Cuban referee pair Alexys Zuniga Rodriguez and Raymel A. Reyes Collantes made their IHF World Championship debut in Tbilisi last month when they took to the court to whistle the IHF Men’s Youth World Championship Preliminary Round Group B match between Chile and Iceland.

 

They spoke to IHF.info about their journey to becoming IHF referees, handball in Cuba and their handball careers.

 

“I remember when I whistled my first game,” said Alexys, who is from the central Cuban city of Camagüey. “I work as a university handball coach and the first match I whistled was in Camagüey with around 15-year-old children at the school I worked in – I was 19-years old at the time.”

 

Raymel was a few years older than Alexys when he started, but the path was the same. “My first experience of refereeing was in Santiago de Cuba, the city where I was born,” said Collantes about his first taste of the whistle. “I was about 27-years-old and the game was between a university team and the junior Cuban national team.”

 

Collantes used to play left-wing in his playing days, while Rodriguez took the role between the posts, as goalkeeper, but they first whistled together back in 2009 at a regional tournament in Santiago de Cuba featuring Venezuela, Cuba and a senior Santiago de Cuba team.

 

Both were already whistling with other partners but the chemistry between the two on court was enough to convince them to join forces permanently.

 

“After that first game, we passed a lot of time together to see if we wanted if we continue,” said Collantes. “Alexys was already whistling with another partner and so was I, but at this regional tournament the manager of referees spoke with us and asked about our situation – would we continue refereeing together, or with our other partners?

 

“We made the decision and at this moment we started together.”

 

That moment was the start of an eight-year journey which saw the Cuban couple inspired to become international referees after attending a 2011 course in Cuba delivered by Ramon Gallego, Member of the IHF Playing Rules and Referees Commission (PRC), about the then new IHF rules.

 

“We attended the course and were told that maybe the following year we could get a nomination for the Pan American Women’s Junior Championship in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,” said an animated Collantes, remembering the possibility of the nomination, which they later received.

 

“It was our first time in an international competition,” continued Collantes about the experience of himself and Rodriguez, who then received their Pan American referee badges in 2014 at the Global Referee Training Programme, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

 

“We got our continental badge but wanted to keep going,” said Collantes about the event in Buenos Aires, and the Argentina capital would again prove to be a memorable place for the Cuban couple.

 

“We received our IHF badge in 2016, just one year ago, after the 2016 Men’s Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, we didn’t know what to feel, but I felt strong at the moment it was announced but for all the time during the course we did not think too much about getting it – just before the announcement you think about everything you have done and one day you think was good and one day you think was bad.”

 

“I felt very good and we had a lot of congratulations from the Pan American Handball Federation,” recalled Rodriguez about the moment he was confirmed as an IHF referee. “I called my mother who was very happy and I have the diploma on display in my house, in the main room. I was full of emotion when I received it and it is still an incredible feeling.”

 

Collantes was full of emotion too, but also full of the realisation of what the elevation to the global list meant for him personally, and the couple.

 

“I felt very nice, but I also knew it meant more responsibility and more studying for us both in English, and in continuing learning as a referee,” he explained. “All the time we are learning, but when I received the IHF badge I had so many thoughts in my head.

 

“The very first moment I heard the news I devoted this time to my brother as he lives far away from me,” continued Collantes. “I called him and he was crying, I then called my mother and then told everyone on Facebook, email and on the phone.”

 

Another phone call that Collantes had to make, earlier this year, was to Rodriguez when they received their nomination for Georgia.

 

“Alexys lives far away from me and when I got the nomination on email I called him,” explained Collantes. “He thought it was a joke – he really thought that, but I said to him ‘I’m serious’ and then told him again – he then believed me and we both said to each other; ‘our career starts now’.”