La verdad del Panamericano de Pickleball en Ecuador | Entrevista con Fernando Rubio

0:00Here we have another interview with Latin American and Spanish leaders or players around the world . Here we are with Fernando Rubio Orosco, who is speaking to us from Portiejo, Ecuador. A context, Fernando de Milagro. Fernando and I have been talking about doing this for about 5 months and we finally went to do it today. No, tell us who you are. Well, brother, thank you. Thank you. Yes it's true. Uh, we've been

0:39preparing for about five or six months to do something, to interview, to talk, to chat for a while and to talk about how things are going here from Ecuador to all of Latin America, right? Well, I'm passionate about it, as I think all of us who have gotten into this whole pick thing are. Uh, I'm a passionate pickball player who discovered the sport by chance. I had never played racket sports before and I have always been

1:10more dedicated to my work and maybe playing football occasionally. Uh, we started exploring the topic of the pick about 3 years ago. We've been involved with Pable since shortly before the first World Cup tournament in Peru, a little before that, and that's when we started going out and meeting friends at the Latin American level first. Later I had the opportunity to travel to the United States and also meet people there and well, brother, that's it, that's

1:51exactly it, you at the World Cup I was getting out of my car, I don't know if you remember. Yes. I don't know if you recognized me and were like, "Oh, talk to me, how are you?" And that's when you told me that your wife was Venezuelan too, right? Yes, my wife is Venezuelan. But hey, tell us there, uh, you 're telling me before we play that you have a business, you have

2:15several businesses or you have a pickable business. Tell us a little bit about that and how the idea of ​​opening that complex came about. Yes, look, uh, that was more or less a year, a year and a half ago, uh, yes, a year and a half ago, uh, with a friend we had, well, he, I played pickle, he hardly played, he started playing because I invited him and we would go out to play

2:45and he had the idea of setting up some little courts, of setting up some little courts, but since I was more involved in my business and I only dedicated myself to playing until he convinced me and well, we said, well, let's go for it because I played in another place where we painted a lot, it was an abandoned lot and we painted some little courts, we made some nice little courts to play on. The floor wasn't

3:11very good. So, that's where we learned, and then my friend and I decided, like, look, let's give it a go because people are very enthusiastic here in Ecuador about the sport, and especially here in Milagro, which is located 20 or 30 minutes from Guayaquil. There was a lot of anticipation for the sport at the national level. There are cities where picol is very active, like Puerto Viejo, uh Santo Domingo, they are cities here. Guayaquil

3:50also already has a complex. At the beginning there weren't many courts and we did everything with courts painted with tape, with courts with tape. Later on, people got more involved in the sport, and there were enthusiasts like us who also invested in this city called Pasaje, which is where the largest number of people who play pick are concentrated in Ecuador. And so the idea arose to make ourselves a little court, we have five covered courts

4:28and we started launching little tournaments. So, at the beginning it was all about friendship, getting to know people, and that's the beautiful thing, the truth of this sport, and that's something we can't stray from, right? And that's how it came about, that's how the topic of those from the complex came about.

4:51And how was it? How many courts do you have? Okay. And tell me, tell me about the process of how those courts were converted. It has a shed. They used to be tennis courts, and well, answer that and then I'll ask you the next question. Not anymore . Look, basically, a friend of mine had a vacant lot and he said to me, "Look, let's put some courts here." And then it was done, the ground was prepared.

5:23And I can tell you that, well, that's what most people who play pick nationally here say. which are the best courts in terms of infrastructure and the playing surface is the most similar to those used in the United States. They are the most similar. We have five indoor courts. The club is called Match Point Pickball Club. Okay. And we also have a padel court. There we have a bar, a restaurant,

5:58and well, at first the reception was quite good, even the rain makes it a little difficult for people to get there, but well, the good thing is that there is a place to play with or without rain, which is almost not the case in this region . They are the only courts there are It's good. You are a visionary with indoor courts. In fact, we made them. How much did it cost?

