Coaches are ready for the start of U-18 Pan Am Cup

TIJUANA, Mexico, July 3 2011 .— The head coaches of the eight competing teams declared themselves ready for their participation in the First U-18 Girls Pan American Cup that starts this Sunday at the Baja California High Performance Center.

The competition begins with the match between Peru and El Salvador, which will be followed by Argentina facing Costa Rica, while Dominican Republic will play against Puerto Rico.

Prior to the battle between Mexico and Chile, an opening ceremony is scheduled along with a parade with the participation of all the national teams that passed their preliminary interviews on Saturday.

After the interviews the local organizing committee held a general rehearsal followed by the General Technical Meeting at the official hotel where the coaches were presented and made their statements about their expectations.

Guillermo Cáceres, Argentina: “This tournament is very important for us because is a great preparation to the U18 World Championship in Turkey, This is a very important chance for Norceca and South America to keep growing together.”

Italo Raggio, Chile: “We have come here to play good matches against great teams like Argentina or Mexico, as well as to get a good result against Costa Rica. Our team has very young athletes and they are living their first International experience.”

Martín Rodríguez, Costa Rica: “We come with the intention of learning and develop our teams step by step in the area. At this time we cannot count on with some players that are in a national competition, but I think we can prepare for the Central American championship in August.”

Wilson Sánchez, Dominican Republic: “We have a very young team, most of them with a little competition experience, but at the same time we habe some players with good conditions like Brayelin Martinez and our libero Winnifer Fernández, who played recently in Peru.”

Sady Lopez, El Salvador: “Our expectations are focused on participation. We know that we are going to face teams with a higher level. But we have the desire to do our best for our country with some of the girls who came here last year to another tournament.”

Víctor García, Mexico: “With the level shown by the group in competitions like the U20 tournament in Perú, I think we can fight to be in the first places. The girls are very enthusiastic. I saw a strong united team that caused a good impression in Peru because of that.”

Manuel Artieda, Peru: “There are great expectations for this tournament, because is a great chance for the players in an early age to increase their level and this can improve the development of volleyball.”

Erik González, Puerto Rico: “This team is practically the same that played last year at the Norceca Continental Championship and qualified to the U-18 World Championship in Turkey, thus the Pan American Cup will be great for our preparation.”