¿Por qué el mejor jugador de Venezuela no está en la selección? con Luis Fernando Gomez

0:01Residents, here we are with Luifer Gómez, a Venezuelan player who resides in Maracaibo. Luis and I know each other from the PB World Championship which was exactly a year ago, a year ago there in For Loverdell and Luis Fer is one of the most winning players on the Tours in Venezuela. He's won in BP tournaments, Pickel Tour tournaments, uh, I don't know if he's the most successful, I know Joyert

0:30plays a lot with you and he does very well in mixed doubles, but you've won quite a few tournaments. How are you, Luis Feron? Hello, Carlos. Well, thank you very much for the invitation. This, really, everything is great working here in [snort] Maracaibo. You told me you were teaching some classes this morning. Yes, I come, I'm arriving to teach classes. I usually have private classes every morning, and in the afternoon we have group classes at

1:03the Elite Pickel Academy, which you founded, right? Correct. And the headquarters at the Yacht Club. We have several locations, Carlos. This one, we first started in San Simón Park, on the lake side. There we have a complex with six courts. Okay. This, top-notch courts . Well, honestly, all the courts here in Maracaibo are top-notch, I mean, they're super high-class. And well, we started in La Vereda there in San Simón Park and we

1:42are also in the Nautical Club, we are also in 002, we are in three complexes here in Maracaibo. Excellent. And do you own those places or are you just a... what's the word for renting the place? Correct. No, we are not the owners of the place, we simply take care of the pickleball part, that is, we have the pickleball academy and well, the shop and everything that has to do with pickleball in those places and we

2:20also organize events. Excellent. So, how long have you been playing Pickball? And how long have you been training in Pickball? Uh, I've been playing for about 3 and a half years, if I'm not mistaken. Okay. This one, we started 3 and a half years ago, coincidentally at the inauguration of the courts at the Nautical Club. Okay. And when I first saw the courts, I mean, I was saying , because at first they were putting up the

2:56courts with tape, they were setting them up with tape on a tennis court, and there were some men playing, and I was like, "Well, no, it does n't really appeal to me. This seemed like an old people's sport at first," I thought. [laughs] Then later they invited me to the opening day of the courts, when they finally managed to build two courts at that time. Uh, we went, there was a toast and everything, and they

3:24taught us how to play. I remember that day I said, "Wow, I didn't know how fun it was." I mean, I thought it was for old people, and from that day on I played very often. Okay, and how long? And how long have you been training? I started training in December of that year. That was in April, I mean, like, like 7 months later, I don't know exactly, but we had a tournament, supposedly

3:56we were going to a tournament in Mexico. Uh, let's say from April to July, something like that, that we They told us we had a tournament coming up in Mexico, and we were going to go as a team from Venezuela. So, from that moment on, I said, "Well, uh, this is serious." I stopped playing other sports, uh, I also practiced other racket sports, like padel, for example, and I gave them up to dedicate myself fully to

4:30Pickerball, which was something more serious. And the blows can harm you because the combination of blows is completely different. Sure, sure. Yes, I was playing padel here in San Pete for the first time. They built some courts, and it's great, but I do think it affects movement quite a bit because padel involves a lot of slice, which is practically the opposite of what you want to do with peg shots, where you want to hit the ball

5:02flatter or with topspin, and topspin doesn't exist in padel. And look, you played in the 2024 World Championship in Peru and then you played in the 2025 World Championship in Forlord. Uh, what were your experiences like before I ask you the next question? Okay. Well, the 2024 World Cup in Peru was truly an unforgettable experience. I mean, traveling with the team, what it meant to be at a World Cup, and meeting so many people, we met

5:48thousands of people from Venezuela, all supporting us, all saying, " When are you playing?" I want to see it. Uh, the experience, the event itself, I mean, it was a crazy thing. Well, you experienced what it was like in For Lodel. I think the one in Peru was good; in my case, everything was more like more together, more... Yes. I mean, everything was very closed off , so it felt more... this was truly... that the experience

6:30was incredible. The Forload one, I think it was a bit more relaxed, I mean, you didn't feel that atmosphere as much. Uh, for example, no, I met players from, I don't know, like 10 or 15 countries in Peru, in Forel I didn't meet that many new people, it was more the players I already knew from the previous World Cup. I don't know if I'm explaining myself well enough . It was all more intimate,

7:03more familiar there in the Claro; it was more segregated, you could say. Correct. Yes, they were much larger and more spread out. Exact. Yes, they were both incredible. I mean, seriously, the level in both of them was insane. In other words, too many good players all gathered in one place and all for the same goal. Sure, sure. And that's how last year's World Cup ends, which we had just talked about on your Think

