Home runs for Havana

By Alejandra Brito Blanco

Caption: Lissel Pino Ceballos

Baseball represents one of the most entrenched traditions of Cubans. From the national sport comes one more treat for our Havana in its fifth century of life.

The XIII Ricardo Lazo in memoriam Championship, in greeting to the 500th anniversary of the town of San Cristóbal, takes place these days in the Rafael Conte sports field. The land of the Ten de Octubre municipality welcomes athletes between the ages of 60 and 70 who raise their quality of life and celebrate the capital event.

There are glories of Cuban sport from different places of the national geography and representative of all Havana municipalities. These include Luisa Medina, Charles Díaz and Roberto Cruz Camper, just to name a few examples. Two other peloteras, Yaima Ramos and Marian Serra, also enrich the payroll.

Jorge Luis Bos, best coach of the Artemis men's team in the National Baseball Series and member of the Pedro Lazo Veterans Association, considers the event as a social project run by the National Institute of Sports and Recreation (INDER). “The Rafael Conte stadium is the main venue of the championship. Many times we also participate in caps with other countries, we select a team by results, ”he adds.

Bos highlights the importance of this cap in the framework of the tribute to the city, because “fighting for it represents the battle of order. Many of us are from Havana, others are not, but everyone knows the importance of the anniversary for traditions, provincial history and its importance for the country. ”

“For me, Havana means the best, the maximum. From here, no Havana would like to leave, ”he says.

Yaima Ramos, a member of the Alacranes team, teaches girls and boys in the 11─12 year old category softball at the Rafael Conte stadium. He played for 10 years in the women's national team. He arrived at the matches through Luisa Medina, sports glory of the Cuban national sport. She is proud to share the ground with the tanned athletes “because they make up a generation that knows how to play baseball. They are very kind, correct. They treat me like a lady, always celebrating quality or any play. We get along really good".

“Havana is like my family, I love her, and for her I give everything,” explains the teacher. “I was born in Lawton, from the same municipality Ten de Octubre. For me it is an honor to represent women in these events, more with men. There are many taboos regarding the issue of women and sports, especially in the ball. In fact, I went through them since I was 16, but one is learning. ”

The tanned athletes contribute to the celebrations for the birthday of the capital from their own trench, "as workers are doing in the construction, in the improvement of the historic center," means Cilio Arozarena, in field of the Alacranes. "We reflect Cuba as a whole, and that is why the relevance of carrying out exalting activities of the name of the population center," he argues.

The Scorpions and the Lions play for our city. At the same time, they promote healthy recreation and improve their quality of life in old age. They score the most overwhelming home run in the heart of Havana, with the bases full.