T&T’s senior men’s volleyball team will be looking for an improved performance against Olympic champions USA in their Pool A opener of the North America, Central America and the Caribbean Confederation (Norceca) Men’s Continental Olympic Qualifiers which serves off today in Long Beach California at the Walter Pyramid. T&T and host USA will meet in tonight’s final match from 8 pm (11 pm TT) in the eight-team tournament from which one team will qualify for the London Olympics. Following a 12-hour journey from Port-of-Spain early on Saturday morning which included a stop-off in Miami, the Nolan Tash-skippered T&T squad settled into accommodations at the Long Beach Marriott before holding two practice sessions at the match venue yesterday. Speaking after the sessions, coach Gideon Dickson said his team plans on being very competitive throughout the one-week competition.
“We would like to target getting to the semifinal stage of the competition, and while realistically we have an uphill task against the Americans, we know that everything will depend on how well a team plays on the day itself, so we are optimistic.” With regards to the composition of the team which was still awaiting the arrival of Portugal-based Marc-Anthony Honore, Dickson said it was a well balance one in terms of experience and youth. “We had a few obstacles with our preparations back home in terms of getting to train at some venues but we have put that behind us and we are here to do well for our country and by extension the Caribbean region.”
Dickson said his players were mindful that they are the outsiders against the Americans but will be hoping to play consistent volleyball. Tash echoed the views of the coach and was quick to note that he and his team-mates have set their sights on a top five finish which will mean getting a win or two against some teams they have never beaten in the past. With regards to Honore, the T&T coach said he is due to arrive today and once he is ready, he will be used tactically against the Americans.
Tash added, “We have played them (USA) twice before and while we will be underdogs again, I will be very satisfied if we can show some improvement from the previous matches.” In addition to Tash, the other experienced players include long-serving Sean Morrison, Saleem Ali, Ryan Mahadeo, Ryan Stewart, Kevin Nimrod, Jessel Davis and vice-captain Honore who is attached to SL Benfica. Following tonight’s match, T&T will next face Mexico tomorrow from 3 pm (6 pm TT time) and Costa Rica also from 3 pm on Wednesday, to end out round-robin group play. Pool B comprises, Cuba, Canada, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, which makes it the “Group of Death”. At the end of the pool round-robin series the top team from each group qualifies automatically for the semifinal while the second and third placed team meet in cross-over quarterfinal matches to determine the two remaining semifinal places. The T&T squad, the reigning Caribbean champions last competed at this stage of the Olympic qualifiers four years ago in Puerto Rico but failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in China.
Team
T&T Olympic men vball squad: Sean Morrison, Nolan Tash (captain), Marc-Anthony Honore (vice-captain), Ryan Mahadeo, Jessel Davis, Kevin Nimrod, Saleem Ali, Kevin Amarali, Joshua Mohammed, Ryan Stewart, Simon Blake, Akim Bushe.
Technical staff: Gideon Dickson (coach), David Camacho (assistant coach), Arthur Robinson (trainer), Sharaz Mohammed (manager).
Matches
Pool A:
Mexico vs Costa Rica, 6pm
T&T vs USA, 11pm
Pool B:
Canada vs Dominican Republic, 4pm
‘Cuba vs Puerto Rico, 9pm
Tomorrow:
Pool A:
Mexico vs T&T, 6pm
USA vs Costa Rica, 11pm
Pool B:
Cuba vs Dominican Republic, 4pm
Canada vs Puerto Rico, 9pm
Wednesday:
Pool A:
Costa Rica vs T&T, 6pm’
‘USA vs Mexico, 11pm
Pool B:
Puerto Rico vs Dominican Republic, 4pm
Cuba vs V Canada, 9pm.
-Nigel Simon
Source: www.guardian.co.tt