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CALI, Colombia, November 25, 2021. - The coaches
of the Men’s Volleyball tournament that starts
on Friday November 26 are excited to compete at
the inaugural Junior Pan American Games in Cali,
Colombia.
As a new generation of players is being forged
and the opportunity of winning two direct
tickets to the 2023 Pan American Games in
Santiago, Chile (one spot for the top final
ranking team of NORCECA and one for the top
final ranking team of the South American
Confederations), the coaches of the eight teams
competing at the Junior Pan American Games Cali-Valle
2021 gave their first statements during the
preliminary inquiry two days before the first
day of competition.
Pablo Rico, Head coach of Argentina:
“The preparation has been precarious, Argentina
has had many difficulties to gather the players
of this age-group for several reasons, the first
because many players are overseas and the
international calendar prevents them from
coming, and the second is that the clubs of our
national league are in regular season. This is
an event out of schedule and we’re coming with a
mix of players from our junior and youth
national team, we don’t have under 23 players”.
Giuliano Ribas, Assistant coach of Brazil:
“In every competition Brazil is strong, but we
aren’t at our best because we have an
understanding with our national clubs of not
using the top players of this age-group because
they are in competition. Our expectations are
high for these first Junior Pan Am Games that
are of great significance for the continent to
observe young athletes that can be part of the
Olympic cycle to join our senior national team.
We hope for a good competition and win a medal
for our country”.
Daniel Nejamkin, Head coach of Chile:
“We are coming back slowly after the pandemic;
we didn’t have a great preparation. We are
bringing young players, many born in 2003, as an
effort to begin their preparation and see who is
eligible for our senior team”.
Arnaldo Sevilla, Head coach of Colombia:
“We had two series of preparation, one here in
Cali and the other in Medellin, the team has
been practicing. We’ve had good results with
international practice matches and as hosts our
goal is to win a medal”.
Alexander Gutierrez, Head coach of Dominican
Republic:
“We are glad to be in an event of great
magnitude. We´re bringing a really young team,
thinking about the future, 80% of the team will
repeat this age-group for two more years, so if
the team remains together we expect great
things. Now we want to gain experience, try and
give a good spectacle against high quality
opponents and evaluate where we stand”.
Reider Lucas, Head coach of Guatemala:
“This is a great opportunity, we are glad to
compete in the first Junior Pan American Games.
The team is really young and we are looking for
them to perform at their best and enjoy
competing which will help this new generation
greatly”.
Jorge Azair, Head coach of Mexico:
“My team is motivated; I believe it will be a
highly competitive event because I consider this
a senior category and we expect it to be leveled
between all the teams”.
Gerardo De Jesús Sánchez, Head coach of Puerto
Rico:
“We are really excited to be here; our
expectations are to win a medal. Our preparation
was atypical because most of our players are in
college in the U.S. and they are in pre-season,
with practice matches; others are playing Puerto
Rico’s league and some in high school; so
physically our team is doing well. The nucleus
of this group has a long time together; they’ve
played world championships and have a lot of
experience”. |
