Eugenio George Lafita

Eugenio George Lafita (29 March 1933 – 1 June 2014), also known as Eugenio George, was a Cuban volleyball coach. Nicknamed "Volleyball guru", George led the Cuban women's team to gold medals at the Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000. In 2000, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) named him the Best Women's Volleyball Team Coach of the Twentieth Century. In 2005, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Early life

George was born on 29 March 1933, in Baracoa, Cuba. He began playing volleyball in 1947 at the Pepe Barrientos Gymnasium in the Luyano neighborhood in Havana.

Cuban women's national team In 1968, George took charge of the Cuban women's national volleyball team. Under the management of George, the Cubans clinched titles at the FIVB World Championship in the Soviet Union (1978), Brazil (1994) and Japan (1998); the FIVB World Cup in Japan (1989, 1991, 1995 and 1999); and the FIVB World Grand Prix in Quezon City (1993) and Hong Kong (2000).

Personal life

For more than 40 years, George was married to Graciela González until her death in 2007.

Death

George died in Havana on 1 June 2014, at the age of 81 after a fight with cancer.