What the Coaches said before the Pan American Cup 

Chris Green (Canada): “This tournament represents a good opportunity for our young players to get the international experience and for some veterans the chance to return to this type of competition. We are excited to compete against the other NORCECA teams and really appreciate the invitation to participate.” 

Juan Gala (Cuba): “We are bringing a young team with good technical level. It is a blend of seniors and juniors and this competition allow us to continue the preparation of our main junior players for the World Championship in Morocco. The most important thing is to qualify for the America’s Cup next year.” 

Juan Carlos Perdomo (Dominican Republic): “Our goal is to keep improving as the tournament goes on. We are not going to take lightly any opponent but we know that Cuba is the big hurdle we need to pass to qualify first in our pool and be in the final four. We are not making many changes in our formation. What we need to do is play good, because teams that play good usually win.” 

Carlos Novoa (Mexico): “Our team is comprised of half veterans and half juniors, but as I can see that is the case of most of the squads so that increases our chances of finishing among the top teams. We are bringing here some of the young players we are trying to integrate to our senior team.” 

Jose Remon (Panama): “We know that this is a very strong competition due to the quality of the teams. They all have had more chances of training and preparation but we will do the best we can within our possibilities.” 

Jorge Perez Vento (Puerto Rico): “We have some players who were with the team who participated in the Portugal Cup and some others who are entering the National Team for the first time. We have been training very hard and this is a very important competition for us to test our new talents. The three teams from our pool are secured in the quarterfinals and I hope we can make it to the next round and then qualify to the America’s Cup.” 

Gideon Dickson (Trinidad & Tobago): “We expect to reach the quarterfinals and maybe cause a major upset and make it to the semi finals. We have changed our attack formation and some new players have filled very well the void of some who left after last year. The team is in very good shape and we have been training hard for this, our second participation in the Pan American Cup.”