- -#1: Michael Cates, owner.
- - #2: Manzanet, who Morgan says is called "old-new Michael", because he used to coach before me; has since returned.
- -#3: Yours truly (who Morgan says is known as "Michael-Michael").
- -#4: One of the rec coaches.
- -#5: Michel Brito, formerly of AGA, Hadley's old gym.
Michel started helping out at BGS in mid-December.
I wanted to write a bit of something on Michel because I think his is an interesting story; one that might inspire some of the kids and help them understand where he's coming from (especially when he's hard on them, demanding better).
"What a miracle it is to live in a country where you have the freedom to do what you want and say what you want to say."
Michel was the first of a trio of Cuban gymnasts (out of a contingent of 8) who, right after the team competition, defected from Cuba during the Anaheim Gymnastics World Championships. One of his counterparts, Charlie Tamayo, became a sensation on YouTube- very talented gymnast- who had ambitions to gain his U.S. citizenship and tryout for the U.S. Olympic team in 2012. That didn't happen; but he seems to be enjoying a successful life in San Diego as a gymnastics coach. The third to defect was teammate Janerky De La Pena, one week after Tamayo.
I asked Michel if he had minders with him when he came to Anaheim. He said he did. He got away from them by asking to use the hotel bathroom. He snuck out the bathroom window and his uncle here in Los Angeles helped him to escape and gain asylum (he and his uncle were also responsible for picking up Tamayo and De La Pena).
Michel told me how his auntie here in the States had taken out to sea in a little raft, starving, drifting for two weeks to escape Cuba.
From the LATimes, August 19, 2003:
Brito Ferrer, 24, told his uncle that he competed in the competition so he could travel to the U.S. and then defect.
Attorney Luis Carrillo told reporters from Ferrer's house that the athletes are "very exhausted. They're very tired. These are difficult times for them.
"They're here because of the political repression, the political persecution for them in Cuba," he said.
Attorney Meredith Brown said the two men "fear for their lives if they return," and that the defection in Southern California of the two Cuban athletes was a first-time event.
"That's true," she said. "And I think it's going to be a very strong case, given that now, that they're part of the dissident community, they're going to have a very strong claim for asylum."
To qualify for asylum, according to Brown, applicants have to be in the country, to apply within their first year and have a credible fear of persecution based on race, religion, "or in this case, political opinion."
Brito Ferrer competed in all six events for the Cubans, finishing 112th overall.USA TODAY:
Deseret News:Brito Ferrer told his uncle that he had planned to compete in the meet so he could travel to the United States and then defect. He called his uncle to pick him up at the team hotel Sunday."I want to stay here. I feel good here. I want to feel free here," Brito Ferrer said Sunday in an interview with Telemundo. "I'm young. We don't have any opportunity over there. We don't have a future and there's no way to have any fun over there."
Cubans who enter the United States planning to defect usually face fewer obstacles than other immigrants because of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1965, signed by President Johnson at the height of the Cold War.International Gymnast magazine:
The law made it easier for Cubans to defect to the United States, a process Kane described as "pro forma" in most cases.
Most Cubans hoping to defect are detained briefly by federal authorities and then released with work permits. A year and one day after their release, they become eligible to apply for permanent resident status.
Carrillo said the athletes have a strong case to win asylum.
"I think their chances of staying here are good because the U.S. is critical of Cuba's human rights record," Carrillo said. "It would be the height of hypocrisy if they don't grant these three dissidents asylum."
Brito had relatives in Los Angeles, so he and Tamayo lived with them for two months while they looked for jobs. "It was brutal," Tamayo recalls. "We couldn't speak any English. Zero."
~~~
Tamayo loves coaching, especially because in the U.S. he feels that his gymnasts have many opportunities. "When I coach my kids here, I want them to be a better person more than anything else. he says. "Here, if you decide not to do gymnastics, it's OK. You have choice. In Cuba, you don't have choices." He notes that American children can become anything they want; they don't have to focus on one thing because it's the only way to make a living.
