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HERMOSILLO, Sonora, Mexico, August 20, 2022.-
The Women's Pan American Cup is a qualification
event for the Pan American Games and the Central
American & Caribbean Games to be held in 2023 in
Santiago and El Salvador respectively.
Excluding Dominican Republic and Mexico, who are
already qualified for both multisport events,
the highest-ranking team of NORCECA will qualify
to the Santiago Pan American Games, while three
vacancies will go to the highest-ranking teams
among NORCECA and Colombia, for the El Salvador
Central American & Caribbean Games.
Coaches of the participating teams gave their
first impressions ahead of the event.
Carolyn O’Dwyer, Head Coach of Canada:
“We’ve had a long training block, with a large
group of this team, so we feel really ready for
the competition and excited to play against some
top teams.
For a lot of our athletes this will be their
first international event and I am excited to
see how they perform”.
Eduardo Niño, Second Coach of Colombia:
“Our main goal is to qualify for the Central
American and Caribbean Games. We have been
preparing for over two months with professor
Rizola in charge, also thinking about the World
Championship, our most important competition
this year. The team has been working hard and
keeping active for all the Olympic cycle
competitions”.
Pablo Acuña, Head Coach of Costa Rica:
“The foundation of the team is the one from the
Final Four, but we have other players which we
want to observe. The team is excited and with
desire to compete, we are in a hard group, but
each match will be an experience for players and
staff. It’s a great opportunity to plan ahead
and be prepared for the Central American &
Caribbean Games, which I have no doubt that
Costa Rica can be there”.
Thomas Fernández Arteaga, Head Coach of Cuba:
“This is a major competition for us because it’s
a qualification event and our goal is to obtain
that qualification; also, to finish in the best
position possible to win the most ranking points
possible and that will help us qualify later on.
The team is going through a psychological hit
because our setter couldn’t come (Greta Moreno)
because of Covid, hoping she will come further
in the competition. We are optimistic that Greta
will recover”.
Marcos Kwiek, Head Coach of Dominican Republic:
“We brought some young players, some just made
it to the senior team, it’s a good mix with our
veteran players. Physically the team is not in
good condition. We are aware of the importance
of the Pan American Cup; it will be strong, and
we hope to fight in the finals”.
Rafael Petry, Head Coach of Mexico:
“The team is ready to compete, prepared for this
strong competition, with opponents of great
ambitions. We have new members of the team, to
be part of the process of National teams and
evaluate them”.
René Quintana, Head Coach of Nicaragua:
“The team is here to take advantage of the
competition, it is part of our preparation for
the Central American Games coming soon in
Guatemala. We acknowledge that the game level is
above ours, but we will try that our opponents
will work hard against us”.
Francisco Hervas, Head Coach of Peru:
“Peru wants to make the most of this
competition, it’s an interesting tournament with
the opportunity to face teams that we usually
don’t face. The team consists of experienced
players and others that are moving up, it’s a
balance to help us rebuild our team”.
Héctor Soto, Head Coach of Puerto Rico:
“We usually have difficulties preparing our team
when competitions take place in the summer
because our professional league runs in this
period, but at least the girls are in good
physical condition, they have a good game level.
We will try to determine our game style during
the competition; basically, we are prepared”.
Bradley Rostratter, Head Coach of United States:
“We had a great training block, three weeks to
train alongside with the world championship
training group and the preparation has gone
really well for us. Some players have
international experience, maybe 50% have played
one or two international seasons, some even
played VNL, we have a group of talented
players”.
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