Flor Melendez
Encyclopedia
Flor Meléndez Montañez (born January 12, 1947), better known plainly as Flor Meléndez, is a well known former basketball
player and an international coach from Puerto Rico
. He is a native of Cidra
and the current head coach of Puerto Rico's basketball team.
Meléndez enjoyed sports since a young age. He moved to Cantera, a San Juan
area that is close to the childhood homes of salsa singer Andy Montañez
and world boxing champion Ossie Ocasio
, when he was still a child. At Cantera, he was enrolled at the Oratorio San Juan Bosco school, where he participated in one of Puerto Rico's best known Association football programs, the "Don Bosco" teams. He also enjoyed playing baseball
.
Although Meléndez would have probably been chosen to play on Puerto Rico's Liga de Baloncesto Superior (Puerto Rico's professional basketball league) he decided to pursue basketball as a future career, playing in the YMCA
before entering the Puerto Rico's professional basketball league in 1965, with San Juan's squad.
in Mexico City
. He also represented the country in Spain, Venezuela
and the Dominican Republic
as a player with the national team.
Meléndez won four youth championships as head coach between 1967 and 1973, year in which he was traded from San Juan to the Gigantes de Carolina team in the BSN. Meléndez became head coach of the Puerto Rican national women's basketball team in 1976. He helped the Gigantes reach the BSN finals in 1977, but they lost to Raymond Dalmau
's Quebradillas Pirates for the championship. That year, Meléndez retired as a player and decided to concentrate on his coaching career. In 1978, he stepped off as coach of the women's national team, having won two gold medals with the women's youth team and a bronze one with the veteran's team, earned at the Central American and Caribbean Games
held in Medellín
, Colombia
.
Upon retiring as head coach of the female national team, Meléndez made his debut as BSN head coach, with the Gigantes. He coached them into two more consecutive finals, but they again fell short to the Dalmau led Piratas de Quebradillas, in 1978 and 1979. His first year as head coach of the Gigantes, Meléndez won the BSN's coach of the year award. That same year, he became head coach of the men's national team, leading them to a gold medal in the Pre-Olympics. Because United States President Jimmy Carter
announced a boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Meléndez was deprived of participating in his second Olympic Games. In 1981, Meléndez returned to the finals, this time coaching the Bayamón Cowboys, who, helped by stars such as Rubén Rodríguez, Jose Sosa and Roberto Valderas, won the national championship by defeating Fico Lopez
, Mario Morales
and the Julio Toro
coached Guaynabo Mets
. Meléndez and Toro sustained a coaching rivalry during the early 1980s that lasted a few years. In 1982, the Cowboys lost to the Mets in the tournament's semifinals.
Meléndez remained as head coach of the men's national team until 1983, when he retired as head coach of that organization, having led them to a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games
held in San Juan, and at the 1981 Centrobasket
tournament as well as the 1982 Central American and Caribbean games.
In 1985, Meléndez led José Ortiz
and the Atleticos de San German to that franchise's first championship in 30 years. He then moved to Argentina
, where he was named head coach of that country's national team. He coached in Argentina's professional league, and had a stint as head coach of a professional team in Venezuela. Meléndez would later on move to Panama
, where he also was head coach of the national team.
In 1992, Melendez earned his second BSN coach of the year award, and he repeated it in 1993. Back at the helm of the Bayamón Cowboys, Meléndez won his third national championship in 1995, leading the team to back to back titles when they also conquered the 1996 championship. Meléndez was still coaching the Cowboys in 2004, when, as assistant coach, he finally attended his second Olympic Games, after Puerto Rico's national men's basketball team won a bronze medal at the 2003 pre-Olympic Games to qualify for the Athens sports celebration.
Meléndez has also coached the Ponce Lions in the BSN. He has over 500 victories as a coach. As a basketball player, Meléndez retired as one of only 65 players in history to reach the 5,000 points mark in the BSN, having scored 5,088 points during his career.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player and an international coach from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. He is a native of Cidra
Cidra, Puerto Rico
Cidra is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, north of Cayey; south of Comerío and Aguas Buenas; east of Aibonito and Barranquitas; and west of Caguas. Cidra is spread over 12 wards and Cidra Pueblo...
and the current head coach of Puerto Rico's basketball team.
Early life
Meléndez is the son of Florencio Meléndez and Emilia Montañez. He grew up alongside seven brothers and three sisters. Two of his brothers, Jorge and Diego, also had notable careers as basketball players.Meléndez enjoyed sports since a young age. He moved to Cantera, a San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
area that is close to the childhood homes of salsa singer Andy Montañez
Andy Montañez
Andrés Montañez , better known as Andy Montañez, is a salsa singer from Puerto Rico.-Early life:Montañez, like singer Daniel Santos and boxer Ossie Ocasio, is a native of the Tras Talleres area of Santurce San Juan. He is known by the nickname "El Godfather de la Salsa"...
and world boxing champion Ossie Ocasio
Ossie Ocasio
Osvaldo Ocasio, , better known as Ossie Ocasio and nicknamed Jaws, is a Puerto Rican who was a boxer and world Cruiserweight champion. He got his peculiar nickname after accidentally biting another boxer during a sparring session...
