Quotes from the Head Coaches at the

2007 NORCECA Continental Championship 

 

ANAHEIM, California, September 15, 2007.- USA is considered the heavy favourite to win the 2007 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship where the top two teams will be rewarded with one berth at the World Cup, the first qualifier to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Here is what the coaches said before the start of the competition: 

 

Ludger Niles – Barbados 

“It’s a privilege to be here in the USA in the company of the likes of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Our team is in a transition phase at this moment. We’ve brought along a lot of young players, hoping that they would gain experience by playing against the more experienced teams that I mentioned before. As the Caribbean champions, we still need to maintain a fairly high level of play. We are going to be as competitive as we can and we hope that the young players we have on our squad can gain some experience by rubbing shoulders with these really good players here at this tournament.”

 

Glenn Hoag – Canada 

“For us, it’s the end of a long, long summer of competition with World League, America’s Cup and the Pan Am Games. There’s been a lot of competition for us. This is a very important stepping stone toward Beijing as this is a qualifier for the World Cup and the World Cup is a qualifier for the Olympics. We’ve had a chance to train. We’ve had some injuries, but I think we’re ready to go. We’ll work hard this week and see how it will turn out.”

 

Orlando Samuels – Cuba 

“Cuba is participating with the objective of qualifying to the World Cup. We have prepared for that goal, even tough we know other that other teams have that aspirations also, like Puerto Rico and Canada. USA is the favourite with very experienced players but if we face them in the final we will have a good match.”

 

Jacinto Campechano – Dominican Republic 

“I have only been with the team for four months. We’re here after a very poor showing at the Pan American Cup and the Pan American Games. But we have worked very hard and we are hoping to fight for a medal at this competition.”

 

Jorge Azair – Mexico 

“We know that it is a very strong competition. The NORCECA teams each time have a greater level. Now, we are not competing with the players who have more experience from Mexico. There are two reasons for that; some of them are playing in Europe and unfortunately some of them were not able to get their visas from the United States. We have a team of very young players, some of them 18 and 21. So we’re here with the idea that they will put on their best show and look to be in the top four or five places.”

 

Carlos Cardona – Puerto Rico 

Puerto Rico has had a very short time to prepare for this tournament. Puerto Rico’s club season is going on right now, so we have had a hard time getting members to participate in this tournament. Despite that, I am still very happy because we’ve been able to collect very good players and our wish is that we would be able to qualify for the World Cup and get all the way to the final. We know that it is very difficult. We respect all our adversaries.”

 

Gideon Dickson – Trinidad & Tobago 

“First, I must say it is an honor and privilege for Team Trinidad & Tobago to be here. We are at the end of a fairly successful training cycle and I have seen tremendous improvement in the skills of my athletes. I want this tournament to be a memorable one because it is our first NORCECA championship. We want to show everyone that each day we are going to be very competitive on the court and accept the results that follow.”

 

Hugh McCutcheon - USA 

“We’re excited to play this tournament at home. It’s not often we get to play here, especially in Anaheim so we’re excited at that prospect. We’ve had a good 3-week training block we look forward to competing and seeing how we can do here.”