NORCECA Boys U-19 about to start 

BAYAGUANA, Dominican Republic, August 22, 2006.- USA and Puerto Rico will meet in the inaugural match of the NORCECA Boys Continental Tournament starting on Tuesday at the Municipal Gym of this Dominican province.

Cuba will play against Mexico in the following match before the Opening Ceremony where Felipe Payano, the Dominican Minister of Sports, and Luis Mejia, President of the Dominican Olympic Committee are special guests.

Alexis Garcia, President of the Dominican Republic Volleyball Federation also will be in attendance as Nelson Ramirez, President of the Control Committee for the competition.

In the nightcap match, Dominican Republic will face Guatemala. Canada, the other participant team will have a rest day on Tuesday.

“Everything is ready to start the tournament and to demonstrate the capacity of our communities to stage events,” said Garcia.

The top two teams of each group will advance to the semi finals where they will battle in crossed matches to decide the actors for the gold medal match. The losers will play for the bronze medal.

The top two ranked teams of this competition win also tickets to the next year’s FIVB Boys U-19 World Championship.