Celebrating 50 Years of Service
(This article originally appeared in the Belen Jesuit Magazine, winter 2019 edition.)
In 1948, Carlos Barquin was born to Carmen and Cayetano Barquin in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. That is where Barq, as he is known, grew up with his family until he was 13 years old. When the government began to change in Cuba, his parents decided they would send him to the United States with his younger brother. Barquin arrived in Miami, Florida through Operation Pedro Pan, a mass exodus of over 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors to the United States between 1960 and 1962. When he arrived in Miami on September 12, 1962, Barquin and his brother stayed at the Catholic Welfare Bureau. He was in a completely new country with no parents.
Back in Cuba, Barquin played both baseball and basketball. In Miami, Barquin also participated in football and wrestling. “The one thing that kept me from not getting in trouble was sports,” said Barquin. "Other kids got in trouble all the time, but I tried to keep myself busy."
During his time at the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Opa-Locka, Barquin was often placed in different camps. One such place was Camp Matecumbe near the Tamiami Airport. Barquin was there for almost a year. Shortly after, he was at San Rafael with Monsignor Brian O’Walsh, director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau who developed Operation Pedro Pan. Ultimately, he went back to Opa-Locka. It was there that Barquin met Jesuit Father Ripoll who was in charge of the camp at that time. It was also at that time that Barquin’s parents fled from Cuba to reunite with their children in the United States. Upon their arrival, Barquin’s father was very ill, and later diagnosed with cancer. This meant Barquin had to not only go to school,
but also look for a job to help his family. He asked Father Ripoll if he knew of anything that he could do to earn money. Ripoll suggested that Barquin become a counselor for the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Sweet Dreams, a little motel near Brickell Avenue on Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Barquin became a counselor for the younger kids in the same program that he was in when he arrived in Miami. He continued attending school, and studying Health Physical Education and Recreation.
but also look for a job to help his family. He asked Father Ripoll if he knew of anything that he could do to earn money. Ripoll suggested that Barquin become a counselor for the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Sweet Dreams, a little motel near Brickell Avenue on Southwest Eighth Street in Miami. Barquin became a counselor for the younger kids in the same program that he was in when he arrived in Miami. He continued attending school, and studying Health Physical Education and Recreation.
In 1969, Father Ripoll mentioned to Barquin that there was an opening at Belen Jesuit. They were looking for a Physical Education teacher. Barquin immediately applied and was interviewed by Mariano Loret de Mola '58, the assistant principal and athletic director at the time. Barquin was offered a part time position to teach Physical Education to students ranging from seventh to tenth grade. He was the only physical education teacher in Belen at the time. After his first year, Barquin wanted to expand the athletic department beyond the two sports they offered (baseball and basketball). In 1970, Loret de Mola asked Barquin to start a cross country program for the school. Having never been a runner, Barquin began to study the sport in depth. Shortly thereafter, he formed an official school team. The next year Barquin established the track team, and in 1971, he kicked off the football program. By this time, Barquin was coaching cross country, track and field, football, baseball, and basketball.
In 1983 the previous athletic director, Dave Hewett, left Belen for another school. Then President Jesuit Father Perez-Lerena offered the position to Barquin. Now in his 36th year as athletic director at Belen, Barquin has been instrumental in growing the athletic department from two teams to forty-eight teams. Under his leadership, Belen has had one of the top boys athletic programs in the state for the last eight to ten years. The first program he established and coached, the cross country team, was the first team to win a State Championship for the school. That program has now won ten State Championships. Other programs have also won state championships such as soccer, tennis, water polo, swimming,
and track and field.
This year Barq celebrates his 50th anniversary at Belen, and he has no plans to slow down. He wants to continue building on the programs to truly have an impact on all the young men here. Barquin is currently working on opening a new sports complex at the school that will house locker rooms for all the teams, weight rooms, bigger equipment, and lights for the football stadium. According to Barquin, there is still room to grow. In his honor, the school has established an endowment scholarship . To make your contribution online, visit www.belenjesuit.org/barquinscholarship or contact the Advancement Office at 305-804-7683.On Sunday, April 7th, we will be honoring this Belegend. The event will be held at The Penthouse at Riverside Wharf starting at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are limited. Please click here to purchase a ticket.
and track and field.
This year Barq celebrates his 50th anniversary at Belen, and he has no plans to slow down. He wants to continue building on the programs to truly have an impact on all the young men here. Barquin is currently working on opening a new sports complex at the school that will house locker rooms for all the teams, weight rooms, bigger equipment, and lights for the football stadium. According to Barquin, there is still room to grow. In his honor, the school has established an endowment scholarship . To make your contribution online, visit www.belenjesuit.org/barquinscholarship or contact the Advancement Office at 305-804-7683.On Sunday, April 7th, we will be honoring this Belegend. The event will be held at The Penthouse at Riverside Wharf starting at 5:00 p.m. Tickets are limited. Please click here to purchase a ticket.
“You can’t stop or the train will run you over,” said Barquin in his usual tone.
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: webmaster@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the School property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 30-acre site in western Dade County, only minutes away from downtown Miami.