And a little other piece of inspirational information from Tamayo for anyone who is thinking of quitting the sport prematurely due to fear issues, never to realize their true potential:
"When I was 12 I almost quit gymnastics because of a blind change on bars," he laughs. "A couple of years later I found out I was twisting the [wrong] way!"There isn't much on the internet on Michel; but Tamayo is very much in the public eye. This description in an interview for why Tamayo defected is echoed for similar reasons to me by Michel:
Examiner.com: What made you decide to leave Cuba for good?
C.T.: I decided to defect because I wanted a better life for my family. That was the only way I knew how to do that. In Cuba you can work so hard, but there was no future, no hope. After a few years in this country and understanding the system, I could see how hard work can turn into success.
It was difficult, because I had to trade my family for the chance at a better future. I have not been able to return to Cuba and see my family, but I know if I work hard the sacrifice will pay off. I know I can not only build a better life for my family but also hopefully have the opportunity to represent a country that has done so much for me and I am proud of that.
I made the decision to defect in 2002 after the Cottbus World Cup in Germany. I won first place on vault and fifth in ring finals. I returned home with the money I had won -- and the Cuban Federation took all of it. It was then I realized there was no future in my country. I defected with my teammates Michael Brito and Yenerky De La Pena. We had prior plans to defect, certain things we thought we would do, but as the events unfolded -- nothing went as we had imagined. It was much more complicated then just saying "I'm leaving." There were a lot of legal issues we didn't count on.
The final decision to defect was the night after all-around finals in 2003 in Anaheim. I had a disturbing conversation with the head coach of our team. I came to the final realization that there was no future. They didn't appreciate my work, my sacrifice and what I had done for my country. I left my hotel room -- I had to leave everything I owned in the room. I defected with the clothes on my back. I went to [Brito's] uncle's house where I met other Cuban families.
I left my entire family in Cuba. I left my grandmother, my mother Inez, my father Armando, my brother Juan Carlos, his wife and two children I have never met, my brother Frank, his wife and newborn I have never met. I also have uncles, aunts and cousins. I can communicate with a few members of my family but it is extremely difficult. No one in my family owns a phone, so I must call a nearby neighbor and they must walk to get my mom to talk to me. They do not own computers so again I must try and communicate through a friend.
Calling Cuba is costly and it is not easy to get through to anyone there. All I have ever asked from my country was a phone for my mom. I cannot go to see my family because I am a defector and I am not allowed in the country. My family, like most Cubans, cannot leave the country. If I want to bring them here it is an extremely difficult and expensive process. Living without my family at times has proven to be one of the most emotional things I have had to deal with.
Examiner.com: How did you find employment after defecting?
C.T.: After defecting, I intitally found employment in construction through a Cuban family that helped me when I first defected. I received my first paycheck of $200, I thought that I was a millionaire. I had no idea how much money that was or what I could do with it. I just wanted to buy anything -- things I could never dream of. I would see something I thought I would never be able to have and I would want to buy it because I thought that it would be gone from the store the next day.
One of the members of my host family drove past a gymnastics center and thought it would be a perfect for me to try my hand at coaching. I got a job at Payke Gymnastics and have been coaching at various gyms and camps ever since. It is something I love.
There are many comforts we take for granted, living in the United States. Having someone like Michel around, telling his personal journey and history, reminds us of the many blessings and opportunities we have, simply by being American.
Michel looks at BGS, and to him it is luxury. When kids whine about wanting the fan turned on, Michel just laughs at them. He doesn't say it, but I'll say it: We are spoiled. We have it easy. And the kids are blessed with a great opportunity to make something of themselves in the gym- regardless of whether it's a college scholarship, making optionals, learning a back flip, or simply learning life lessons about fear management, discipline, goal-setting, failures, successes, teamwork, self-awareness, etc.
2 years ago, I was at the Vidmar Invitational during Peter's speech at the end of the competition. He told all the competitors to stand up and give their parents a standing ovation. He said to the boys that the next time they get dropped off at the gym by their moms and dads, to thank them; to thank them for bringing them to the gym when they don't have to do it. To thank them for paying their gymnastics tuition, coming to their meets, and being supportive parents.
Take nothing- and no one- for granted. Never squander your time in the gym. Make the most of your opportunity to train as a gymnast.
And be thankful for having the choice.
