“Capitán”, written by journalist Cristián Arcos, offers a detailed account of the life of Mario Lepe, a prominent idol of the Catholic University, who overcame various adversities throughout his football career. We spoke with its author in Palabra Que Es Noticia.
How he got to Mario Lepe
Arcos shared how the idea for the book came about during a conversation with Lepe: «’I arrived about 9 or 10 years ago writing a book by Gary Medel, Mario Lepe was a very important figure in that book and there I spoke a lot with Mario. There he told a lot of his story and he made a certain click for me.
The author explained that the book addresses a relevant topic in Chilean society: “‘Here is a topic that reflects thousands of families in Chile that has to do with brutal violence, that violence that you don’t realize is there.”
Arcos highlighted the role of sport in Lepe’s life: «Mario finds in sport people who are willing to help him and get out of this situation that is fierce, normalized daily violence. That upbringing comes out everywhere, he has a rather contained personality and that has to do with the violence exercised by the one he is called to protect him, which is the family.
“Mario finds in sports people who are willing to help him and get out of this situation that is fierce, daily normalized violence and years have passed and he continues to resist it in a lot of activities” “when Mario is offered a platform in la Católica, the first thing Mario sees on that stand is his father’s name and not his, and he didn’t want to,” Arcos revealed.
“There are people there who are key in the Catholic case, he left a lot of times and there are people who go to look for him at the house, who are going to know his surroundings and who get him out of there,” he said.
Lepe and his relationship with his father
“Lepe is very clear about that, that he is a survivor, that he found people who could help him. The concept of animal is used by Mario, Mario refers to his father as an animal at the beginning of the book. His father also played soccer, there are things that he inherits, the one who got him into soccer was his father. He lived in an environment of great poverty, he is the oldest of the men where alcohol and violence were present every day, in the conversation we realize that the pope also suffered violence,” the writer explained.
The journalist highlighted the positive impact of the Catholic University on Lepe’s life: “Cutting cycles of violence when they are normalized is super difficult. He makes that break, the presence of the Catholic team is fundamental for that break. He describes Catholic as his upbringing. We all know a lot of cases where things don’t work out, but there are also stories that work well and don’t happen. What Catholic has is that what she did with Lepe she did for 40 years,” he asserted.
Arcos concluded to Palabra Que es Noticia the social commitment of the Catholic University: «’They are people who have the vision that they are not just a guy who plays the ball, but that they are people for society. “La Católica has maintained those departments to this day.”
