Coaches of twelve teams ready for the challenge in Peru

LIMA, Peru, June 10, 2013 – The XII Women’s Pan American Cup serves off on Monday in three cities of Peru and teams battling for six spots in next year’s FIVB World Grand Prix.

The coaches of the teams were asked to express their comments after the preliminary enquiries carried at the different sites, and here follows what they had to say about their goals and expectations:

Pool A in Callao

Guillermo Orduna, coach of Argentina: “Our team is a young one that consists mostly of players that are under 23 years old and some seniors with the experience of several European seasons. So there is a balance between youth and experience. We are starting a new Olympic cycle and our ultimate goal is to qualify to the Rio Games. The plan is to qualify to the World Championship in Italy next year and also to the Grand Prix. Argentina has not played in a world championship for the last 10 years.”

Rafael Olazagasti, coach of Puerto Rico: “The main objective is to qualify to the Grand Prix. It is a young team with the only veterans the Ocasio sisters (Sheila and Karina). We are coming from a marvelous tournament in China where we defeated Cuba twice in five sets and then lost to China and Thailand also in five sets. We hope to have a great tournament here which is a high level competition, and see the results of our tour in China.”

Francisco Cruz, coach of Trinidad & Tobago: “The Pan American Cup is a big challenge for all teams, those ones looking for the medals and the others trying to close the gap with the big power houses. I think our pool is the toughest of all. We are bringing a bunch of very good athletes and we hope to have the best performance from our team in the history of the event.”

Karch Kiraly, coach of United States: “We’re really excited to play the Pan American Cup which is an annual tradition. There are a lot of good teams here both from NORCECA and South America and it is always a good experience. We have some younger players and they can get some experience playing for USA team.”

Pool B in Iquitos

Arnd Ludwig, coach of Canada: “This is a very important tournament for us because we are bringing a very young team and for many of the girls this is their first international event. We have prepared well and the last seven weeks were very intense. The negative thing is that we couldn’t test our game level. Our goal is to get back into the world’s top 15 and this Pan American Cup could be the first step in that direction.”

Horacio Bastit, coach of Costa Rica: “The Pan American Cup will give me the chance to test the progress after six months with the team. I like the Pan American Cup very much because of its format and the exchange between the countries of the Americas. I know we can’t pretend the title but to win against opponents of our same ranking.”

Juan Carlos Gala, coach of Cuba: “This is the start of a new cycle and most of the teams are going into a renovation process. We have been training hard and recently we did some test during the two-phase tournament in China. The Pan American Cup is always a big challenge and we hope to have a good performance in the tournament.”

Sun Jing Hong, coach of Peru: “This competition is a big test since it marks my debut as coach of Peru national team. The group is good physically and also technically and I am looking forward to a good performance. I know Cuba very well but not so much about Costa Rica and Canada even thought I know they have a good level. I hope to overcome our height deficiencies since that’s an advantage they have against us.”

Pool C in Huacho

Luizomar de Moura, coach of Brazil: “We are bringing a junior team and this is a great opportunity for the growth and seasoning of these players. I think the Pan American Cup is a good tournament to help our preparation for the U-20 World Championship in Czech.

Mauro Marasciulo, coach of Colombia: “We are in a very interesting group where three teams like Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are all preparing their squads for the U-20 World Championship. I have nine players under 20 years old and it is a great opportunity to warm up and get into the world championship well prepared. I think Dominican Republic should be considered favorites in our group.”

Marcos Kwiek, coach of Dominican Republic: “We just finished a very interesting tournament in Montreux where we had some good games and the chance to experiment with some different formations in order to have everyone in a good rhythm. We are at the start of a new Olympic cycle and this is our first official event. We are training hard and we hope to do the best we can.”

Estanislao Vachino, coach of Mexico: “We have our complete U-20 squad for the first time as we are preparing for the World Championship in Czech Republic. We intend to improve from our performance in Juarez last year. For the first time we have all our players, including Samantha Bricio and Alejandra Isiordia. Our group is very strong and that should help in our purposes towards the world championship.”