6:30In fact, we made them roofed because we knew, because the other place where I played before I ventured into this one here, we had two small courts and when it was winter the water reached our knees and we couldn't play there and we were flooded for about two months and so people didn't play. In fact, it rains a lot here, winter hits very hard here, and that's why we also , well, let's say, because we

7:07know it rains quite a lot. The rain rolls in. Ju, and how much did it cost to build the courts? If you're not ashamed to tell me roughly how much it cost in dollars. No, for example, look, a court like that, uh, let's see, paint, prepared, it costs you about $000 per court to make it. Okay. Yes, it costs you about $000 per court to make it. Obviously, we're still heavily in

7:41debt because of that. We have to keep paying and all that, but we're committed to that, to giving the community a space where it can develop, where it can share. In fact, we have a gym there, we have paddle tennis. Padel is not very popular here in Milagro. It's a city that's 20 minutes away from Guayaquil, where an hour of padel costs $50. And here in Milagro you pay $10 and

8:12play for an hour and you have it in 30 minutes. So sometimes people do come from Guayaquil to play, but Ecuador is also going through a significant security issue, and the president is trying to bring some order to the security situation, but it's a difficult security issue here , you know ? And that also complicates the transfer a lot. Yes, yes, I've heard, I've heard. And well, that was the main reason why

8:50I ended up migrating from Venezuela to the United States because of the security issue. And the other thing, when my mom told me how much it cost to rent a padel court in Caracas, which in Venezuela is cheap for some, but for most is very expensive, that people pay 60 an hour to reserve a court and I said, "Wow, that's crazy." What I mean is that padel is indeed much more expensive than tennis in that sense.

9:23Yes, it's much more expensive. Here too. Here, here it's a very expensive sport, very expensive. And that's what the advantage of Pckable has been, that Pckable, for example, we at the club charge a monthly fee of $50, $0 and you can play as much as you want, open play. In other words, you can practice the sport from 4 pm to 11 pm and you pay $50 monthly. Well,

9:57then it works out well for you. And if, for example, you're someone who doesn't go every day, you pay two or three a day and you can play for two or three hours. I'm telling you that nobody, I mean, Open Play, I would be a person who uses Open Play, I would use it because I play 4 or 5 hours, but there I am, my wife has to take me out of there because it 's late.

10:22But there are people who play for an hour, two hours and get tired and that's it , they leave. So it has turned out, the issue has turned out that above all, we are more of a contribution to the community because we are a small community, miraculous, it's not very big, but with small grains of sand a better society is made, so we got into that path of making contributions to the community and especially to the

10:56pick because that's what we like. and to the national picab. In fact, that's what has led me here to always want to get involved and try to contribute in any way I can, right? To contribute and support players who have the potential to reach a much higher level. Players who are tennis players, have been tennis players all their lives and suddenly find in Pickable a sport that can open the doors to what they dreamed of,

11:33and likewise, padel players have also switched to Pickball. Fans who end up getting fully involved in the pick and want to compete, represent their country and, why not? To achieve, for example, here is a case of two boys who play very well, they have represented Ecuador and both boys have gone to the United States for different reasons, but they are there and they have the possibility of continuing to practice the sport and, why not?

12:08Reach a professional level. And yes, I'm going to ask you more about the tennis players with the PB in Ecuador, if you would have to tell me if padel is still more popular than the PO in Ecuador or if it's closer, it's already closer to which is more popular. No, it's still the most popular padel because it's also an elitist sport, and it's a sport, and you know how we Latin Americans are, we're very show-offs. So,

12:47100% it 's not the same if a boy or a girl posts, "Look, I'm playing padel," or unlike a girl, "I'm not playing pick," because many people don't know about pick yet. And that's what I've tried to do; wherever I go, my wife tells me that I'm a Jehovah's Witness from Paris. Did you see? Have you ever seen religious people who knock on your door and stay there talking to you for a

13:15while? Well, that's just how I am, that's how I am with PEB. where I'm talking about Peball. Yes, the PB changed my life and has changed the lives of many. And how does the tennis community view picol in Ecuador? Well, here in the United States it's a bit strong. Yes, I do n't know if you've seen my videos, but what's the relationship like between a tennis player and a pickaxe player? I know you're

13:43telling me that these guys maybe went to university in the United States or moved to the United States, they used to play tennis and now they're playing baseball and maybe they have the chance to become pros or whatever their goals are. What kind of deal is that? the tennis player, the Piquéball player. Look, I can tell you that many people here in the province of Manabí are very good at racket sports.

