Coaches speak about aspirations in NORCECA U-21 of Havana

HAVANA, Cuba, August 26, 2018 - The coaches of the eight teams that will animate the NORCECA U-21 from August 27 to September 1 expressed today their respective aspirations in this Men's Tournament that will award a single ticket for the Championship FIVB World Championship of 2019.

 For the historical results and especially in the latest versions of the minor categories, in which the United States, Cuba and Canada were placed in this order in the juvenile Gatineau-2016, these selections appear as favorites to fight for the desired quota.

 Jonah Carson (United States): "Five players of this team are members of the silver medal of the sub-19 that was played in Havana, the group stands out for the physique, the height and the experience of almost half of them playing in University, and now more mature and determined to defend the crown. I want to thank the attention of the Cubans and the organization, this tournament was initially in Nicaragua and assumed Cuba to do everything well in a short time".

Jesús Cruz (Cuba): "We are going for the gold, it is the only way to classify to the World Champ and we have 10 months of training for this goal. The preparation had no problems, we played seven games against the national team of Peru that will attend the senior Copa Pan American, is not of great level but allowed us to adjust the regular team and possible changes, and we saw the boys well. It is true that there are very young athletes but have the willingness to win.

Brazilian Joao Paulo Bravo (Canada): "We look to make a good championship where the United States and Cuba should be favorites, we have a very young team, well renovated with a single player from the previous Norceca, but we have worked well to have a little bit of everything, so we expect many successes here, we know that only one ticket is given and we are going to fight to conquer it."

José Dante Mañón (Dominican Republic): "We came with a clear goal, to qualify among the top three places, we know that the United States, Cuba and Canada have a good volleyball. We held four preparation matches in Santo Domingo a month ago in front of a team Quebec and we did very well, we hope to maintain that level, we were absent from the previous sub-21, but the under-19's and everyone is here, except for three who travel for the first time.”

Luis Fernando Castañeda (Guatemala): "It is a strong event for us that the whole is composed of very novice players, eight were fourth in the sub-19 of Costa Rica 2018. We hope to continue working as a team and adapting it in preparation for the tournaments in Central America We aspire to get into the fight against the countries that we can fight and do well, while gaining experience."

John Stuart (Barbados): "The objective is to classify, we know of the three strong teams, but we are going to play our volleyball because we have been preparing for two years. We are not at a high level because in my country they practice other sports to which they give more priority, but we'll show the best in the third one we're going to play."

Osman Hernández (Nicaragua): "Due to the situation of the country in the first days only three or four players were presented to the training, they could not all arrive, but in the end we managed to join them and they come well motivated, because two years ago in the sub-19 in this capital they stayed in the fourth step and are thirsty to also play a good role, a beautiful show and for that they are well prepared, the competition is tough, this is another world for us in the sports area but the team will be able to focus at work".

Adolphe Ralph (Haiti): "It is a pleasure to participate in this competition and fulfill the dream that my team plays against others of higher level and finish in a good position, although in reality we also come to learn because this is our first experience in this Norceca level.