Cecilia Tait (PER) |
 Cecilia goes up to block Caren Kemner during Peru's pool play with the USA. Suddenly, Peru woke up to find the USA up 2-0. Cecilia slapped her teammates into action and won the match in five sets. As the "team mother" she was expected to be bossy, else things wouldn't get done in that household! [Photo: FIVB Archives] When the great Lucha Fuentes retired at the turn of the decade into the '80s, a ceremony was held in her honour recalling the glorious moments that the team captain had given to her country. She then passed her legacy onto a still young but promising star—Cecilia Tait—a powerful and explosive lefty who was the up and coming sensation in the next generation of Peruvian players. Cecilia accepted the honour of being hailed as the successor to Lucha Fuentes, without knowing that she was to surpass everything her predecessor achieved. In terms of technique, Cecilia was a much better player, and in terms of victories, her awards collection was far superior. Nevertheless, Cecilia acknowledges that Lucha and all her generation helped pave the way for Peruvian volleyball to rise to its greatest levels in the 1980s. Cecilia had already given much to talk about as a young girl, playing for local clubs and then quickly integrated into the Junior National Team. At a very young age, she had already become the go-to hitter of her group, and nowhere did she prove this most than at the 1981 Junior World Championships in Mexico. Cecilia, joined by Denisse Fajardo and Gina Torrealva, among others, reached the final against South Korea, losing 3-1 in a still glorious defeat. Even more impressive was the fact that only a year later, the Adult National Team competed in the World Championships held in Peru, with a lineup that was comprised mainly of the members of that junior vice-champion team and a couple of older, more experienced players. The balance of experience with youthful energy worked wonders, taking Peru past Japan in the quarterfinals, then beating the USA 3-0 in the semis, but finally succumbing to the powerful Chinese team that would continue its winning streak well into the middle of the decade. Despite the loss, the Peruvians felt more than exhilarated at their accomplishment, as the public cheered both finalists in what became one of the most |
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| wonderful
spectacles of sportsmanship in volleyball. And to make matters even
sweeter, two players were selected as the tournament MVPs: China’s
magnificent Lang Ping,
and Peru’s classy Cecilia Tait, who with this award, already managed to
live up to and surpass the legacy that was given her by the great Lucha
Fuentes.
Though in the Los Angeles Olympics, Peru didn’t perform so well, ending up in 4th place after both Japan and the USA exacted revenge on Peru for their defeats in '82, Cecilia still put quite a show. As a lefty, she was always dependable on the right side, and occasionally would hit quick balls or combinations in the middle. Her level was still bound to improve, but unfortunately, Cecilia began to show problems with her knee. In 1985, she was invited to play with the All-Star Team in two exhibition matches against the Chinese Olympic Champions. She began as a starter, playing opposite the creative and still young Japanese Kumi Nakada, with Cubans Mireya Luis and Josefina Capote pounding on the outside, and USA’s Rose Magers and Japan’s Norie Hiro in the middle. But something wasn’t right in Cecilia’s playing. It seemed as if she wasn’t exerting herself at a time when she most needed to prove her worth. Yes, she was playing with the best of the best against the best of the world, but things didn’t really work out well for her and soon the All-Star Team’s coaches replaced her and Norie Hiro for Soviets Kachalova and Chebukina, respectively. This change worked much better and the coaches stuck with this lineup for the remainder of the matches (both of which China won as Lang Ping performed wonders). Cecilia had to watch the rest of the match from the bench, which forced her into reluctant humility, something that seemed totally against her nature. "Show me some love!" Cecilia just pounded a ball and goes to greet her teammates in Seoul '88. |
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| Whoever has seen Cecilia Tait play knows what I am talking about. A year after the Gala Matches against China, Cecilia showed up at the ’86 World’s in Czechoslovakia in her best shape. With her knee properly protected, she played without any problems, and you could see it in the way she would elevate herself and pound balls at will. Then she would celebrate, not girlishly à la Zhang Rongfang, but with a poise and class that became her trademark. She would do a little hop, or raise her left arm in a fist and do little turns, then embrace her teammates and hug them all like her own children. Then she would pat one or two on the back as in approval of their contributions to the team’s success, and cut her way through the huddled group while swishing like a runway model. She was, as we say in Peru, the “mother” of the team, the emotional leader, and most importantly, the go-to hitter whom setter Rosa García could recur to at any time to get out of a fix. Her grace was indicative of her strong personality (which always helps in order to be one of the best, but not always necessary, as was the case with Gaby). In a team with few outspoken personalities, Cecilia’s light shone bright and was paramount to keeping the team confident. | ||