14:16In fact, they are the ones who practice the most, and the fact that some tennis players who are considered good in that sport in that area of ​​the country, and even tennis teachers, have gotten involved in playing and training, and even travel outside the country to the United States for tournaments, spending a month there. That's caused a lot of people to get involved in the argument today. Many people have done that. Guayaquil, which is the city,

14:49Guayaquil, which is the economic capital of Ecuador and is the one with the largest population and the highest concentration of people. Pickball hasn't taken off quite as much as one might have hoped, has it? Well, little by little it is happening, we already have more than 2000 people playing pick at the national level, many more, and for a relatively new sport it's very good. Yes, there are already many cities in almost

15:22many provinces where it's played, and that's a good thing. For example, in Quito we have, we have Cotakacachi, Santo Domingo, we have many cities, many cities that already have courts, which is the important thing, right? People who took a chance, or like me, didn't? He said, "Look, do you know I'm going to build some courts?" Because I see that the growth of the sport is directly proportional to the place where you have to practice it,

15:49and I want to get into that, I want to get involved, I want to get into it. And so many people, many people have gotten involved and have created larger clubs, in fact in Puerto Viejo there are some giant clubs that have 12, where we recently held the Pan American Games, it has 12 courts and it is a purely ping-pong club. Oh, and there are many that have opened, as

16:14you can imagine, there in Puerto Viejo they have, there alone is the largest concentration of people who play ping-pong here in Guayas. The second area where Peball is most played is Guayaquil Milagro, and we also have people playing PB on the beaches of Salinas, so we have a great community nationwide. Do you think PEBall has created such a big agency? Because there's a lot of American influence, in the sense that there are many American retirees

16:51living in Ecuador, or maybe it's more because someone arrives. Yes, they listen to you, right? Look, actually, the one who brought pick-up to Ecuador was a person who lives in the United States, in fact he's well known there, his name is Boris Habat, he's a gentleman over 50. And he, at the beginning, he came with his family, he has a family here, they created a little court on a beach, since they have a hotel on the

17:22beach and inside the hotel in the courtyard they have a pick-up court. They created a sprint court, that was for the pandemic and they created it there, they spent their time playing and from there that's the story that they told me and what I could see. So they brought the wine from abroad, but they are Ecuadorians who lived in Florida, that is, an Ecuadorian who lives in Florida , brought the sport, introduced it

17:50and a group of friends also introduced it to him, uh, gentlemen over 50 years old. So, as you know, for them playing tennis was no longer tiring or demanding more effort, so they saw in the pick, imagine, they were passionate about racket sports and it's a much smaller court, it made everything easier for them and they said, "No, this is the sport." And that's why, that group of friends I'm talking about, who were people

18:20over 50 years old, Ecuadorian, right? All the Ecuadorians formed the group and it started to grow among them, and they got their children involved, and the children started calling their friends, and that's when other younger friends came, people like, for example, 40 years old, 35, and us, which includes me because I 'm in that age range. That's when we started to grow a little more, together with everything I'm telling you,

18:54and then by holding tournaments and all that, now the girls started to get involved, which is one of the shortcomings that Ecuador has in terms of girls, that there are hardly any girls playing, I mean, there are girls but not at a high level. Now there are many girls playing, but not at a level four or five and above, you know what I mean? There are kids who already play it, and

19:22now we even have children playing it; the sport is now played by children as young as 8 years old and older. But it all started with those people who brought the sport during the pandemic, and from there it expanded. And since it's a sport that you know well, and the whole community knows well, you play it once, you play it twice, and you're hooked, you're stuck there, you don't go anywhere. Okay , that's great.

