blue like the Industriales and Capitalinos. They also gave us a pair of shoes to play in, and the pride of representing the capital was very important to us. The 1980-1983 generation, which joined the juveniles with the 78-79, dominated; but not only us, in all categories, we were unbeatable. The same happened with the female teams; imagine, we had Suchitel Ávila, Ariadna Capiró, Yulianne Rodríguez, Yayma Boulet, great Cuban players who continue to succeed in other countries. That good performance allowed me to enter the EIDE 'Mártires de Barbados' in 1994, and that was a radical change in my life: boarding in a school with a very different environment, with different norms and behavior forms; I made very good friends there who I still keep today.
A Struggle During the Special Period
The 90s, known as the Special Period, were very hard for athletes in training. The food was terrible; we had almost nothing to eat. Our meals were noodle soup with rice and cabbage or beans. Often without the necessary proteins, we drank water with brown sugar to recover energy after training. Parents brought us food on Wednesdays, something very meritorious, which almost saved us until the weekend since we left on Fridays. It was a very beautiful generation: baseball players Yoandrys Urgellés and Yaser Gómez, volleyball players Raidel Poey, Yimmy Roque, Yasser Portuondo, Yaima Ortiz, Nancy Carrillo, who later joined the national teams, and other very good friends who life brought together later in other paths. It was a generation with much talent in different sports, and I was there among them. For three years, I was the student representative of the EIDE, maybe that’s why some remember me, and at the same time, it was a stage where my quality as an athlete was recognized since basketball was a sport followed by everyone. At EIDE, I was coached by Ricardo, Lázaro, and the great coach Eduardo Moya. They guided and taught us the combative spirit one must have on the court and the technical-tactical aspects, of course. In the three years of the school categories until 15 and 16, we won all the national championships.
“For four years, we played international tournaments; in 1994, I joined the national team 11-12 with coach Roberto Infante for the Pan American Infantile in Lima, Peru. At 12, I went on my first trip, the first time we took a plane, the first time we had a training camp. We got to know Lima and stayed at one of its most famous clubs, the Regata Lima. We won silver medals at that Pan American; we lost to our eternal rival, Puerto Rico. They always were the team to beat for us in the region. The Puerto Ricans had very good technique and much more exposure than us. As an anecdote, I was the top scorer and had the victory in my hands but missed a free throw. I missed the second shot, and we lost by one point! At 12, I thought it was the end of the world.
“I covered basketball for TV and remember those memorable Cuba-Puerto Rico Convocations. The convocations were a very interesting stage for forming cadet teams. It was the only way to compete since we weren’t given competitions abroad, except for exceptions like Peru. Other invited countries came to those Cuba-Puerto Rico convocations. The matches were broadcasted on television. We also often went to Cerro Pelado to play against the national women's team as part of their preparation for their international competitions. There, I became very good friends with great players like Lupe León, Yaquelín Plutin, Tania Seino, Lisdeivis Víctores, Yamilé Martínez, Milaida Enrique, and Lisset Castillo. It was a time when basketball became a sport that rivaled baseball. The Ramón Fonst Polyvalent Hall was filled with Superior Basketball League games. We, the younger ones, had the senior teams as our models. We admired Leopoldo Vázquez, Roberto Carlos, Rupertico Herrera, Flecha Amaro, Leonardo Matienzo, Lázaro Borrell, the Caballero brothers, Yudi Abreu, Zorro Casanova, José Luis Díaz (el Pollo), Duquesne, Covarrubias, Roberto Simón, and many others. The NBA season was also watched on television, with Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and the Chicago Bulls. It was a peak moment for Cuban basketball, and the good results of those years prove it. We tried to imitate the plays we saw, making basketball very attractive and spectacular in the lower categories.
Missed Opportunities
“What happened that you didn’t make it to the big team? I didn’t grow any more, staying at 1.82 meters; it was a tough stage for me. I learned to play as a point guard but it wasn’t natural; I was more of an attacker. For the ESPA, they were looking for big players, and when the ESPA National coach determined I couldn’t make it, it was a very hard blow. I was the only one who had played in the National Championship. They called others who hadn’t made the team that year. It seemed like an injustice, and I went to the National Commission to appeal to at least be in the preselection; I only asked for the opportunity. They gave me a runaround, you know how that works; in the end, they made me understand that the player profile they were looking for wasn’t mine. When they talked about a player profile, I realized it was a matter of size. They made an early elimination; then I decided to focus on my studies. I continued participating in provincial competitions. I studied for the entrance exams and got into the Law School at the University of Havana. My life took a turn because I lived for basketball, but at the University, I found several friends who had played with me, and we formed the university team. We participated in the Inter-Faculty Games. The rivalry between the faculties of Economics, Psychology, History, and Law was very intense. I joined the provincial university team with which we won the national championship. We created a sports dynamic; those were years when the Caribbean Games were very vibrant at the University. Beautiful story yours, and now with the satisfaction of living in an Olympic city, what do you feel about it? It’s a strange