7:44and Drinks podcast. Below we'll put the link so you can subscribe to your podcast , what's it called again? I'm going to be on good terms with John, a great guy, who is also the director of the academy in the metropolitan area, right? In Caracas. Yes, that's correct. Uh-huh . Uh, I told you like, damn, I think that after the World Cup, after what I saw the Juniors, Luifer isn't going to win another

8:10tournament in Venezuela. But from here, in the last year, because a year has already passed, how many tournaments have you won? Well, uh, I do n't know how many tournaments, I really don't know exactly how many tournaments I've won, but I remember that as soon as we arrived, the following week we had a tournament in Maracay. They won that one . Yes, we won that one. Correct. This one, even the final was

8:40against Samu, who was from the junior team. Well, I remember after that World Championship, I said, "Man, I mean, I think I'm going to retire this year because we're not going to be able to compete with these juniors. I mean, they're really flying, but we have n't been able to stay in the fight. Even, well, right now, Jo, my men's doubles partner, and I are number one in the rankings. Right. And then, around December or

9:17January, February, I don't remember the exact date, they announced that the World Championship would be in Vietnam. I saw several posts from the captain's association about the players who were going, and I wondered, you'd wonder, Luifer and Joyer, who are the best players in the rankings, the biggest winners, I think they're the biggest winners from what I've seen, at least in men's open titles, they're the ones who have won the most. I do

9:47n't see any posts from you about playing in the World Championship in Vietnam, which, as many of you here know, Venezuela didn't host. But tell me, how was that?" Process, they wrote to you, what can you tell us? Obviously, if you want to get into trouble here [laughs], he's looking for trouble. [laughs] No, no, whatever you can give. Look, no, um, when that publication came out, the first thing that came out was, I think, the appointment

10:24of the captain. Mm. Uh, honestly, I was surprised, not because it wasn't me, um, because really, I mean, whether it's me or someone else, I'm always going to support them and back them up and give them everything, I mean, support them with everything, both with knowledge as a player or whatever. Okay. Um, what's surprising is that they hadn't even notified the previous captain, okay? Because I think it's disrespectful that without even

11:05saying, I mean, without even notifying you, um, as you being captain of a team that gave, did so much for the team, I mean, you gave not only physically, but financially or with whatever , okay, um, at least have the decency to let you know that they were going to select or post the publication that they had another one captain of the team. That already seemed harsh to me, right? And the other thing that

11:43seemed quite strange to me, not just to me, but to the rest of the players who play in the Venezuelan leagues, is that the person they chose wasn't even participating in the tournaments here. When he did participate, he did n't go far in the tournaments. It's not that he didn't win the championship, but he did n't compete at the level of the others. Right, right. And then, as I

12:22understand it, they didn't call you up. There was never a conversation, and what happened next was, I mean, they didn't call up a team for Vietnam, they never actually called up a team for Vietnam. They called up a team for a match between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The Orinoco Cup. The Orinoco Cup. Yes. Uh, in this tournament they called me up, they selected me, uh, I just

13:05saw that everything was very poorly organized, so much so that [sighs] I was going to be part of the team, but then everything was strange, it was poorly organized, there were things There were some weird things I didn't like, and I preferred to separate myself from that selection. Okay. Uh, yes, I stepped aside. And what were the benefits of being named to that team? They had to pay the travel expenses. What was it like

13:42playing in that cup? [laughs] Okay. Well, look how it was. We had to pay for lodging, we had to pay, I mean, each player had to pay for lodging, we had to pay for flights, transportation, we had to pay for tournament registration, we had to pay for team uniforms. Mm. And we also had to have a sponsor each. Okay. Okay. And we also had to make a video thanking whoever organized the

14:24event to say thank you for being selected, and they sent you a contract. It was a WhatsApp message. Uh, no, I mean, they were going to send a contract, but I told them, I mean, I 'm really not, I mean, I don't agree with this. Uh, before they send me the contract, I prefer not to be part of this. And I walked away. Look, Lufer, what are the benefits of being the top-

15:05ranked player? Because I know there are several top-ranked players on the tours in Venezuela. Have you received any kind of financial support or had any equipment sponsorships sent ? What are the benefits of winning tournaments in Venezuela? Look, I think this year is going to be different, okay? But previously, well, right now this year Joyer and Jose are currently number one in the rankings. Last year Joyer was number one and as a pair we were

15:44also number one in the rankings, and the year before last I was also number one in the rankings. Okay. So, uh, really, benefits as such... are the benefits that one personally seeks, I mean, not personal benefits, for example, that I try to partner with a brand or sponsors, I mean, that I give them my sports resume or whatever, but otherwise, there aren't many benefits that we can say about... What should be the case, I mean, for