19:55This is a very good context for what we are going to talk about right now, which is the Pan American Games. Tell me about your role in the Pan American Games and what the goal was of the Pan American tournament that was held in Puerto Viejo or Manabí, I don't know, I don't really know. Manabí is the province and Porto Viejo is the city where it was held. Uh, look, we

20:23have a group of clubs, we are a group of clubs that associate and we have a national league. We have a national league here. So, what exactly is the National League? It's several dates, like a football championship over several dates, like I think it's like the PPA format there. You go from city to city every year, it's the same thing, and we go to a ranking where the first ones qualify in the first

20:57places, we do it so that they qualify for international tournaments to represent the country, and that's how it goes . During that time, the World Cup tournament comes up, and you find out it's in Vietnam. Upon learning, for example, we as players and clubs, you know that this is an emerging economy that needs good planning to be able to take players to a country so far away that costs so much. So, we as

21:41clubs said, "Look, you know what? We're not going to have international participation this year, and many Latin American countries aren't going to either because they're thinking the same way we are. So, what do you think? We guys got together and said, "What if we take advantage of the fact that we have the infrastructure and launch a tournament where we can invite all those countries that aren't going to Vietnam?" Because what we all like is to

22:13compete, to compete internally, and well, when you experience leaving your country to play abroad, you say, "Wow, I also like facing the guys from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Chile." So you say, "Okay, let's continue along those lines." That's how the idea of ​​forming the Pan American Games was born. So , my role there was that, being very friendly, my role was to conduct a survey at the Latin American level with all the friends

22:53I have in all the countries. So, that's how I started. Look, I remember the first person I asked was Jonathan from Mexico, Jonathan Hernández. Uh, uh, I also asked two guys in Venezuela, some from Peru, some guys in Panama. I asked some guys I know from Brazil too, and they told me, "Fernando, that's a great idea." It's a risky bet because taking the risk of organizing a tournament to bring

23:36people to your country, well, that's not easy. It's not easy. It's a gigantic effort and a risk for everyone because you have to provide for the safety of all these people, uh, travel, everything, everything. That's where the idea for the Pan American Games was born. So we said, "Let's launch it, and whoever wants to come, come, because this was an invitation open to everyone. There were no exceptions. The idea was to unite, to

24:13share with the entire Latin American community that wasn't going to Vietnam or that didn't have tournaments outside their countries. And that's how the idea was born. And how many participants did you have, and from how many countries? Well, I don't have an exact number, but I can tell you that there were more than 40 or 50 foreign players. There were people from Mexico. Well, Mexico was the country that brought the most people

24:57. They brought about 25 people just from Mexico, who were the ones who weren't going to Vietnam either. Some were going, others weren't, but they were the ones who were n't going to Vietnam. So they saw the Pan American tournament as a chance to compete internationally. There were four or five from Panama, some from Peru, and one guy from Venezuela. Some couldn't come because of the situation; the ones from Colombia were going to come.

25:35About 15, 15 or 20 people had everything ready, but then the earthquake happened. The earthquake in Venezuela meant that many people who were coming from Venezuela couldn't come. And then the earthquake in Colombia also happened, which also prevented people from Colombia from coming, but people came from Uruguay, and from Chile. So we had enough, I mean, to hold a first tournament, and we did it amidst all the current situation, with some people

26:16going one way and others going the other. So, for us, it was very satisfying to be able to welcome everyone. We did it, I mean, it was something very personal , right? It was like when you arrive at the World Cup, nobody knows you, only a few people , right? And we gave them a welcome. Everyone left happy, and that's really what fulfills us and gives us the strength to

26:51say, look, these kinds of events need to be held. We have to support them, we have to keep going. Right now it was our turn, but later on, when, I don't know, next time it's Mexico's turn, it's Mexico's turn to host the next event. And I say, no, these kinds of initiatives have to be supported because they're initiatives that have nothing shady or hidden about them. There's nothing hidden, it's

27:19simply about sharing and enjoying. Now I'd like to ask you a series of questions. First, did you spend or lose money, or did you break even? How was it in terms of the cost of the event, and were you satisfied on the financial side? How did it go? Well, look, at the event, we didn't reach the goal we had planned. We didn't reach the goal precisely because we were counting on greater participation from