, when he was still a child. At Cantera, he was enrolled at the Oratorio San Juan Bosco school, where he participated in one of Puerto Rico's best known Association football programs, the "Don Bosco" teams. He also enjoyed playing baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
.
Although Meléndez would have probably been chosen to play on Puerto Rico's Liga de Baloncesto Superior (Puerto Rico's professional basketball league) he decided to pursue basketball as a future career, playing in the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
before entering the Puerto Rico's professional basketball league in 1965, with San Juan's squad.
Professional career
Meléndez began his coaching career in 1967, coaching a youth team. In 1968, Meléndez became a member of the Puerto Rican national basketball team that competed at the 1968 Olympic GamesOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He also represented the country in Spain, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
as a player with the national team.
Meléndez won four youth championships as head coach between 1967 and 1973, year in which he was traded from San Juan to the Gigantes de Carolina team in the BSN. Meléndez became head coach of the Puerto Rican national women's basketball team in 1976. He helped the Gigantes reach the BSN finals in 1977, but they lost to Raymond Dalmau
Raymond Dalmau
Raymond Dalmau Pérez is a retired Puerto Rican professional basketball player. During most of his career, Dalmau played in the National Superior Basketball league. His sons Richie, Christian and Ricardo also played basketball on the highest level of Puerto Rican basketball.-Career:Dalmau...
's Quebradillas Pirates for the championship. That year, Meléndez retired as a player and decided to concentrate on his coaching career. In 1978, he stepped off as coach of the women's national team, having won two gold medals with the women's youth team and a bronze one with the veteran's team, earned at the Central American and Caribbean Games
Central American and Caribbean Games
The Central American and Caribbean Games are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial , typically in the middle year between Summer Olympics...
held in Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
.
Upon retiring as head coach of the female national team, Meléndez made his debut as BSN head coach, with the Gigantes. He coached them into two more consecutive finals, but they again fell short to the Dalmau led Piratas de Quebradillas, in 1978 and 1979. His first year as head coach of the Gigantes, Meléndez won the BSN's coach of the year award. That same year, he became head coach of the men's national team, leading them to a gold medal in the Pre-Olympics. Because United States President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
announced a boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Meléndez was deprived of participating in his second Olympic Games. In 1981, Meléndez returned to the finals, this time coaching the Bayamón Cowboys, who, helped by stars such as Rubén Rodríguez, Jose Sosa and Roberto Valderas, won the national championship by defeating Fico Lopez
Federico Lopez
Federico López Camacho was a Puerto Rican basketball player. He was a member of the Guaynabo Mets....
, Mario Morales
Mario Morales
Mario Morales , aka "Quijote" Morales, for his ability to conquer both scoring and team championships in the Puerto Rican BSN league, is one of Puerto Rico's most famous basketball players.-Professional career:...
and the Julio Toro
Julio Toro
Julio Toro is a Puerto Rican basketball coach. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, he made history by becoming the first non-Soviet coach to defeat the United States during Olympic competition, and the first coach to defeat an American team composed of NBA players at an Olympics...
coached Guaynabo Mets
Guaynabo Mets
The Mets de Guaynabo are a BSN professional basketball team from Puerto Rico.The Mets began to play as basketball's original Cangrejeros de Santurce. Before the 1976 season, they moved to Guaynabo...
. Meléndez and Toro sustained a coaching rivalry during the early 1980s that lasted a few years. In 1982, the Cowboys lost to the Mets in the tournament's semifinals.
Meléndez remained as head coach of the men's national team until 1983, when he retired as head coach of that organization, having led them to a silver medal at the 1979 Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
held in San Juan, and at the 1981 Centrobasket
Centrobasket
Centrobasket is a FIBA sponsored basketball tournament where national teams from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Confederation . The top three or four teams typically earn berths to the FIBA Americas Championship,...
tournament as well as the 1982 Central American and Caribbean games.
In 1985, Meléndez led José Ortiz
José Ortiz
José Rafael Ortiz , better known as Piculín or Picu, is a retired Puerto Rican professional basketball player...
and the Atleticos de San German to that franchise's first championship in 30 years. He then moved to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where he was named head coach of that country's national team. He coached in Argentina's professional league, and had a stint as head coach of a professional team in Venezuela. Meléndez would later on move to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, where he also was head coach of the national team.
In 1992, Melendez earned his second BSN coach of the year award, and he repeated it in 1993. Back at the helm of the Bayamón Cowboys, Meléndez won his third national championship in 1995, leading the team to back to back titles when they also conquered the 1996 championship. Meléndez was still coaching the Cowboys in 2004, when, as assistant coach, he finally attended his second Olympic Games, after Puerto Rico's national men's basketball team won a bronze medal at the 2003 pre-Olympic Games to qualify for the Athens sports celebration.
Meléndez has also coached the Ponce Lions in the BSN. He has over 500 victories as a coach. As a basketball player, Meléndez retired as one of only 65 players in history to reach the 5,000 points mark in the BSN, having scored 5,088 points during his career.