Page 21 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams

Several hundred people attended and were entertained by some of the finest vocal and
instrumental music on the island. Club President Fernandez gave a welcome speech and led the

group in rousing cheers for CHS and the USA.
Dr. J. Fermin Figueroa, a Tulane University graduate and Lieutenant Commander in the

Cuban Navy, also welcomed the group. He had attended public school in Lake City years before.
The next day, New Year’s Day, 1921, was Game Day and the contest was a mismatch - our
boys against their men. The ages of the CHS boys were 15-18, the Cubans 22-23. The Cubans

average weight was 185 pounds to CHS’s 135 pounds. Yet, CHS held the Cubans scoreless in the
third quarter.

The CHS boys never quit trying and their fighting spirit won the hearts of the Cuban players
and fans. After half-time, the Cuban fans started cheering the undermanned CHS boys for their grit

and pluck. There were no hard feelings on either side at the game’s end.
On January 2, the next day, the Cuban hosts had the CHS group up and touring the island’s

scenic places, the horse races and Jai Alai games - where they met Cuba’s greatest player, Emilio
Equiluz.

The next day, January 3, the two football teams played a friendly basketball game at the
YMCA and again the older, more experienced Cubans won - and again the good feelings prevailed.

The trip ended the next day amid friendly handshakes and gracious farewells. The Lake City
group boarded the steamer “Mascotte” and returned home with endless stories to tell of their

fabulous trip to Havana and the great hospitality of their Cuban hosts.
The fourteen boys who made that historical trip some seventy-one years ago were Horace

Wilson, Jr., Leo Thomas, J. D. Renfroe, J. T. Lipscomb, Charles Tribble, William Phillips, Ono
House, Hal Roberts, R. D. Futch, Fred Porter, Joe Gillen, Langley Brown, James Riviere and Elliot
Redding. The boys were accompanied by Dr. A. C. Koon, Louis H. Tribble and Coach Bill Canova.

Team manager Watts Bethea kept a diary of the trip and that’s how we know the details.

Thanks to the gracious invitation of Club Athletico de Cuba, Columbia High School became
the first and only high school in America to play a foreign country in football.

-16-

www.LakeCityHistory.com LCH-UUID: CD05D759-5273-4705-A6D7-381FCF749098