Seven AFECAVOL countries battle for two NORCECA spots

PANAMA CITY, Panama, July 24, 2016 - The seven countries that form part of the Central American Volleyball Association – AFECAVOL – will battle for two tickets to the NORCECA Continental Championship, at the Men’s U-23 Central American Championship starting on Monday July 25.

Opening day at Gimnasio Jose “Beto” Remon in Panama City and to whom the tournament is dedicated to, begins with El Salvador facing Nicaragua (4pm local time) followed by Belize against Honduras at 6pm and closing at 8pm with the host Panama against Costa Rica.

The general technical meeting was held on Sunday, presided by Felix Savio President of the National Federation of Honduras and President of the Control Committee, joined by Juan Carlos Rodas (Medical Delegate), Marvin Mora (Referee Supervisor), Claudia Rivera (VIS Delegate) and Rodolfo Andreu (Press Delegate).

Javier Ortega, President of the National Federation of Panama welcomed all the delegations and said to be pleased to be hosting the third edition of the tournament, the prologue of the senior category.

Coaches gave their personal opinions about the event:

Reider Lucas, coach of Guatemala considered “this tournament is very even, it’s a preview for the upcoming senior Central American Championship and we’re here to give a good performance and a good result. Our players recently played at the World U-20 qualification tournament, where we finished fourth and they are highly motivated.

Cesar Salas, coach of Costa Rica said “I am glad to be once again at this tournament, I believe the third time will be ours, we are here to take the title away from Guatemala who has beat us on the two previous occasions. My team is ready; they have a lot of experience, we are aware that this will be a well disputed competition and it won’t be easy”.

Marvin Ulloa, coach of Honduras expressed “it’s an even competition; most of the players are from last year’s U-21 championship. My team is young, with only one player with experience in the senior category, but we will do our best to try and finish in good position”.

Osman Hernandez, coach of Nicaragua expressed “we expect a demanding competition, we want to finish in a better position than last time (6th) and our goal is to reach the podium. Our team is a combination of experience and youth, which was our objective before coming here”.

Albert Humes, coach of Belize indicated “this category is very good for the region because you can see the growth of players from junior to senior. In the las tournament we were placed fourth and we are hoping to round much higher, we are looking for the big one, the gold. We are in the process of selecting our senior team; we have two potential players that could be on the senior team”.

Eric Hernández, coach of El Salvador expressed “ready to begin a new competition in our region, we have seen a lot of players with good height and strong. We want to finish first or second because we are aiming to be at the NORCECA Championship”.

Horacio Angulo, coach of Panama explained “we know that hosting is much more difficult because the fans are critics and there’s more pressure, but we have been preparing for this. Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua come with international experience. We have worked with a specific goal, winning a medal, with a renovated team”.