He turned thirty-six in June. He, Robertlandy Simon Aties is considered one of the strongest centre-backs in the world. He is Cuban, he wanted to play basketball but started with volleyball when he was eleven. And at the age of 23, after many games played with Cuba’s shirt, before starting the 2011 World League, his story breaks. The captain of the Cuban national team decides to leave the national team. A decision that is not taken well by the Federation, but he confirms it without hesitation. And from that moment the gentle giant begins a legal journey that will end in November 2012, when the FIVB grants him the transfer that enables him to join as a professional player in the Italian Super League, in Piacenza.
“The time had come to make a decision for my life – underlines Robertlandy Simon – Cuba wanted victories, we won, but we received nothing in return. I was a little tired of this situation, one day I got up and told my mom that I would no longer play for the Cuban national team but I was going to find a new life in another way. The Federation didn’t take it well, they canceled my access to the sports centers in Cuba. It was difficult to leave Cuba, I left all my loved ones, a still young daughter, I didn’t know if I could go back and I cried at the airport . But I had to change, I wanted to become a professional.”
The chance to play in Italy comes after several months…
“After a year and during that year I was on the street, playing a little soccer to get a little sweat, doing sit-ups, all kinds of exercises that don’t need a gym. I remember there was a grass arena open, so I would go there and do mine every day. I was selling rice, sugar, these are things that a Cuban does naturally to survive. Suddenly, I get news from Piacenza, they wanted me to go and play for them. I explained to him that it wasn’t easy, that I was in the middle of a legal process. They have remained faithful to me and, moreover, they have also helped me”.
What does volleyball represent for you?
“My life, it’s the only thing I’ve done so far. And luckily I can do it quite well, think when I started I was not good at all. I didn’t approach volleyball but she approached me when I was eleven, I wanted to play basketball but at the last minute they told me there was no place for me, they proposed to my mother to let me play volleyball, she he said they needed to talk to me and i decided to give it a try. I stayed until I was 16, I wasn’t good but normal, I studied and played, in Cuba the two things go hand in hand. When I entered the junior national team, I understood that it was necessary to commit myself even more since volleyball could be a qualitative leap in my life. At 17 I was in the senior national team.”
Piacenza has always been considered your second home.
“When I arrived I found myself in a cold city, I was used to the heat, I felt like a small child who had to learn to live, who had to discover things. I was very well received, everything was different from Cuba, here I started earning my first money, here was the turning point in my life. I liked the challenge, the desire to always become stronger than I could be, I trained a lot, Piacenza initially represented the most difficult part of my life, it made me grow up”.
Robertlandy Simon and family.
“The family is everything, I have four brothers, one by blood, I owe a lot to the family, to my mother. My mother has always shown me that the family is the one that supports you when you are in crisis, it happened many times when I was little and I saw what happened, she always taught me that if there is a plate to eat on that plate they can eat everyone”.
Simon and the next…
“They say I’m generous but it’s not true, I’m a normal person who thinks that in this life we all need everyone, even if you’re a billionaire you need something and someone you don’t have, if it doesn’t cost you anything you have to try to help ”.
If you hadn’t played volleyball what would you have done?
“I don’t know, I certainly would have tried to invent something, maybe I would have been on the street begging, I like challenges and I do my best to reach my goal”.
After a long absence you returned to play with the Cuban national team.
“They were good and flexible, knowing that I’m not very young anymore we found the right agreement so that I could feel good and at the same time be able to help them. This summer I will only play the Olympic qualifying tournament, no VNL. Volleyball is still everything to me, it’s beautiful and fascinating because you can lose against a weak team in an instant. And when two strong teams collide, the one that is more hungry for victory wins. It depends on who wants more”.
