After defecting from Cuba, star volleyball player finds refuge at BYU

After defecting from Cuba, star volleyball player finds refuge at BYU
Date: Wednesday, February 01 @ 07:34:56
Topic Volleyball

Darnell Dickson
DAILY HERALD

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Cuban volleyball player Yosleyder Cala didn't
board a plane with his teammates to return to Cuba after an Olympic
qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico, an official said. Cala, 19, wasn't
on the plane with the others when it left Sunday, said Carlos Beltran,
president of the Puerto Rican Volleyball Federation. He said the
player's whereabouts were unknown." — Associated Press story, Jan. 12, 2004

"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Cuban volleyball player Yosleyder Cala is
expected to formally ask for asylum in the United States this week after
defecting in San Juan shortly after the close of the NORCECA Olympic
Volleyball Qualifying tournament held in Caguas, Puerto Rico." — Puerto
Rico Herald, Jan. 12, 2004

There was no secret meeting, no hiding in the back seat under a blanket,
no wild chase through the streets of San Juan. On the day 19-year-old
Yosleyder Cala defected from Cuba, he simply walked out the door of the
team hotel, got into the car with some friends and drove away.

He was driving away from the Cuban National Team. He was driving away
from the oppression he felt while living in Cuba. He was also driving
away from his family. He doesn’t know when he’ll see his mother, father
and three siblings again.

On Monday, after two years of waiting, The 6-foot-8-inch Cala became
eligible to play competitive volleyball again. He enrolled at BYU in
January and may see action this weekend when the second-ranked Cougars
play No. 1 Pepperdine in the Smith Fieldhouse.

Cala’s life has changed in so many ways. He’s had to buy more warm
clothing (to better combat the cold Utah winter). He was only in Provo
for a couple of months before converting to the LDS faith. He’s
considering a computer science major and will play major college
volleyball in the weeks and months to come. All are opportunities that
would have never surfaced had he not walked out of that hotel lobby two
years ago.

Cala grew up in Cuba playing sports, mainly basketball and track. (”I
hate baseball,” he said.) He didn’t pick up volleyball until he was 14
years old. He was selected to play on the Cuban Junior National Team and
then the full national team, which traveled all over the world in
tournaments.

“There are so many problems in Cuba in the way people live,” Cala said.
“Traveling to other countries with the team, you see what’s going on.
You want to get better and have a better life.”

“In Cuba we won three straight championships. And we didn't get things,
presents, incentives. They would treat you to a beer, they'd pay for a
night at the hotel with your family, but nothing more. One would ask for
things that one needed and they would deceive you. Time passed and it
was always the same, the same. And people started to get upset. And they
were saying 'in the big leagues you get this, and this, and this.' And
Rolando Arrojo was the first to defect. Upon seeing his success, we've
all started to make our own decisions. That's the way life is. You
understand?” — Jorge Diaz, Cuban baseball defector

For about a month, Cala said he knew he was going to leave Cuba, and he
knew he would do it in Puerto Rico. On the last day of the tournament,
some friends pulled up outside of the hotel the Cuban team was staying
in and Cala met them.

“It was really easy,” Cala said. “I called them and they came and picked
me up at the hotel. I just walked outside.”

Cala spent about a year in Puerto Rico, trying to decide his future. He
had offers to play professional volleyball. Former BYU players Ossie
Antonetti, Hector Lebron and Joaquin Acosta are on the Puerto Rican
national volleyball team and sold Cala on playing for the Cougars.

“They told me I should go to BYU,” Cala said. “They said BYU was a great
place and they play in a good league.”

So in November of 2004, Cala came to Provo. How much did he know about
Mormons?

“Nothing,” Cala said. “When I got to Provo, all of my friends and
roommates would say, ‘Come to church.’ In just a few months, I was
converted. When I came here, the place just felt right.”

At a prep rally preceding the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Cuban Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the assembled Cuban Olympic athletes
that “each one of you must go (to Sydney) ready to face aggression,
harassment, blackmail attempts bribery. ... If anyone is thinking of
betraying his people, stabbing the fatherland, now or later, that person
will be incapable of looking us in the eyes.”

Cala said his family his happy for him and he’s satisfied they will be
safe in Cuba.

“Everyone always asks me that (about his family),” Cala said. “Maybe a
few years ago it would be hard. But now it’s not like a big deal.
They’re not going to be put in jail or anything. It’s really hard not to
see them. I call and e-mail them all the time. But I know it’s going to
be a long time until I see them.”

“I'm glad to hear that all of BYU's professionals have been cleared. We
know that the players get paid.” — UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates
in 2004.

The BYU men’s volleyball program, which has won three national
championships since 1999, has thrived using foreign players. Currently
on the BYU roster are Victor Batista (Dominican Republic), Ivan and
Yamil Perez (Puerto Rico) and Rodrigo Gomes (Brazil). The Spanish
language flows freely during practice.

“Those guys really helped me the first few months I was here,” said
Cala, who speaks English very well. “Without them I wouldn’t have been
able to communicate with anyone.”

Two years ago during BYU’s run to the 2004 NCAA title, UC Santa Barbara
coach Ken Preston sent information to the NCAA he felt incriminated the
Cougars for playing Batista and former Cougar Joe Hillman. The NCAA
cleared BYU of any wrongdoing, but Scates and others still took shots at
the Cougar program.

Hawaii (2002) and Lewis University (2003) were both stripped of their
NCAA titles because of violations involving foreign players. It can be a
slippery slope, but BYU dotted all the “i’s” and crossed all the “t’s”
before Cala became eligible.

“We worked hard to make sure everything was clear,” BYU head coach Tom
Peterson said. “It was a laborious process, lots of rules and red tape.
There was a lot of paperwork. We just wanted to make completely sure.

“We can’t let what other teams say distract us. We’re a good program and
we try to do everything we can.”

How good is Cala? At 6-8, he’ll play outside hitter or opposite,
although he’s played middle blocker before. He has obvious athletic
ability, sailing through the air effortlessly when he attacks the ball.
His jump serve looks lethal and he’s a good passer.

Peterson said he wasn’t sure how much Cala will play.

“We try to play the best team at the time to beat Pepperdine,” Peterson
said. “Cala hasn’t played in two years. Volleyball is such a team sport.
If you’re Kobe Bryant, and you miss two years, you don’t come back and
just play.”

Cala has been to all the BYU home matches this season and experienced
the 3-4,000 fans who fill the Smith Fieldhouse. But he’s played in front
of more than 20,000 spectators while on the Cuban National Team.

For his part, Cala takes everything in stride and simply wants to play.
He said if he gets into the match against Pepperdine this weekend, he
won’t be nervous.

“I’m in good shape,” Cala said. “I’ve been waiting long but I haven’t
been wasting my time. We have a big match Friday and I’m ready. I want
to be the best someday and I’ll work hard for it.

“Every athlete wants to close out the game with a kill, to be the man of
the game. My dream is to do things right and help the team all I can.”

Cala is from Ciega Avila, known as the flattest land in Cuba. It is a
mere 50 meters above sea level. Provo, at 4,500 feet, is the peak from
which Cala can write the story of his new life.

Daily Herald sports editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or
by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com.

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