PARAMARIBO, Suriname, September 15, 2024.- The teams are ready to begin the Men’s U23 Pan American Cup from September 16 to 22 in Paramaribo, Suriname.
The event grants two berths for NORCECA teams (not already qualified) to the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay.
Jesús Cruz López, Head Coach of Cuba: “Cuba’s expectation is always to be in the tournament final. Last year, we won the competition in Havana, and we qualified for the Junior Pan American Games. The team is in good shape; many players competed this year at the Men’s Senior Pan American Cup in the Dominican Republic, which served as a preparatory tournament to get us ready for this event, with a clear objective in mind”.
César Salas, Head Coach of Costa Rica: “This is a team that is still being built. We want to present a new image of the U23 national team, which is part of the senior team. We aim to fight for the chance to qualify for Asunción. We are going to revisit game ideas, systems, and more, and this is a great opportunity to evaluate the group. I know there are more players who could be here, but we are going to work hard with the twelve that are here. The hope is there, and we will fight to make a good representation for Costa Rica and the region.”
Reider Lucas Mora, Head Coach of Guatemala: “This is a very interesting and important tournament for the region because it grants two more spots for the Junior Pan American Games. We are aiming to secure one of those two spots, which is our main objective, in addition to other goals set for the players and the team”.
Dante Mañon, Assistant Coach of Dominican Republic: “At the recent Final Six event held in Canada, we went with this team and with only two senior players to prepare for this competition. Our setter couldn’t come because his university didn’t give him permission, but otherwise, the team is complete. Since we’re already qualified for the Junior Pan American Games, we are here to keep the team playing, to improve, and to help the players continue progressing”.
Renato Soares, Head Coach of Mexico: “We are ready for the competition. Most of the team has been part of our senior team. We’ve been training for three months, and we are ready to start the competition well. The goal is to qualify for the Junior Pan American Games. We also want to win every match and the competition as well, but we want to be in next year’s Junior Pan American Games”.
Sidney Mandros, Assistant Coach of Peru: “The team is young. We’ve been training since June with the entire team, training alongside the senior team to face this new challenge, with the projection of our athletes who will participate in the qualifying event for the U21 world championship”.
Daryl Franklyn, Head Coach of St. Vincent and the Grenadines: “Preparation for the competition was kind of rough for us, because a lot of our players had last minute injuries, so we had to switch out players and that made preparations extremely tough as we had to come up with different lineups in a very short space of time. I think the guys are prepared to do their best and we can only hope for the best”.
Carlos Orta Fellove, Head Coach of Suriname: “Suriname is a country that is just beginning to play volleyball at this level; we compete in CAZOVA and NORCECA, and now we are stepping up to a higher level. The team’s preparation has been good. We recognize that all the countries, except Saint Vincent (about whom we know little), have had international experience, and keeping that in mind, our goal is to try to win the first two games of our group. We know that afterward, we will face Peru, and we will battle against them to try to win the group and qualify for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games. Being at home, we hope our boys will play their best”.
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