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There were some
problems, though. Rumours had it that the other fiery player on the team, Natalia
Málaga, was often at odds with Cecilia. But they never got
hostile enough to affect the team, and if they ever did have differences,
they kept them off the court. (On one occasion, though, specifically
during the match against West Germany, Cecilia began to tell Natalia what
she had done wrong in a rally and they both began discussing it on the
court. That’s when team captain Gina Torrealva intervened, as she so
diplomatically did always, by hushing them and directing them to Man Bok
Park, who as the coach, had the last word in the matter.) There was a
reason why Gina was elected (or chosen by Mambo) as team captain. Gina was
much calmer than Cecilia, and more consistent both as a player and as a
person. Cecilia was more spectacular to watch but too proud and too
arrogant to be the person elected to bring the team together. Her ego out
fit the task worthy of a team captain. Whereas the other players didn’t
really care that Cecilia loved to take the spotlight, Natalia had to
accept Cecilia’s superiority as a player and did it with enormous
respect. (And when Cecilia retired, Natalia didn't hesitate to assume this
role in the team, in her own particular way of course.)
< Hitting
at the '82 World's in Peru. She became the nation's hero after taking her
team to the world championship final in her own country. [Photo: Ken Chen,
Volleyball Monthly]
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| After making it past Brazil, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, South Korea, and Bulgaria (and losing a five-set match to Cuba), Peru made the final four in Prague, facing the legendary Chinese team. Though Lang Ping was present at the match, it was as co-coach along with the other legendary outside hitter, Zhang Rongfang. But China had enough firepower already, and their traditional Asian defence was spectacular. Against Peru, China showed everything they were able to do in a wonderful first set that went 18-16 in favour of the Chinese. That set has got to be one of the best sets ever played in the history of volleyball. The Peruvian underdogs relied a lot on outside hitter Denisse Fajardo, Gaby’s central blocking, and Cecilia’s right-side hitting. Peru had the opportunity to close out the set when setter Rosa García back-set a medium quick ball to Cecilia. With virtually no block, the lefty hit the ball so hard that if it had been some other team it would’ve definitely been a kill. However, Zheng Meizhu’s fabulous defence was there to pick the ball up and denying Peru the set-point. Eventually, China recovered the lead and closed out the set with a block on Gina Torrealva. After that, Peru never woke up and thus, helped China walk to the final with minimal effort. |
| In order to redeem themselves from such a poor showing in the semifinal, Peru had to beat East Germany for third place. But the first set and a half were difficult for Peru. They weren’t playing with spirit and even Cecilia’s powerful attacks weren’t achieving what they usually did. Down one set and 9-2 in the second, Mambo asked for a time-out and said something to his players that served to wake them up. Mambo told them that they should be embarrassed for playing so bad, and even called them "dumb" in order to anger them into reacting. He even brought a bit of geopolitics to his chiding, by pointing out that they were the only non-Communist country in the final four, and that they needed to prove that they could at least beat one of the three teams and earn their place in the medal stand. With that said, Peru returned to the court a different team. And as Cecilia began to fire her teammates up, a new weapon began to unveil itself in the form of Gaby, who rose to the occasion in this match. |  Playing for Japan's Ito Yokado... |
| She ceased to be
the tall and lanky player from the Junior Team, and became the hero of the
match, as she and Rosa combined with unstoppable quick balls in the middle
that the East Germans couldn’t stop. For once Cecilia didn’t mind that
someone else outshone her performance, because she knew that letting Gaby
lead Peru’s comeback would be incredibly beneficial for Gaby as a
player. And she was right, because after this match Gaby assumed her
starting role in the lineup in full equality to that of Cecilia and the
more experienced players. Of course Cecilia didn’t leave empty-handed.
