Eugenio Rafael George Lafita

in the City of Baracoa, province of Guantánamo. From a very early age he was interested in practicing volleyball. At the end of the 1940s his family moved to La Habana in search of economic improvements, where he began his high school education and made his way alongside his brother Edgar in volleyball practice, making their dreams of becoming first-class athletes a reality.

He married Graciela González, who was for many years the technical director of the Cuban Volleyball Federation and with whom he has been married for more than 40 years.

Sports Career

In the 1940s he began practicing volleyball at the Pepe Barrientos facility in the Luyanó neighborhood and in 1947 he joined organized training under the guidance of Jacinto del Cueto Fernández, better known as Tito Cueto, considered the Father of Cuban volleyball. Due to his tenacity he was chosen for the national team as an auxiliary attacker, participating in the Pan American Games in Mexico in 1955 and Chicago 1959, the Central American and Caribbean Games in Jamaica in 1962 and the World Championship in Paris 1956, among other competitions. At the end of the 50s he retired from active sports.

Coaching Career

In 1963 he took charge of the men's youth volleyball team, in which he created the foundation for the championship team at the X Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico 1966, where he had the opportunity to live the Cerro Pelado epic, whose historic declaration took the name of the ship that transported the island's delegation despite the U.S. government's position to prevent the presence of Cuban athletes.

He was one of the founders of the worldwide projection of the Cuban School of Volleyball in 1968. He achieved this by studying the characteristics of Cuban volleyball, which he demands training equal to or superior to a competitive game. He set guidelines for developing endurance and psychological strengthening of his students. That same year he took charge of the technical direction of the women's team known as the Morenas del Caribe, being the physical trainer of stars such as:

Mercedes Pérez Hernández (Mamita), Nelly Barnet, Mercedes Pomares, Lucila Urgellés, Imilsis Téllez, Ana María García, Erenia Díaz and Ana Ibis Díaz in one era, as well as another generation distinguished by Mireya Luis, Regla Torres, Regla Bell, Ana Ibis Fernández, Rayza O' Farril, Marlenis Costa and Yumilka Ruiz to name a few.

Main Achievements Obtained

The accumulated triumphs fill an impressive service record, among the main ones are:

Gold medals in:
Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games
Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games
Bronze medal in:
Athens 2004 Olympic Games
World Championships in:
Former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 1978
Brazil 1994
Japan 1998
World Cups in:
Japan 1989
Japan 1981
Japan 1995
Grand Prix 1993 and 2000.
Seven Pan American Games from 1971 to 1995.
Eight Central American and Caribbean Games from 1970 to 1998.
Silver medals in:
World Championship 1986
World Cup 1977
Grand Prix 1994
Pan Americans 1999.
He currently serves as director of the NORCECA Technical Commission and Coaches and advisor to the Cuban Volleyball Federation until his appointment as president of the aforementioned federation in 2011. He has also been decorated with the distinctions of National Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba in 1979 and Order of Sports Merit.

In October 2009 the North Central American and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) created the Eugenio George distinction, with which they will decorate from 2010 onwards the best female coach of the year in that sport.

Proclaimed the best coach of the 20th century, he received in 2013 the Gold Collar Order from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), a ceremony that took place at the headquarters of NORCECA, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Eugenio George Laffita, a distinguished technical director who for decades led the Cuban women's volleyball teams, winners of three gold medals in Olympic Games and World Championships, passed away on the night of Saturday, May 31, 2014 at the age of 81, victim of cancer.