Eugenio George Lafita
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Baracoa, Republic of Cuba
Havana, Cuba
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Rafael Eugenio George Lafita |
| Nickname | Volleyball guru |
| Born | 29 March 1933 Baracoa, Republic of Cuba |
| Died | 1 June 2014 (aged 81) Havana, Cuba |
| Occupation | Volleyball coach |
Medal record | |
Eugenio George Lafita (29 March 1933 – 1 June 2014), also known as Eugenio George, was a Cuban volleyball coach. Nicknamed "Volleyball guru",[1] George led the Cuban women's team to gold medals at the Olympics in 1992, 1996,[2] and 2000.[3][4] In 2000, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) named him the Best Women's Volleyball Team Coach of the Twentieth Century.[5][3] In 2005, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.[6]
George was born on 29 March 1933, in Baracoa, Cuba.[7] He began playing volleyball in 1947 at the Pepe Barrientos Gymnasium in the Luyano neighborhood in Havana.[8] He played on the Cuban national volleyball team for a few years, and participated in the 1955 and 1959 Pan American Games.[8]
Coaching
Cuban men's national team
George's coaching career began in 1963 with the Cuban men's junior team. He built up the foundation of the Cuban men's volleyball team that took the gold medal at the 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Juan.[8]
Cuban women's national team
In 1968, George took charge of the Cuban women's national volleyball team.[8][9] Under the management of George, the Cubans clinched titles at the FIVB World Championship in the Soviet Union (1978), Brazil (1994) and Japan (1998); the FIVB World Cup in Japan (1989, 1991, 1995 and 1999); and the FIVB World Grand Prix in Quezon City (1993) and Hong Kong (2000).[8] Most notably, he led the Cuban national team to three straight gold medal wins at the Olympics from 1992 to 2000, establishing the Cuban team as the most dominant team of the 1990s.[6] Though he was removed as head coach shortly after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, he remained involved with the team as an assistant coach up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[10][1]
NORCECA
George was the president of the NORCECA Technical and Coaches Commission, and was a member of the FIVB Coaches Commission.[11]
In 2009, the NORCECA Congress in Antigua, Guatemala established the "Eugenio George Lafita Trophy" to the Most Outstanding Coach of the biennial Women's Continental Championship.[11]
Personal life
For more than 40 years, George was married to Graciela González until her death in 2007.[12]