16:29example, the benefit of being the champion of the national tour tournament of the whole year, no, they don't give you anything for that. You simply have to find your own contracts or sponsorships or whatever on your own. And you know that here, the PPA Tour, the biggest benefit that the PPA Tour offers to the players they sign is that they're going to give them a kind of marketing platform so they can continue growing

17:07their personal brand. Have they given you that kind of marketing help or not? That's why I'm saying that I think this year is going to be different, okay? With the Pickel Tour, I think they really have a very good organization. It's a super cool, well- organized league, they really think of everything, okay? And they really help a lot. I do n't know yet what the benefits are that they're going to provide in the end, but

17:48previously the tournaments were like an AVP tour, but none The tournament was really... it was strange because it wasn't the AVP, but you didn't see anything that matched the previous tournament. I mean, all the tournaments were different; everyone organized it however they wanted because it was practically the owners of the courts who organized it. So, yeah, it was complicated, and there wasn't anything to give you a boost or those benefits you're talking about.

18:26Look, and another question, I have a couple more questions here, and then... this is n't a proper interview with Lufer. Next year or at the end of this year, we'll do a more detailed interview so he can tell us more about himself as a player and also as a coach. It's mostly so I can stay updated because I like to keep up with what's happening in Venezuela. How did you take the news

18:55that the Ministry of Sport in Venezuela approved Pickball as an official sport? And what have you heard about it You know? Yes, that's right. Well, that's wonderful news for all the Pickball players here at the national level, right? It does n't mean we already have a Not a federation, not at all. It's simply a big step, a huge step we're taking. This belongs to every single player who practices this sport, because this is

19:30everyone's achievement. It's not just one person who got involved. No, this is thanks to all the players, the Pique Tour, and all the players who participate in the Pique Tour and all the tournaments at the national level. It's thanks to this, to make it so impressive and attractive, so we can declare it a national sport. Okay. And now we have to keep working to achieve this as a federated sport. Okay.

20:06And has anyone written to you asking for your opinion or feedback on this? Have you received any questions from any federation in Venezuela yet? No, no, I don't know, no, we haven't had any contact yet. The thing is, it's complicated because I do n't really know. I mean, I think there's still a way to go for that. Okay, first we have to create a lot of clubs, okay? First Clubs are created, then

20:48associations are formed from so many clubs, okay? By state, and after having so many associations from so many states, a federation is achieved, but we still need to organize ourselves a bit more for that. It's good, it's good. And look, you know that on Thursday I'm at the club where I work, Deers, here in San Pit, and Angelo also teaches here, and Angelo tells me, "Yeah, brother, I'm going to

21:19Bogotá for a tournament there. They invited me to be the coach." Uh, awesome, uh, I think it's great that there's this interaction between players and coaches in the United States and people in Venezuela so that there's this exchange of ideas and knowledge. And then I ask him, "Oh, yeah, Luifer's going." And he said, like, no, Luifer's not going, so-and-so's going, Joyer's going. And I was kind of surprised that you weren't going because you're the best

21:52player, the second best, or the best player in Venezuela in terms of ranking, along with Jor. You had mentioned to me that J was also going He's very good at Mixed Doubles, which is the king of mixed doubles in Venezuela. But what do you know about this event? First, from what I saw, it looked very good. I think it's a tremendous initiative. I think of all the tournaments I've seen in

22:15Latin America, this one seemed to have the most marketing support and was very well organized. But what do you know about the event itself? Well, I loved the event, I mean, as a whole , right? First, the fact that they were able to bring so many countries to one place, competing in teams, which is the most exciting competition there is in Pickelb, the team competition, that's truly the best. Um, I loved the format, I loved

22:53everything. Obviously, the players who were there were [clears throat] they were top-notch, I mean, they were super players, very high level. I knew a lot of them from previous world championships. The Costa Rican Frenchman who beat us, who is very good, played. I saw that the Colombians, the Colombians from Miami, played. Exactly. I saw this guy, Ferrera, who I don't know if he played because he played for Portugal, but I don't know if he played for

23:27Brazil. I don't know. No, he didn't play. He didn't play. I think he was the coach of Colombia, I think. Oh, right? I think so. And I saw Gabriel Tardeo's brothers who played. Uh-huh . Yes, yes, yes. There were some amazing players, I really knew a lot of them, I also knew the guys from Chile , they're super cool, super friendly, as we say. I really love them a lot, you know? There were so many really

24:00good players, I loved that part. So, what I did find really strange were the courts they played on for such a high-level tournament, I mean, the court, from what I know from what I've heard about Colombia, from my friend Experience, and what I've seen, is that in Colombia there aren't many courts, people play kind of in parks and they have like Chambers of commerce, something like that, chambers, I do

