Coaches look forward for opening of NORCECA U19 Championship

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, June 5 2018.- Coaches of the seven countries competing at the NORCECA U19 Boys’ Continental Championship are pleased to be in Costa Rica and battle for two tickets to next year’s age-group FIVB World Championship.

The two pool winners at the end of the preliminary round advance directly to the semifinal round while the second and third places will crossover in quarterfinals.

Costa Rica coach Juan Acuña: “This team has been preparing for three years since the Central American championship in Panama. My players are taller than all the teams in Central America, we hope to reach our objective to finish among the first four; we acknowledge that Cuba and United States our powerful teams and we are aiming to fight for third place against Puerto Rico if we prevail against the other Central American teams”. 

Cuba coach Mario Izquierdo: “The main goal is to qualify for the world championship and the other objective is to try and win this tournament. Cuba’s best attribute is our physical condition and our strong attacks. We come from eight months of concentration in the Volleyball Academy in Havana where each player has developed according to our plans and we are ready to see the results. Every opponent presents difficulties”.

Guatemala assistant coach Julio Reyes: “Guatemala has prepared for over a year for this competition, we have high expectations and we have worked consciously. I consider my team’s good attitude our best feature. Every team here wants to qualify to the world championship and we are thankful for this opportunity, we will make our best effort to finish in the best position possible”.

Honduras coach Alejandro Castillo: “We have really huge expectations, but our training was not as much as we wished for. Our strength is our unity, adding to the fact that we have great defense which our opponents will find difficult to break. The team has played together for two years since the Central American tournament and we’ve been preparing since the beginning of the year”.

Nicaragua coach Jorge Mena: “We´ve been preparing for the past five months, working hard. Costa Rica is in our pool and we consider them to be the one to beat if we want to advance in the tournament; we know each other and it won’t be an easy task. Playing against Puerto Rico will be a good preparation match for my players”.

Puerto Rico coach Juan Albarran: “We’ve been practicing four days a week for the past two and half months at the Olympic center back home. Our goal is to try to qualify for the world championship, winning one game at a time; first we need to finish on top in the preliminary round and then prepare the right strategy to face our next opponent according to the other pool. Our strongest weapons are receiving and serving, adding that several players have experience in international events such as the world championship in Bahrain and the senior´s Pan-American cup”.

United States coach Brad Keller: “You want to hope to be in the world championship, we have no doubt it won’t be easy. We are very pleased to be here, we’ve been working hard for the past two weeks in preparation for this tournament; our motto is work hard. My players know each other since they were 12 years old, they all get along very well and they love each other, it’s a great group and it’s not big of a shock they understand one another on the court. We have no idea what to expect of our opponents; historically speaking, Puerto Rico and Cuba are always tough teams, we are familiar with some of Puerto Rico’s players that play in the US. There is always team that surprises with very talented players. In the past our strengths have been serving and passing the ball well, hopefully they will work here for us. The mental game is an issue at any stage; it’s the number one focus for most of us coaches”.