27:59Ecuadorians, from people here, but I understand that because it was a 5-day tournament, it was very difficult for Ecuadorians yesterday. In fact, the largest number of people were from Puerto Viejo. For example, from my city, we were like 30 of us from my city, about 30 from my club, came, but from the other clubs there were only one or two. So, there wasn't as much of a reception from the locals. But we understand that

28:33spending five days here, for example, in another city, and you don't go alone, you always bring someone, so it's going to cost you at least 300 or 400. And there were many people who weren't in a position to do it. So, that also worked against us a bit. But the rest of the time, it greatly affected the prizes we wanted to give out, and we couldn't give out all the prizes. Although we announced beforehand that everything

29:10was based on the number of registrations, everyone left very happy. For me, it was a great event. People felt good, the people who came from out of town felt at home, and that's what they conveyed to us. That's what really paid for the event. We're not saying we lost a lot of money because when we tried to do this, we said, "We might not make anything, or we might have to put in our own money

29:58because the registration fees and sponsorships might not be enough. The thing about sponsors is that they support you, but they don't give you money." You see, for example, brands like Coca-Cola that support us, Power, uh, Gatorade supports us, and a lot of others. But those companies don't give you money; those companies give you other types of sponsorship, right? So, sometimes people, sometimes people think that because they see a lot of sponsorship, they say, "Wow,

30:34those guys are rolling in money, they're getting rich," and we really didn't do it for that reason. We really didn't do the event thinking about making money. No, in fact, we wanted to showcase Ecuador, to put Ecuador on the radar, on the map, and say, "Look, in Ecuador there are these people, there are fields, there's infrastructure, they're gradually preparing, they're organizing, and that's good, and that's the starting point, like any event, right?" The first one is

31:16n't going to be very good, but I know and I'm sure that the ones that follow will be much better because you learn from everything , right? I congratulate her because I think people have no idea how difficult it is to organize and schedule an event, let alone an event of that magnitude. That's why I also agree with the people organizing the World Cup, whom many people criticize. Look, what they

31:48're doing isn't easy. I mean, putting on an international event and taking the time it requires. The five days of your event were the easiest because everything was already ready, and it was mostly just a few details. But the lead-up to the event, which is scheduling, marketing, and betting that people will actually come, is crucial. Many people seem to agree, but then don't actually register. There's the weather, and so on. There are many things involved that

32:27people don't realize, and I congratulate them. Look, I have a couple more questions for you here. You told me that there are many clubs there that are working together. Is that through an association or a federation, or how does that work there in Ecuador? Uh, look, here at the beginning everything started playing in the corners, in the places where there were little courts. Then an association was created by some people who arrived, they met, uh,

33:05those who arrived first, as one says. So they formed an association where we were all involved because we all wanted the same thing , which is to promote sports. Then they started to see a series of things that made them think, "Look, I don't agree with this, I don't agree with this." So, there was no reception. Well, what we as clubs decided was to leave the association. Many clubs decided to leave the

33:44association and form a group, a group called COEP, which is like an Ecuadorian Pickball Confederation. It 's the Ecuadorian Confederation of Pico, in which all the clubs are, uh, all the clubs are there and the largest number of clubs in the country and that's where we organized the league tournament and all that, but the other association still only has a few clubs, we have the largest number of clubs within it, but like everyone else, right?

34:17We're all the same people because we're friends, I mean, it's not that people are at least on my side, I'm not fighting with anyone, it's not that one, but it's simply different points of view on how to see things, how to handle things and that makes people sometimes, uh, look, you know I prefer to step aside. Hey, you guys carry on with your project. I would like to do a project like this,

34:45where we can all give our opinions, where we can all help the sport grow, but like everything else, right? This is always going to happen when you don't like something. You're going to voice your opinion, and if your opinion isn't accepted, you're going to say, " Why am I here if my opinion doesn't count and if they don't even take me into account?" So you simply step aside. That's how it works here. We're

35:16clubs that are part of an organization, and we try to do that. We try to spread the sport nationally, but if I, for example, at least from my perspective, I don't have any personal issues. I got into this to make friends. And if, for example, I 'm currently part of an organization like COEP, and if it gets to the point where I'm passionate about it, I have to argue with friends, even though some get

