SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, February 10, 2005.- Two of the four arms that blocked for the final Dominican Republic point, in the match for the gold medal in Santo Domingo 2003 against Cuba, were those of Annerys Vargas, the imported player of Bayamon Cowgirls.

The other two were those of Cosiris Rodriguez, who played for the Guaynabo Conquerors in the decade of the 90’s. Thousand of other victorious arms in the stand embraced the Dominican Selection which became in that moment heroes of the country along with the also gold medallist in Santo Domingo 2003, Felix Sanchez.

Thanks to victories as that one, the volleyball players of the Dominican Republic have gained popularity in a country dominated by baseball an lately by Sanchez, who as the volley players, are of Olympic and world level.

“I think that behind the baseball players and Felix Sanchez, is the volleyball team. Now the Dominican people can trust that we are going to be there,” said Vargas. In Puerto Rico, the Dominican players left a great impression when the Mirador Team came to integrate to the schedule of the Superior League and left unbeaten. That was in the second half of the 90’s. Then, Evelyn Carreras, who plays in the tournament as native, came to play for the Chicas de San Juan. Now she is doing it with the Ponce Lions. She always had left a good impression.

Vargas is the second Dominican player who comes to play in Puerto Rico and said she has noted her popularity among the big Dominican community of Puerto Rico. ”Yes, they recognize me. They are always giving me support even that I know they have a lot of things to do,” said Vargas, of 6-3 height and who is easily recognizable as volleyball player due her physic.

Meanwhile Carreras thinks they are not much recognizable by the Dominican community. In the Dominican Republic, Carreras added, is another story. She coincided with Vargas in that they are among the athletes better known in that nation. “After the Pan American Games, the volleyball took a tremendous turning point. People knows you, they see you in the streets and say ‘look, she was in the Pan Americans,” said Carreras. “Over there, people were expecting much for us, in our country, and we could comply.”

Volleyball in the Dominican started to take shape in the 90’s. Then the Dominican Federation created a national program that has players under salary, and hired the Cuban technician Jorge Perez Vento, who is now working in Puerto Rico. Besides the selections, the program has around 300 girls. Like baseball and the schools that have Major League Teams, the national program and volleyball is a vehicle that the girls have in order to go forward.

“Now I can go out of the country and make extra money,” said Carreras, who has also played in Italy, among other European Leagues. “Volleyball is our job, is our employment, our mean of life. There is a lot of competition, and I think that competition has made the team stronger. The players try harder to take the job from others, and those hustle to keep their positions. The players have grown greatly in very short time,” she added.

“The program offers a lot of things: scholarships, school expensive, they paid, every, every, everything. It is a great relief for the parents, who take advantage from the assistance. It is a tremendous help, I can say it,” she added. The popularity of the Dominicans was confirmed almost a year later in Athens, during the 2004 Olympics. Over there, the Dominican defeated in the preliminary round the United States, one of the teams favourites to win the gold.

The victory over the United States was not as tasty as the one in the Pan Americans, said both players. But it was an aid to confirm their popularity. “Now there are people who never watched volleyball who are going to see us. They like it and attend the games. Volleyball has its fans over there,” said Carreras.

The Dominicans are creating an atmosphere like the one of the Cubans, the “Morenas del Caribe,” a team that is recognized wherever they go and is missed where they are not allowed to enter. Imagine the Dominican with an Olympic or world medal…

By Fernando Ribas Reyes (El Nuevo Día)