Sergio Hernández Returns to Lead the Ponce Lions After Health Scare

Ponce. After a season full of ups and downs, Argentine Sergio Hernández is back in the “Señorial City” to lead the Leones de Ponce in the National Superior Basketball (BSN), but he almost did not make it to the 2024 tournament alive.

And when Hernández left for his native Argentina last July, he suffered a health mishap that left him bedridden for more than two weeks and on the verge of death. This is what he told Primera Hora.

“I had to go from Ponce to San Juan and take the airline that goes from San Juan to Panama and Panama to Buenos Aires. The night before I wasn’t feeling very well. I was flying at 6:00 in the morning and I didn’t have a good time on the flight from San Juan to Panama. At the Panama airport, I ended up in a wheelchair, ambulance and hospital,” Hernández said.

“My appendicitis burst who knows when. It wasn’t miraculously peritonitis, but it was very serious. It was really complicated,” she explained.

Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin tissue that lines the inner wall of the abdomen and covers most of the abdominal organs, according to the Medline Plus health portal.

In fact, it was during this serious situation that the 60-year-old veteran coach decided that he had to return for a second round with the Lions.

The nicknamed “Sheep” resigned last year as coach of the Ponce team after the team started the tournament with a 7-11 record, but after leaving the management he remained linked to the franchise as an advisor.

Despite his resignation, Ponce’s management and players asked him to stay for the remainder of the tournament, showing him an affection that he has rarely seen from an organization in his long career. And this was no exception after he underwent emergency surgery in Panama.

“The people of the team and the city were always with me and that does nothing other than reinforce the affection and trust with the team. It is not common in the society we live in today that, if someone is not doing well and resigns as happened to me, the organization continues to trust and support them. “I don’t think there’s a better way to return that than by accepting the position again,” said the coach in an interview with this media in the Plaza del Caribe shopping center.

Sergio Hernández during a Ponce Lions practice at the Juan “Pachín” Vicéns Auditorium. (VANESSA SERRA DIAZ)

It was a complicated situation that Hernández needed to get off his chest in front of the Ponce fans.

With a prestigious career and directing one of the most winning franchises in the BSN with 14 championships in its showcases, expectations were high when the Argentine arrived in the “Pearl of the South.” But, when addressing a fan base this year hungry to return to the top of the local league, Hernández chose not to make the typical promises that they will qualify for the postseason or win the title in the summer.

“I don’t know if the team is going to play well this time. I don’t know how many games he’s going to win. The truth is that I don’t know… I can’t promise you results because this is an opposition sport where sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but I promise to thank you for what you have done for me with this: a lot of love, work, dedication and trying to “I can contribute what the Mislas looked for in me,” he said.

The Lions finished last season with a record of 17-19, tied for fourth place in their section with the Indios de Mayagüez, who defeated the Ponce team to advance to the quarterfinals of the BSN.

The Ponce management reported that Hernández will be assisted by Javier “Toñito” Colón, Carlos Rivera, Carlos Morales and Ángel Daniel Vasallo, although the latter confirmed to this medium that his position in the coaching staff has yet to be defined.

2024-03-26 18:39:22
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