35:50upset, right? Some get upset because you don't share their opinion. But if that's going to damage relationships, for whatever reason, then I simply support everyone because my idea has always been to support the players. That's been my goal since the very beginning of the sport. to get to know them, but now that we already have good players, I mean, my idea has always been to support the players. For example, someone comes to me, a player

36:21says, "Fernando, look, I'm going to play here, help me get sponsorship." I'm even trying to raise money from some friends who have businesses and can contribute, right? So, we try to support, and that's what we've tried to do, to find benefits for the players. It's difficult because, as I said, brands still see Latin America as very disorganized. Yes, that's what happens, the big brands see Latin America as very disorganized and you still don't receive

37:00that help or that boost that can help to professionalize the sport a bit. We love that governments still don't support sports, right? So, that's what I mean, I'd like us all to be able to work in the same direction, right? Everything at the national and Latin American level, that you are within an organization that does things well, that does what you do that makes you, from your point of view, say,

37:39that is growth, there is an intention to grow. There is no ill intent here, because the world is full of good intentions, but some people come along and take advantage. They only think about profiting from that and they don't care about anything else. And if they don't achieve what they want, then they simply throw dirty water at you or try to push you aside, and that happens everywhere in Latin America,

38:13not just in Peb, it happens in many sports, it happens a lot in real life, in everyday life, imagine. Yes.

38:27Yes, that's why you see me making videos on Instagram, like making calls for arrests, because it really bothers me that they talk about Asia, they talk about Europe, but why don't people start seeing Latin America as a window to truly grow, and why don't these private companies see it as a lucrative opportunity for them to come and grow the sport here? But if you have people in positions of power who only

39:01want to think about themselves and how to benefit themselves, it's very, very difficult. And that brings me to my question. Uh, two questions. Did the other association in Ecuador help promote this event or not? You speak of the Pan American. Yes. No, no, we didn't have the support. Hey, what am I saying, right? There are entities that are called or want to be called the Latin American and national leaders,

39:40and if someone else comes along, for example, you come along and want to do an event, and if you don't agree or align with them, they simply don't support it and what they do is try to make sure that the event is not successful. That's when you realize what we're talking about, because they want the pick to grow , but just because someone comes along and wants to do an event, you're not

40:12going to support it. I, at least, don't think that way. I am one of those who supports all events and goes to all events, whoever organizes them, because the way to support an event or an initiative right now is not by going, it's by going to the event. I mean, you, for example, there was an event in the Dominican Republic from here in Ecuador, there were like eight of us players, or

40:42yes, no, even more, I think there were like 10 of us players from here. We're meeting up, guys, come on, uh, look, come on, we're meeting up, we're talking. The way to support the initiatives is by going to the tournaments, because there is a registration involved, there is an image involved from the event and when there are already players supporting, what has been caused by the World Cup of these kids from Peru?

41:12They started with an event and it's difficult, I know that many people criticize them and all, but it's difficult to do this, isn't it? It's not easy. And what they have done is wonderful. I understand that they went to Vietnam and many people criticize them for going to Vietnam, even associations that are supposedly aligned with them criticized them for that, but that's not the point. It is also about seeking the growth of the sport.

41:45Obviously, all of this is because there's a business involved. I understand all that, but if you want to grow you have to attract more people. And for example, I don't know if it was a good idea or not to take, for example, the World Cup to Vietnam, but for example, imagine if next year they bring the World Cup back to the United States. Do you think that many people who went to the tournament

42:16in Vietnam, who are Asian, you think it's not possible for them to come here? Are they coming? I think they will come because they already saw the event, they were there and many of them liked it. Now, if you hold an event like this in the United States, it's possible that many of those who attended, who perhaps didn't go to the United States or Peru because they didn't know about the event,

42:42but learned about it there, and not only Asian people, but also people from Africa and even Oceania, who came from all those continents. So, those are events that we must continue to support. And well, I don't want to stray too far from the question itself. We received support; what we didn't receive were attempts to stop the event. That's what we receive from Latin American entities, uh, those that are called, that call themselves,

43:16those that seek the growth of the regional peak, uh, right? We received, it was, uh, don't put that name, uh, don't do it on that date, uh, we're going to do something, better not do it. And so if you want to have the endorsement, uh, you have to align yourself to do this. And I mean, we're not doing this to seek anyone's endorsement. Let's start with the fact that there is no governmental entity.

