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Nicolas Vives, Head Coach of Cuba
We just returned from winning the World
Challenge in Korea and qualifying to the VNL
next year. We want to perform well here while
also testing new players and resting some of our
key men after a busy campaign and in preparation
for the World Championships.
The team is almost the same as the one who won
this tournament in 2019, with the addition of
Robertlandy Simon and Michael Sanchez. I started
coaching this generation of players in 2017 and
they are progressing well, from the U19 to the
U23 World Championships and their involvement in
international leagues. They have matured
technically and tactically and are now in a
better place to solve crucial moments in a game.
This generation should peak in 2024 and stay
with the world’s best and the VNL is a great
step forward.
Andy Read, Head Coach of USA
The team is a blend of guys that we had at the
Pan Am Final 6 in Mexico and some guys that are
coming back from VNL. It is a very good blend.
Our talent level and physically are better that
what it was in Mexico. We look forward to a
better finish than Mexico (bronze).
The team preparing for the World Championships
is staying in Anaheim, so our guys are here to
gain more experience.
This tournament is the most important ever in
the history of the Pan Am Cup. It has world
rankings points involved for Olympic
qualification, which is everything.
Jorge Gutierrez, Head Coach of the Dominican
Republic
It is important to be here to gain experience.
We have our U21 team, they are young, and we
want to improve our level of play. The players
here just want to play and show the world they
can play at this level.
Daniel Nejamkin, Head Coach of Chile
Our goal here is make the podium, plain and
simple. We think we can do it. So we are going
to play for that.
The Pan American Cup is better for us than
training because we have to play against a lot
of teams that are ranked similar or better than
us. In South America, Brazil and Argentina play
at a higher level, and we always play against
Colombia and Venezuela. So here, we have the
opportunity to play against international teams
that can really test us.”
Group B
Jorge Azair, coach of Mexico
We have prepared well since the start of the
year. It’s a young team that has been
progressing well and preparing for the World
Championships. We have lost players through
injury and conflicts with school calendars. We
secured our main goals so far by qualifying to
the 2023 Pan Am Games and the World
Championships.
We are here to obtain valuable world ranking
points for future events such as the Olympic
qualifiers for 2024.
Oswald Antonetti, coach of Puerto Rico
This is our third tournament this summer. We
have been adding elements and some key players
are returning here to join the squad preparing
for the World Championships. We treat this
tournament with the same rigour as the World
Championships.
We have a young team who is creating an
identity. Some of these players won the Norceca
championship last year. We have been working on
creating a sense of sacrifice, courage,
discipline and identity that we need so much as
an Island.
We have 90% of the players here who will make
the squad for the World Championships. For us,
the World Championships starts with this Cup. We
train well and we are able to execute the modern
form of playing volleyball. We are integrating
the right elements into our game. We can’t
accelerate this process.
Guilherme Pinto, Head Coach of Brazil:
We want to give the guys some good experience.
We are very glad and happy to be playing at a
high-level competition like this. This
experience will help them achieve their future
goals and the teams’ goals moving forward.
They are a young team, so this is a development
opportunity for the guys, especially mental
development. Representing Brazil, our country,
is something to be very proud of, so we hope we
will continue to play with pride throughout the
tournament.
Fun Facts:
Brazil #19 is son of Adriana Bento, Canadian
beach volleyball coach. He is Canadian dual
citizen.
They’ve already qualified for the Pan Am Games
through Jr Pan Am games, this tournament is
therefore important for FIVB ranking for the
Olympics and VNL qualifications.
Dan Lewis, Head Coach of Canada
We have a pretty experienced group, there’s a
lot of guys that train here that have the
potential to go to World Championships so I feel
that we should be trying to win our pool, as the
first step. Then of course I would like the guys
to be in the medals. So you can expect that we
are fighting for gold.
The guys are excited first not having to listen
to me yell at them in training, and to actually
play a game. But of course, obviously competing.
There are so many great countries here, it’s not
just the top hemisphere, but the southern
hemisphere as well with a bunch of dynamic
players. We hardly ever see Chile; Brazil is
younger, but they are very highly skilled and
they’re big so it’s super fun to play a group
like that. Cuba’s A team just qualified for VNL,
are now near the top 10 best teams in the world
probably, with maybe arguably one of the best
serving teams in the world. So I think
opportunity to compete first for the guys, and
then to actually be competing against some of
the best talent in the world, is really good for
them.”
A quick thank you, we know it takes a lot of
organization and everyone is working so hard to
host an event this size. We’re very excited
about the new gym too and what we can get going
there. And then to the volunteers, we know they
come and give a lot of their time, so we thank
them, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.” |
