NORCECA Olympic Dream Will Culminate in Tlaxcala

TLAXCALA, Mexico, June 20, 2024. - This Thursday officially marked the start of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tlaxcala, which will award one berth in both the men and women for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The registration of the pairs and the court training were part of the kickoff for the most important Olympic event in the NORCECA Confederation.

In the men’s category, NORCECA has already secured berths vie world ranking for the Cuban team of Jorge Alayo/Noslen Díaz and two U.S. pairs: Andy Benesh/Miles Partain and Chase Budinger/Miles Evans.

Thus, the remaining spot will be contested by 12 pairs from the same number of countries starting this Friday, all vying for the ticket to Paris.

Samuel Schachter/Daniel Dearing from Canada are among the most experienced teams in this qualifier. Schachter competed in the 2016 Olympic Games with Josh Binstock. Schachter is seeking redemption after being eliminated in the final of the Olympic qualifying tournament for Tokyo 2020 by Mexico (each country played with two pairs).

Meanwhile, Rio 2016 Olympian and Mexico’s most decorated player in the NORCECA Tour, Juan Virgen, who recently won the Central American and Caribbean Games 2023 and has multiple medals from these games, will team up this time with young talent Ricardo Galindo.

Other strong teams are Rubén Mora/Danny López (NCA), Andy Leonardo/Luis García (GUA), the Dominican duo Hayerling Goris/Oscar Martínez, and Puerto Ricans Arnaldo Torres/William Rivera.

The remaining pairs are: Daniel Dyner/Jhostin Varela (CRC); Yoel Guardado/Christopher Guardado (ESA); Nage Hendrickson/St Clair Hodge (SKN); Keven Sporkslede/Joshua Dwarkasing (SUR); Joel Theodore/Stephen Enile (TTO); Bryce Mayer/Tyler Penberthy (ISV).

Pool A consists of Galindo/Virgen (MEX), Mayer/Penberthy (ISV), D. Dyner/Varela (CRC), and Nage/Hodge (SKN).

Pool B includes De Jesús/Martínez (DOM), Guardado/Guardado (ESA), Schachter/Dearing (CAN), and Sporkslede/Dwarkasing (SUR).

Pool C features Torres/Rivera (PUR), Blanco/García (GUA), Mora/López (NCA), and Theodore/Enile (TTO).

The competition system will be a preliminary poo-play, with the top two teams from each pool  and the two best third-place teams advancing to the quarterfinals.

The matches will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the Jorge “El Ranchero” Aguilar Bullring and the MAT court.