43:52that can vouch for us. We had the backing of the Ecuadorian government, which supported us at the event through the vice minister. Even though it's not yet a major sport here , we have the support of our local government; in fact, one of them even plays pickball, and the municipal entities also play pickball. So they went and supported us, and that's all we wanted, just to seek camaraderie and to make our country known.

44:32Even the people from the other association here didn't go to the event; only one person went. Well, basically, no to the event, no to the Pan American Games, none of them went, they didn't go. So there we see the support that and you can name which, I mean, which was the regional association that didn't help them, or federation, or whatever they're called. So , this federation, supposedly the one that wrote to me, Continental Continental

45:06, the Continental, I mean, the Continental that didn't write to me, it was on behalf of the PFA, they wrote to me from there, I mean, two people from there wrote to me who work for that, that is the Federation of the Americas of the Americas. They wrote to me , they wrote to persuade me not to do the event, and they are people who work directly with them, so I think it came from

45:40them, right? Because if they are people who work there and their photos are on their social media, then I even spoke with them, look, you should have supported the event and that would have given them. The thing is, what I'm telling you is that sometimes I don't understand the way people work. For example, if a country comes to me—I'm in charge of a Latin American confederation or federation, whatever it's

46:11called—and there's a country that wants to do something, it won't cost me anything, but my name as the Latin American Confederation can be there simply by saying, "You know what? We support you, uh, what do you want us to do, how can we help you?" Look, you know what? Hey, don't just tell the associations from other countries not to come. That's all, don't do it . Instead, tell people to come, even if it's not a

46:38no. And what they did was that Ah, because they wrote to other associations that weren't there. Yes, I am aware of that. Uh, really, that's it, uh, I was talking to a person and supposedly, no, Fernando, look, the idea is to support that I don't know what, but when and I let that person know, I told him, uh, look, but I 'm receiving this. I received an audio message that was sent to me only

47:15once, which I listened to and then it was deleted because that's how they do it. Where it said, "Look, I know who you're talking about . That's happened to me several times when I make a post and I get like six voice notes and then I think that this guy regrets it because he knows he's a fool who can only damage his reputation and he deletes them. So, imagine, I get a

47:45voice note where they were saying, "Look, you know what?" The motto for the Pan American tournament is not to support it." And that's the motto for all countries. A lot of people are going to tell you, "No, they did n't write to me." A lot of leaders are going to tell you, "No, they didn't tell me." But we do know that they did. So, that's what I'm telling you. From

48:09there, we start with the idea that you're not really working for the regional pick, that is, you don't want the growth of the regional pick, but simply that the people who are with you are n't affected. And I imagine they do it because the other association here in Ecuador is involved with them. So, to give you an idea, while we were launching and promoting the Pan American Games, they decided to launch the South American Games,

48:47and so the people here were promoting the South American Games because they were from their association, and it's understandable, everyone defends their own interests, right? It's understandable that everyone defends their own interests . So, don't fill your mouth with excuses saying that instead of dedicating yourself to destroying or They want to tell us things, to join, to give us, to come, to talk to us, to find ways to do things. Why do we have to

49:15go out and find them when they don't give us anything? Because they call themselves Latin American confederations when they don't give anything to any national association because they don't send us nets, they don't send us balls, they don't send us rackets, they do n't do any of that. So they want us to do what they say , I mean, why? I mean, everyone has to do their own thing, and that's what has prevented

49:49the Latin American rivalry from growing as much as it should . So, what's going on? What's causing this? Because look, my interpretation of all this is that if this entity, which is supposedly meant to unite, to make the sport grow, causes divisions within the countries, it's what has caused people to become divided within their own countries. That's how I see it. I'm telling you honestly, that's my interpretation because,

