The 5 Most Popular Sports in Cuba
The Most Popular Sports in Cuba!
Ever since the 1960s, sport has played a huge part in the history and culture of Cuba.
From baseball to boxing, Cubans love to enjoy sport on a recreational and professional level.
Felix Savon - Cuban Boxing Legend
A Recent History of Sports in Cuba
Regardless of your opinion about the man, it is a fact that Cuba owes much of its success in sports to their previous leader, Fidel Castro, who made Post-Revolutionary Cuba pride itself on its sporting success.
As the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, he was a huge sports fan;
“Sports are the right of the people, not just the right of the wealthy”.
He introduced sports to most of his people, weaving sport into Cuba’s culture and making Cuban people see sports as an important element of their culture and national pride.
In Cuba, babies as young as 45 days are introduced to sports through massages and exercises of the limbs that their Mothers perform on them in an effort to keep them healthy.
As children grow up, there are all sorts of campaigns to make sure they get involved in sports.
INDER and Government Sports Programmes
There is a governing branch for all sports – INDER. This develops the sports and education programmes and introduces sports in all primary and secondary schools.
There are also 27 specialised schools located on the Isle of Youth, which further contribute to the improvement of gifted kids.
Numerous sports centres and recreational centres were opened in Cuba during the last 3 decades, to cement sports culture into people’s lives.
Sports even made it into Cuba’s constitution! In 1976, it was included in four points and even ended up having its own Article 51, which states that "everyone has the right to physical education, sports, and recreation".
Another interesting fact is that every school in Cuba participates in the Junior Olympic Program.
Cuba went from a country keen on learning sports to a country that won over 200 medals as one of the leading countries in exporting sports coaches across the globe.
The 5 Sports that Cubans Love Above All Others
Knowing Cuba’s passion for sports, what are the most popular sports in Cuba today? Why these sports in particular? Who dominates in them?
Here is everything you need to know about the most popular sports in Cuba!
1. Baseball
While the majority of Spanish-speaking countries tend to favour Football over American sports like baseball or basketball, Cuba is the exception to this rule.
Considering that the country has been heavily entwined with the US for decades, it is no surprise that United States culture has fed into Cuba’s sporting scene.
As a matter of fact, it was Cuban students returning home from US colleges that first brought baseball over to Cuba in 1864.
Statistics show that nowadays, 62% of the population plays baseball, and Cuba has a rich history of success (as well as issues) in this sport.
After the first Cuban War of Independence, in 1869, the Spanish authorities, based on the fear that Cubans preferred baseball to bullfights, banned the sport in Cuba.
This removed the professional league.
Only amateur baseball was allowed in Cuba from then on. This had a counterproductive effect, as baseball became symbolic of freedom and egalitarianism to the Cuban people.
The first major baseball club was opened and popularised by Nemesio Guillot, who opened it back in the 1870s.
The Cuban League was the earliest baseball league to be founded in Latin America. Some of the greatest players and moments that the game has ever produced can be found on this island.
In the past five Olympic baseball competitions, Cuba has won three gold and two silver medals.
However, there is some serious tension in the current baseball scene in Cuba. Many of the players are trying to get out of the country and play for a different country, due to poor conditions in Cuba.
Most recently, there were cases when players literally escaped or vanished from the team hotel, just hours before matches or even before their first game for the country.
While the country tries to write it off as “players suffering from moral and ethical weaknesses” the truth is, there is a reason why all the players are fleeing and it goes beyond money and a desire to advance their careers.
There have been some incredible Cuban players in the Major Leagues and it seems the conveyor belt of Cuban baseball talent shows no signs of stopping any time soon.
Famous Cuban baseball players:
Yuli Gurriel, Yoenis Céspedes, Aroldis Chapman, Adeiny Hechavarria, José Iglesias, José Abreu, José Canseco, Liván Hernández, Yasiel Puig and Jorge Soler.
Check out all of our baseball content on our dedicated baseball blog
2. Football / Soccer
Football (or Soccer, your choice) has been on the Cuban scene for a while, as the first recorded football match in Cuba was in 1901.
Since then, the sport has gradually increased its popularity throughout the years, especially since Raúl Castro eased restrictions on the media.
This allowed international football to be shown on TV, starting with the 2010 World Cup.
From this moment, football enjoyed a significant surge in popularity. Currently, it is one of the most popular sports among the young generation.
The national Cuban team and the national league – the Campeonato Nacional, which has 16 clubs under its belt- are all overseen by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba.
Much like baseball, football players also had it difficult after the 1961 ban on professional sports.
The first Cuban to successfully sign a professional contract after the ban was Maikel Reyes, who became part of a Mexican team in 2016.
Famous Cuban Football players:
Léster Moré, Maykel Galindo, Rey Ángel Martínez, Jorge Luis Corrales, Ariel Martínez, Juan Tuñas, Keiler García, Osvaldo Alonso and Yordany Álvarez.
Take a look at our Football Blog
3. Basketball
Basketball is another imported sport in Cuba, which grew in popularity in the mid-20th century.
However, the sport never used to be quite so popular, and in recent years its popularity is decreasing again.
Until the Cuban Revolution, this sport was not widely popular in the country. In fact, the sport only began to develop in the small town of Bejucal - south of Havana.
