Enrique "Coco" Vicéns

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Vicéns and the second or maternal family name is Sastre.
Enrique "Coco" Vicéns
Personal information
Born 3 September 1926
Ciales, Puerto Rico
Died 6 March 2015 (aged 88)
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Nationality Puerto Rican
Career information
College University of Puerto Rico
Pro career 1946–1962
Position Point guard
Career history
1946–1951,
1953,
1957–1958		 Leones de Ponce

Enrique "Coco" Alberto Vicéns Sastre (3 September 1926 – 6 March 2015) was a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. He was also senator-at-large in the Puerto Rico State Legislature from 1973 until 1978.[1] He played for the Leones de Ponce basketball team[2] and was also a volleyball player and track and field athlete. His brother was basketball star Juan "Pachín" Vicéns. He died at the age of 88 in 2015.[3]

Early years

Enrique "Coco" Alberto Vicéns Sastre was born 3 September 1926 in Ciales, Puerto Rico.[4] He was one of 13 siblings.[5] He attended high school at Escuela Superior José de Diego in Manati from 1939 to 1943, graduating that year. Starting in 1943 he attended the University of Puerto Rico.[6]

Sports career

During 1943 through 1946, Vicéns played in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, winning the national championship in the 1944-45 season. In 1944, and again in 1946, he formed part of the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team competing in Cuba. In 1945, he formed part of the first Puerto Rican college basketball team to play in the United States at the Madison Square Garden, the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and the Philadelphia Palestra, and played against Valparaiso University, Bowling Green State University and Loyola University.[7] In 1946, Vicéns was also champion in the 800 meter intercollegiate games. He also competed in the 400m and the 4x400m races. He competed in track and field, basketball, and volleyball.[8]

In 1946, Vicéns moved to Ponce where he would have his final home base and residence. By then he received the nickname "El Hombre de Goma’’ (the man of rubber). [9] In that same year he became a player for the Leones de Ponce , playing until 1951, and again in 1953. He returned again for the 1957-58 season. From 1959 to 1962 he owned the Ponce Leones team, seeing 2 national victories during in the 1960 and 1961 seasons. He also owned the team in 1964-1968 seeing three national victories in the years 1964, 1965, and 1966. In 1967, his team came to a win but was ultimately defeated for the top position. [10] Vicens was also responsible for the establishement of the first volleyball franchise in Ponce in 1960.[11]

By 1952 Vicéns was a Captain in the U.S. Army in Fort Buchanan in the 296th Regiment.[12] As a physician, he was part of the medical staff that accompanied the Puerto Rico Delegation to the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in 1970.[13] He was a member of Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity.[14]

Political career

Enrique A. ("Coco") Vicéns
Member of the Puerto Rico Senate
from the At-large district
In office
1973–1978
Personal details
Born 3 September 1926
Ciales, Puerto Rico
Died 6 March 2015
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Alma mater University of Puerto Rico
Occupation Politician, Basketball player
Profession Doctor[15][16]

Vicéns was a senator-at-large in the Puerto Rico State Legislature from 1973 until 1978.[17] There he served as president of the Senate’s Comision de Juventud y Deportes from 1972 to 1976. [18] Projects developed or completed under his watch included Guayama’s indoor basketball court, Manati’s Beisball stadium, and basketball courts in Canovanas and Fajardo. [19] Vicéns served as a Municipal Legislator in Ponce during 2004-2008.[20]

Legacy

In 1966 he was selected to the Puerto Rican Basketball Hall of Fame and in 1993 he was included in the Ciales Sports Hall of Fame.[12] His entry into the Ponce Sports Hall of Fame took place in 1983.[21] In the 1990s the "Centro Recreativo y Cultural Enrique Vicéns" was established at the La Guancha Recreational and Cultural Complex by the Ponce municipal government under the administration of Ponce Mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ciales". Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Historia" (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Muere leyenda del baloncesto: Coco Vicens, uno de los hermanos del también legendario Pachín Vicens, falleció hoy a los 88 años. El Nuevo Dia. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. 6 March 2015.
  4. ↑ Duelo por la muerte de “Coco” Vicéns. Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Muere leyenda del baloncesto: Coco Vicens, uno de los hermanos del también legendario Pachín Vicens, falleció hoy a los 88 años. El Nuevo Dia. Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. 6 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Duelo por la muerte de “Coco” Vicéns. Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  7. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  10. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  11. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Martínez Rosario, Leonardo, ALREDEDOR DE TRES RECUERDOS
  13. ↑ Uriarte, Carlos. "1970: Puerto Rico en los Juegos" (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  14. ↑ Hernández, Rosario (20 July 1993), R. de la C. 1310 (PDF) (in Spanish), House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, p. 2, retrieved 1 September 2010
  15. ↑ Dr. Enrique A. "Coco" Vicéns. La Perla del Sur. 11 March 2015. p. 39. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  16. ↑ Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns. Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Ciales". Encyclopedia of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
  18. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  19. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "Legislatura Municipal" (PDF). Legislatura Municipal de Ponce.
  21. ↑ ‘’Duelo por la muerte de "Coco" Vicéns .’’ Junior Lugo Marrero. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. Page 45. Year 33. Issue 1632. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Resolucion Numero 189" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 August 2010.
  23. ↑ Díaz, Arlyn. "Meca sureña del sabor y esparcimiento". La Perla del Sur (in Spanish) (Ponce, Puerto Rico). Retrieved 17 August 2010.