50:33for example, you don't You can talk to, I mean, you can't expect everyone to think the same. There will always be people who think differently. Otherwise, we see that in politics, in religion, everywhere. But if it's something new like this, when you use your social media power for promotion, to exclude everyone but your own , you're causing problems because, as I said, this isn't a government thing or anything. So, what happens? Anyone,

51:08for example, from Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Colombia, anyone, disagrees. Fine, we form another group and create another confederation, and you continue with your confederation, and we continue with ours because yours doesn't have the endorsement of the International Olympic Committee, which is the governing body, and neither do we. This is private, this is private. You got together with a group of friends and did something. You got together with a group of friends and did

51:38something, and that's how things are here because here, when it's not like the tennis federation, which is part of the governing body... From the International Olympic Committee, and they're the ones in charge. I mean, look at the Pan American Weightlifting Championships. We're already part of a respectable, legitimate organization, which will also have its problems, right? They'll have their problems, but imagine this: if it's like this now, imagine when we have government funding.

52:20Then it'll be like this. Everyone will be looking out for themselves, and that's what bothers me a bit about all this, because when I got involved, it was to get people to know the sport, to get them involved, and I really told them, I tell you the truth, I told the organizations at the time. I even spoke with the head of the GPF at the time, and they never did anything. He

53:01was a Mexican man, he was involved. I said, "Look, we have to do things differently, and we want to grow, we have to do this." We need to try to unite more, not to go our separate ways. Those people out there who want to do things on their own, we need to give them space. Hey, look, come here, get involved, what is it you want to do? Well, let's do it

53:27together. And I'm telling you, if that had been done, I'm telling you, honestly, we'd be at another level right now, and the brands, well, what I always say to all the friends I talk to from abroad, that disunity, that disorganization, where one person pulls in one direction, three others pull in another, has meant that the brands, the brands we know, the ones that are the driving force behind this sport, don't pay

53:59attention to us. That's what has made these brands, right? These Latin Americans are disorganized, and that's how they see us and how they treat us. Is

54:16n't it extremely sad? Let's end the conversation here. Fernando, most likely we'll try to get together at least once. Every quarter, but this is a wake-up call for all those federations, or whatever they're called. Nobody is bigger than anyone else in what we're doing right now. Any initiative is good, and the only thing we have to do if someone is doing something wrong— this bunch of crooks—is to call them out

54:57and try to stop them from organizing events. But as long as someone is trying to organize an event, no matter what it's called, we have to support them. And if these people are doing something wrong, and we find out they're a bunch of crooks, well, we'll call them out . Write to me. I live here in the United States. Here, I don't care if the president of some association doesn't like you because it doesn't

55:26bother me. But this is a wake-up call for all of you who really think you're better than everyone else. And listen, let me tell you something, there are many people who have very good intentions, very good intentions. There are many people who have even invested money, but they encounter all these inconsistencies and they just get bored and leave, they dedicate themselves... You know what? I'd rather just focus on playing, that's all. There are a lot of

55:55people I've talked to who really want to invest money, you know? Not just to build three little courts, but people who really want to, who've seen this and, like I said, if I don't see this going well, I'm out. There are a lot of people, I know of many who have given up on getting involved because of that, just as there are others who have gotten involved and wanted to build good organizations in their countries.

56:31And we have them.

56:43Awesome, brother. Okay, let's see what we can do now. Let's see what we can do with this great content. Great conversation. Thanks to Fernando for finally getting us to agree on this. Send me all your social media links so I can put them in the description and people can keep following you. And well, I know we owe you for promoting the event next time. We were trying, we're doing a lot of things

57:12here, and sometimes it's hard to keep up. I know so much about everything that's happening in South America, but we know we have to do our part . Thanks, Fernando. Sending greetings to the residents and all the Pickball lovers here. Well, sending greetings to you all. I know you have many followers here; you have a lot of followers in Ecuador. They share your tips and messages a lot, and not just here in my city, but

57:41all over the country. In the groups we have, they're always leading the way. So do n't stop making those videos giving tips on how to hit the ball and all that because they really do help. Sending greetings to the residents. Greetings also to your friends at the Pickball House, who are also well -known and whom I greatly appreciate. Thanks, brother. Don't make me cry. Bye, take care, brother. A hug.