Day 4

Game Day T & T

Today started pretty well. We had breakfast again at 8:30 a.m. and practice at 9:30 a.m. Basically, we got some good serve receiving in and stretched out well. The guys looked loose and focused. I was eager to see them play later on. We headed back to the hotel. I caught up on some e-mails and other work I needed to get done. Then I went out to the pool with Lance to catch some sun and take a little swim. Definitely still hot; the water felt like a warm bath and it didn't take long for to me to dry off. I probably only lasted about 30 minutes but it was good to suck up some vitamin D.

At about 3:30 p.m. we had our scouting report on T & T (Trinidad and Tobago). It was pretty short and Photo: Courtesy of NORCECA The 2011 U.S. Boys' Youth National Team prior to its first match at the Pan American Cup in Mexico. sweet as we identified some things we needed to be aware of and get the guys used to the scouting process. It was going to get more in depth as the teams become tougher. Rob and I then headed over early to watch the Puerto Rico vs. Costa Rica match. We think there will be a good chance we will face at least one of them later on. Puerto Rico won pretty fast in three but at least I got a little information.

Our match was next and I was excited to see our guys in action. We had plenty of time to warm up but couldn't get on the court until 30 minutes before game time, FIVB protocol. The guys then had to go through the pre-game stuff where they do both national anthems and exchanged gifts before we started to pepper and then hit.

The match went well with us dominating and all the guys playing. You can follow a more detailed game report on USAVolleyball.org. Unfortunately, one of our setters James Shaw turned his ankle and might be out for a while. Injuries are always untimely and unfortunate. Hopefully James will heal fast and get back on the court soon.

After the match one of guys got randomly selected for drug testing and we had to wait for a little bit for him to go through the procedure. Pretty common at International events, usually you will have one guy tested at least once during the competition. In the meantime there was a flock of young fans who wanted pictures and autographs of the players. It was great for the guys. They screamed and cheered as they came out of the gym. We then headed back to the hotel and grabbed some late dinner at our restaurant.

To wrap up the night Rob and met up with Ken to visit about the match and do our scouting report of Mexico. It will be an exciting match; there should be a lot of fans and noisemakers. It will be a fun and hostile environment for the guys to play in which is perfect as we prepare for World Championships.

Haste la Vista

Coach Friend