24:31n't know how. Or have you been more, have you been more to Colombia, as far as I know? No, I don't know how it works. Venezuela and Colombia are very close, but they're very different in everything, in their culture as such. But yes, there are people who complained, but I think the initiative is good, really good. I loved that idea, it's really great that at least we've started with that and that it

25:01continues, right? Let's hope it doesn't remain an isolated event and that it's repeated so we can continue adding experiences and continue creating that interaction that we all need at an international level, which isn't easy. It's not easy, but well, it's what has to be done. So, back to the question. So, were you invited? Uh, why didn't you go? Uh, tell me a little more about what you know. Okay. No, I wasn't invited. I wasn't

25:38invited. I would have loved to go if the opportunity had arisen. I would have absolutely loved to go to the invitation. I mean, I thought everything was super cool . Uh, I don't know much more. I don't know much more. Uh, I know, well, I know who the players were and are, also spectacular, uh, super good players and super good on and off the court, I mean, they're such lovely people and I'm

26:09sure they all gave their best too. You feel that because you're in Maracaibo you're a little isolated from the powerful people in professional basketball in Venezuela. Yes, it's always been like that, always. Okay. Uh, always, for example, someone from the central region is chosen first, even if they're not the first, someone from here is always chosen first. Okay. Because I served from Maracay, right? No, he lives here in Maracay, but I mean in general.

26:54Okay. But yes, interesting. Interesting. Wow, yes, Wow, and I, Wow, live here in Maracaibo, he also belongs to the elite academy, I mean, we train together. So yes, Interesting. What are some really great tournaments coming up in Venezuela to wrap things up here? The next one is in Carora. Okay. The Pickel Tour. The Pel. Greetings to everyone. Greetings to the people of Carora. I love you all very much. You all support me a lot. I

27:29love you all very much. My people of Carora. Carora is growing, I mean, a lot. Well, not just growing, they've already taken over all the baseball here in Venezuela. They're always the majority. I'm so clueless that I 'm looking for the baseball player who was from Carora. José Aguilar. Dude, José Aguilar. I think it was him from Carora. José Aguilar. I think it's No, it must be Jesús Aguilar. Jesús Aguilar. I do n't know. Maybe.

28:09Here on Google. Yes, yes, yes. He's from Carora. I 'm a big fan of the Leones del Caracas and, well, also of the Águilas del Suria. [laughs] Look, there's the Pel, sorry to interrupt. There's the Pickle Tour in Carora. Yes, the Pel in Carora is coming up from November 6th to 8th. That's the second-to-last tournament of the year, I mean, of the Pickle Tour, and it closes in December in Valencia again.

28:45And what kind of courts will it be on in Carora? Are they tennis courts? Are they pickleball courts? They're pickleball courts. Uh, no, I don't know. I mean, I've only been to one, to one of the two complexes where it's going to be. Okay. Uh, they're all indoors. I do n't know what the surface will be like. Uh, at one of the complexes they already told me they've put up permanent nets, so that's a plus. Okay.

29:20But yes, uh, they're indoor sheds, so that's cool too, we can take advantage of that. Ah, that's good. Well, Lufer, well, we'll stay in touch for another conversation. Here's the link too. Hey Luifer, my buddy, along with Dans and Drinks, interviewed me a couple of months ago. I think it was my only interview. It was very, very, moving. I really liked that interview. It was very productive. Yeah, I really liked Carlitos's interview. I

30:00listen to more than one, but I like the ones with Carlos Ubero. I really liked Carlos's. Carlos's was great, I loved it. The thing is, that's why sometimes I'm so disconnected from what's happening in Venezuela. It's like, well, it's like, but when I was with Carlitos, it was good, but there were several people here, to wrap things up, who said that so- and-so should be in charge of working with the Ministry of Sport in Venezuela. And

30:37first of all, anyone in charge of the ministry, I don't know what you think, has to live in Venezuela and has to represent Venezuela. I don't care if you're the best at so-and-so. The people of Venezuela have to be given The opportunity for them to be in charge of managing the ministry, and people who are actually working in sports. We were left with the fact that he organized a huge tournament a couple of years ago,

31:07and now he's going to be in charge of everything. But anyway, that's all for now. Lufer, what do you think about that? Well, hopefully it's someone... well, I don't know, I don't know how it's going to end up being, right? But hopefully it's someone who really contributes and doesn't criticize other administrations or other ways of operating so much, but rather builds on that, supports that, and we generate more than just being preoccupied with what

31:45others say or falling into criticism and all that. Great. Mr. President, we'll see you here on social media and we'll talk. Thank you very much, Carlos.