From there, basketball began evolving and spreading across the country.
Historically speaking, Cuba has a talented basketball national team that managed to get the bronze medal for Cuba, going against and beating Italy in their final match at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Even though the sport did not experience the major success and popularity of American cousin baseball, it was still pretty good.
Alongside Cuba winning bronze at the Olympics, coming second at the Peru World Festival and fighting to the fourth position in the Basketball World Championships were other highlights for Cuban basketball.
Yet, politics started to affect the game of basketball too. Some well-known players like Andrés Guibert and Lázaro Borrell left the country and their teams to move to the United States and play in the NBA.
Famous Cuban Basketball players:
Jasiel Rivero Fernández, Andrés Guibert, Juan Carlos Domecq, Lázaro Borrell, Karel Guzmán Abreu, Ruperto Herrera Tabio, Pedro Chappé and Franklin Standard.
Check out amazing NBA and Basketball content
4. Boxing
Standing tall right next to baseball, cockfighting and other gambling sports is boxing, which became one of the most popular sports in pre-revolutionary Cuba.
Originally arriving in Cuba as a tourist attraction, boxing managed to spread around the country and increase in popularity.
In 1909, the first professional fight took place in Havana, and the very next year, John Budinich established the first boxing academy.
Unfortunately, only two years later, the sport was banned for being too violent and for causing street fights.
Yet, the sport did not entirely disappear from the Cuban scene, but rather moved to the underground, as boxing matches were held behind closed doors, spreading across the rest of the country.
After its return to popularity, as well as its ability to entertain crowds and take families out of poverty, Cuba decided to give boxing another chance.
In 1921, the sport was legitimised with the establishment of the National Commission on Boxing and Wrestling.
This organisation further established a national boxing academy and as result by 1959, Cuba had six professional world champions.
These fighters were considered the founding fathers of boxing, as well as national heroes of Cuba.
Despite its incredible success, there were disadvantages with the sport, as many players ended up earning money and dying impecuniously, or ended up tied to the Mafia or corruption.
The general sport’s ban from the Revolutionary government in 1961 affected boxing too, but not as much as the other sports.
The government made a huge financial investment in the sport, so Cuba managed to build a reputation in Olympic boxing and continued to do so even after the ban.
They managed to play in all major international amateur competitions, including the Olympics, and they totally dominated them.
In Olympic history, Cuba has won 37 gold medals (73 overall) in boxing, coming second place in the all-time medal table.
Cuba is the only country that has two three-time Olympic Champions: Teofilo Stevenson and Félix Savón. Finally, in Spring 2022 the ban on boxing was officially lifted.
Famous Cuban boxers:
Kid Chocolate, Félix Savón, Teófilo Stevenson, José Nápoles, Benny Paret, Kid Gavilan, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Luis Manuel Rodríguez and José Legrá.
5. Volleyball
As the 5th most popular sport in Cuba, it’s safe to say that Cubans love their volleyball, both modern-day beach and traditional.
The sport was first introduced in Cuba in 1905, just 10 years after it was invented by William G. Morgan in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The Cuban youth loved it!
Unfortunately, much like the previously mentioned sports, Cuban volleyball also had its fair share of issues. It has one of the saddest histories in the sport.
The Cuban National Team for both men and women absolutely dominated the volleyball scene in the period between 1990 and 2000.
The women’s team became three-time Olympic Games winners, two-time FIVB World Championship winners, three-time FIVB World Cup winners and three-time FIVB World Grand Prix silver medalists.
The men’s team were two-time FIVB World Championship silver medalists, five-time FIVB World League silver medalists and one-time FIVB World Cup silver medalists.
Both male and female categories in volleyball showed incredible results that put Cuba on the board.
The first Cuban to be inducted into the Volleyball Hall of Fame was Regla Torres, 2001. The very next year, she became the youngest winner of a gold medal in Olympic Volleyball, at the age of 17.
'The Spectacular Caribbean Girls' is the national women’s volleyball team name, and it is currently considered one of the best, if not the very best team in the world, winning three Olympic gold medals in a row.
Some even regard them as the best team in the history of the sport, and they became the symbol of the strength of Cuban women.
The men’s team did not fall behind. They won the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, then won two bronze and two silver medals at the World Championships.
They also won five medals (gold, bronze and silver) at the World Cup and four at the World Grand Championships, as well as many other medals in various volleyball games.
However, despite their potential, talent and incredible success in the sport, many players are looking forward to quitting or switching to play for other teams.
Volleyball team players fought hard to force the Cuban government to sign a law that allowed Cuban athletes to sign contracts abroad.
One of the best ways to explain the struggles that volleyball players, as well as all other professional sports players, experience in Cuba comes from a former Cuba Men head coach, Gilberto Herrera.
Herrera won the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup, and he was then discharged from his duties by the government as a punishment for players who defected in 2001.
He stated:
“The team won 400,000 U.S. dollars but our government only gave us 32,000. We had to split that money with all coaching staff members and to all the players.”
This shows how badly the players and the entire team were treated by the government.
It also shows the real reason why so many successful sports players in Cuba struggle to make ends meet, moving to other countries to achieve their best.