She had the pleasure of stuff-blocking the East German outside hitter on
match point, sending the whole Peruvian team in a frenzy. They had
accomplished a wonderful feat, because this World Championship was more
balanced than the previous one when China overpowered everyone. At least
in ’86, China had to sweat a bit to earn its second consecutive World
Championship title.
After the ’86 World’s, Cecilia went to play professionally in Italy, along with the rest of her teammates. She promised to come back to the National Team, but her knee suddenly gave in and she was absent from playing for quite a while. Still, after her surgery she went through a steady recovery and physical therapy to regain her level, and in 1988 she was ready to join the team that was heading for Seoul in hopes of a medal. Her absence permitted other younger players to have more playing time, especially Sonia Heredia, Cenaida Uribe, and Sonia Ayaucán. The three who stayed, Gaby, Rosa and Natalia gained valuable experience and became team leaders in their own ways. |
 As the most experienced player on the team, Cecilia tried to carry much of the hitting load against the USSR in the '88 Olympic final. But she wasn't in her best shape, so setter Rosa García distributed the offence amongst all the players. I'm sure, though, that Cecilia wanted to do a lot more than she was able to. When Cecilia returned for the Seoul Olympics she wore a blue knee brace to protect it against any unstabilising motions, and one could see that she wasn’t in her full form yet. Still, her contributions to the team helped enormously, but by then she wasn’t the only go-to hitter on the team for others had matured and elevated their levels considerably. Occasionally she would rip a left-handed kill that left some people reminiscing of her awesome pre-1987 level. Emotionally, however, she was still the leader of the team, adding guts and cheers to help Peru come back from 9-14 in the fifth set, staving several match-points from the Chinese. Then she also helped turn a 0-2 deficit against the USA to win in five sets. Appropriately, she pounded match point through the blocks of Deitre Collins and Liz Masakayan, and raising her arms in obvious but controlled ecstasy for winning the first place of their pool. In the semifinal against Japan, Denisse was the unstoppable one during the first two games, and while Japan’s Kumi Nakada orchestrated a surprise awakening of all her team’s abilities, Cenaida was the one who virtually snatched the silver medal away from the Japanese. Cecilia contributed in her own way, but more emotionally than anything else. Part of the art of being a player with class is to know when to let others shine, and Cecilia knew how to do this very well. With the silver medal attained, Peru entered the final against the USSR in superb form, winning the first two sets and taking a 12-6 lead in the third. Cecilia must’ve thought that the gold was hers, and that her career would end with the utmost athletic achievement—an Olympic gold medal—but that never happened, as the USSR staged a comeback and pushed for a fifth set. At the tie-break, Cecilia wasn’t an overpowering factor in Peru’s gutsy fight to the end, but she gave herself entirely up to the last rally. The Soviets finally outlasted Peru 17-15 and took the gold. In defeat, Cecilia still led her teammates to the awards stand with dignity, though it was clear that she had cried out her defeat as much as the rest of them.After Seoul, Cecilia retired from the National Team, and in the same type of ceremony that saw her receive the baton from Lucha Fuentes, she passed on her legacy to Gaby Pérez del Solar, who went a step further and became an even better player than Cecilia. But Gaby didn’t see the victories that Cecilia had enjoyed because after Seoul the level of the team was not as high, or maybe it was that the rest of the world had surpassed them. Cecilia played in Italy again before marrying a German and settling near Stuttgart, where she set up an ultra modern athletic rehabilitation centre with a well-trained staff of physical therapists. She returned to Peru every once in a while and delighted people with her cool attitude and graceful moves. She even starred in a music video, “Toda la verdad” by some Peruvian rock singer, in which she played a tough-girl à la Grace Jones. Dressed in fine fashion, she also took up modeling, which went extremely well with her looks and personality. And recently, in the 2000 elections which will be remembered for being rigged by fraud from the incumbent, Alberto Fujimori, Cecilia Tait ran for office in the Congress under the opposition candidate, Alejandro Toledo. We’re yet to see if she wins, but a leader like her could use her influence and popular appeal to aid in the reconstruction of a just and civil democratic society. She might have lost the gold in 1988, but she still has more than enough time to make it up to herself by leading a different type of collective victory.
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