A blue print for Mexican volleyball program starts in Turkey

Ankara, Turkey, August 22, 2011- Among other rising teams at the 2011 Girls’ Youth World Championship in Turkey, Mexico girls team who finished at the 12th position attracted all the media with the fighting performance of the players and their motivation during all their matches giving an example for a rising international force from Norceca.

Mexican Volleyball has a great tradition and history. It is a very popular sport after football and boxing and its organised process started during the first decade of the fifties in the twentieth century.

Now there is a new plan and structure that has become as part of a massive competition stage known as the National Junior Olympic Program sponsored by the National Sports Commission as well as the Mexican Volleyball Federation along with regional institutes.

Due to this commitment, a new generation of players has been taken as the base of a long term project. The first glimpse was seen during the 2010 Norceca Championship played in Guatemala.

Mexico clinched a berth to play the 2011 FIVB Girls’ Youth World Championship, along with Puerto Rico and the United States, as part of the Norceca Confederation.

The qualification for that tournament gave Mexican Girls’ Youth Volleyball the opportunity to start a long term process with participation at U20 and U18 Pan American Cups in Peru and Mexico, when the team coached by Cuban coach Víctor Garcia finished in the fourth and second places.

Part of the Mexican roster that has played at the World Championship in Turkey may get the chance of being called up to the Pan American Games, scheduled in Guadalajara next October.

Mexican prospects that have caught attention internationally are Samantha Bricio and Alejandra Isiordia, as well as libero and opposite Gabriela Zazueta. Some of those players along with Gabriela Nieto as well setter and captain Alicia Castro, and young centre Lizbeth “Seo” Sainz, have been followed by some scouts of American universities.

Maybe Mexico could not reach the Top 8 group at this championship in Turkey, but the program keeps on, due to the Pan American Games as well as the Central American and Caribbean Games process for 2014.

This new generation is has an ultimate goal: the Mexico 2020 Project. Volleyball is a very important part of it along with some other disciplines. The learning curve is so complex that along with coach García, a 1976 Olympic Medalist, and some experienced assistants like Dominican Evelyn Carreras.

Carreras arrived to Mexico in 2011 to work in Baja California with the liberos, and after a few months she was called up to cooperate with the Mexican National team due to her experience in professional stages such as the Puerto Rican and Italian Leagues.

The Mexican Federation is convinced that international exposure is the key to achieve success and look for experience and formation for a generation that has just started to take their first steps.