The I Junior Pan American Games in Cali will be the undisputed sports novelty of this extremely intense year 2021 in its second half, despite the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the appointment that at the elective criteria of Panam Sports will host more than 3,500 athletes from 41 member countries between the ages of 14-23 years, Cuba will register a delegation of 214 troops, who will compete in 189 events and 26 sports of the program of 33 disciplines summoned, according to information provided by Inder’s High Performance Director, José Antonio Miranda.
With the additional incentive that the champions of each discipline will have direct access to the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023 and in some cases, such as handball, this contest will be the previous showcase for the specialty’s U-23 World Cup; additional incentive that has derived that in some individual sports the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have decided to present more than one cash.
It should be noted that, in the case of disciplines such as boxing and wrestling, where Cuba has considerable power, the seats belong to the NOC and not to the athlete; while in others such as taekwondo, karate, weights and judo, the graceful athlete would be the creditor of the ticket to the Chilean continental stages. Being the tickets for this concept, in general to the additional ones that are granted for the appointment in Santiago.
Now, it is time to analyze some variables in the face of this competition, to step objectively or get closer to a possible Antillean performance.
Composition of the Navy
The first element involves the composition of our army, which Miranda specified has 78% of its ranks from the Cerro Pelado and Giraldo Córdova Cardín National High Performance Centers. To whom are added another 61 in ages less than or equal to 18 years, of them 45 who pass through the Sports Initiation Schools, and the rest are monitored in provincial academies.
Two of them, by the way, only 14 years old.
This sends a message of the need to have established personalized criteria in terms of training loads, competitive modeling, psychological predisposition and other variables, especially in those who are newer and those who are not directly or full-time inserted in an institution sports, its frequencies, physical background, volumes and preparatory rigor have not been the same.
Another important element is the fact that these young people will be the bulk of the reserve pool for the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 cycles, in addition to the fact that some have a more immediate perspective for Paris 2024 and others like Leyanis Pérez ( athletics), Katerhine Nuevo (canoeing, C-2), José Ramón Pelier (canoeing, C-1), Laura Herin (wrestling) and Daniela Fonseca (table tennis), have the additional endorsement of their experience under the five rings in Tokyo
By the way, Miranda confirmed the injury of the Olympic finalist and world subtitle of canoeing in the C-2, Yarisleidys Cirilo.
Following this line of troops and accesses, we found that, due to situations of various kinds, many of them generated by Covid-19, our classification in indoor volleyball, tennis, 3×3 basketball, and softball, the first three with presence in the Olympic program.
Right there another void or black hole emerges, without being too skeptical: the fact of how our disciplines could behave as a whole, since the decline we go through in many of them, as a result of weak domestic tournaments, is no secret. , an interrupted transition from the cadet and youth categories to seniors – in addition to the fact that the rescue of the National Spain is approved – and almost zero international level blanks, the latter issue exacerbated in times of coronavirus.
I think of voly itself, water polo, basketball, handball, synchronized swimming, and football, with specificities and other elements of casuistic incidence. I exclude baseball because, as is well known, its overseas agenda and competitive structure at home are considerably more serious.
How will these collective disciplines perform in Cali in the face of such a panorama of “orphanhood”?
Brushstrokes on the preparation
How to achieve optimal sporting parameters in just over eight weeks after 20 months without personalized systematic training? How to cover such a varied age spectrum and assume in detail the processes in athletes who are also in a clear stage of biological development? How to iron out some contradictions that could arise of a competitive nature as in the case of the 110 with hurdles and the height of the obstacles in athletics?
These and other questions could arise logically, when projecting competitive objectives and preserving the health of our athletes.
In this regard, the Head of the Inder Methodological Technical Department, Oscar Nuevo, explained that they structured a preparatory period that initially covered strength exercises, work with garters and dumbbells, and the ideomotor representation of the reference technique.
To which were added two-three micro cycles aimed at integral functional adaptation, with emphasis on the aerobic, strength, coordination components; and moving towards the search for coordinative and special capacities.
However, not all disciplines could cover this program in a timely manner, since the modern pentathlon, swimming, synchronized swimming and diving, presented some level of affectations associated with the temperature and filling of the pools.
To which are added other issues of incidence such as the response of athletes to loads, their recovery in an accelerated and intensive stage of training, dealing with body weight, fat percentages and molding of the ideal competitive physique …
Hence, in many disciplines participants will not be required 100% of their returns, with greater expression in the so-called time and brand, where this element is easier to verify.
In others, among the youth of the entourage, inexperience, adrenaline that could well lead to anxiety, and the desire to debut on a continental stage in the best way, it will be a bit more cumbersome to press in detail the degree of demand, delivery and compliance with these competitive parameters in our staff.
Details to which I reiterate, we must add a performance-age-individual response capacity relationship in tune with the biological, physical and psychological characteristics of each competitor; and the fact that a good part of the opponents in coffee lands did not present an impasse as prolonged and severe as our legionaries.
The power of always
As it constitutes our historical tradition in Cali, we will bet on the performance of our combat disciplines (boxing, wrestling, and essentially judo) and athletics as the main options for medals and titles.
Taekwondo in this age range does not have the same drive as the elite category; and in particular, even with the absence of Cirilo, I would add to boating, because Pelier, Nuevo and his provisional boat companion in the canoe, could well preserve their state of grace and take advantage of it, if they do not accuse excessive wear, to a year with highly commendable Olympic, World Cup and World Cup experience.
Of the rest of the sports in which we will venture, the golden combinations would be based on possible individuals such as Anisley García in the Diving, Andrea Becali in swimming, and several other athletes in the cases of weights, Daniela Fonseca herself in tennis. table, fencing, cycling … anyway.
Which will also depend on the registrations in each sport, because in the case of swimming, for example, when the United States and Canada declined in participation, it allowed our team to expand its exponents to ten.
Although all the delegations have made their registrations official in Cali, which will have a branch in Barranquilla, where the baseball and softball tournaments will be held; while in the Cali Valley most of the disciplines will be organized.
In the case of karate and judo competitions, they will take place in Jamundí; boxing and road cycling will be done in Buga, while in Lake Calima there will be triathlon, sailing, rowing and canoeing.
A look that we consider necessary before drawing the curtains in Cali; where we will go as always twisting for ours and with the hope of performance epics, but also with questions and perspectives of objectivity around a context that has not been ideal.
