ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay, August 9, 2025.– Women’s volleyball is ready to kick off the second edition of the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay
Representatives from the eight participating teams expressed optimism during the general technical meeting held at the Arena COP, the competition venue. It was confirmed that, in addition to the champion earning a berth to the Lima 2027 Pan American Games, the highest-ranked team from the other confederation that does not win the title will also qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games.
Teams have been divided into two groups: Group A consists of Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, and Paraguay, while Group B includes the defending champions, Brazil, alongside Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Eduardo Allona, Argentina’s Head Coach: “The team is doing very well. We trained more intensively over the last two weeks, trying to put the team together for the competition. We are coming in with great determination to put on a good performance at the Games. We will aim to repeat or improve on the position we achieved in the first edition of the Games – Argentina won the bronze medal.”
Giovani Foppa, Brazil’s Team Manager: “This is a very important competition. Brazil must always come at full strength for all volleyball tournaments, so we have worked hard and must deliver a strong performance. The players are looking for a solid place in the international arena.”
Sergio Alejandro Soto, Head Coach Chile: “I’m very happy, excited, and eager to start the competition. We’ve been training all year in different categories because we have a mix of players on the team. We have an adult team that participated in the Copa América and toured Argentina; and a youth team that participated in the U-19 World Cup, and that’s how we prepared. Our first goal is to compete match after match, but above all, to finish in the top four.”
Braulio Godínez, Entrenador de Costa Rica: “Venimos bastante bien. El equipo es una combinación de jugadoras de la categoría Sub-23 y Sub-21 que compitieron recientemente en las Copas Panamericanas de dichas categorías. Si nos hacen falta tres jugadoras que tuvieron que regresar a compromisos con sus universidades. Viene una buena base y esperamos ser competitivos”.
Norka Latamblet, Head Coach Cuba: “It’s not a difficult or easy task, but we’re here to achieve the result Cuba has been hoping for, given that we didn’t participate in the first version of the games. We had the U23 Pan American Cup, which served as preparation, and despite not competing for a year, they performed quite well. This is my debut as an international coach, and I’m very excited, hoping we do well and achieve our goal of qualifying for the Pan American Games.”
Wagner Pacheco, Head Coach Dominican Republic: “We hope to play better than we did recently in Mexico, although I have a very important loss (the setter). But the time we had in Mexico helped us train. I think it will be a very tough tournament because the teams have strong U23 players. We are going to have a good tournament because our level is improving.”
Luis León, Head Coach Mexico: “We feel ready to begin this new competition, and I’m sure the girls will give their all. We had approximately nine weeks of training and competed in the U23 Pan American Cup, where we finished third. We have a good team and expectations are high. We think we can compete in the finals, as our goal is to qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games.”
Delio Arruebarrena, Head Coach Paraguay: “I started coaching Paraguay’s national team in 2022. I made a selection of players during a national championship. Technically speaking, the team is very good. We haven’t had the opportunity to compete at international level, and this could affect the players emotionally”.
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