U.S. Men's Sitting Team Looking Forward at Worlds

Erin Campbell
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6864
E-Mail: erin.campbell@usav.org

EDMOND, Okla. (July 8, 2010) – The U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball National Team will be looking for a ticket to the 2012 Paralympic Games along with a little bit of redemption when it competes at the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships on July 10-18 at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO).

“It’s a nervous anticipation,” U.S. Men’s Sitting Team member Eric Duda (Gainesville, Fla.) said. “We want to play already because we’ve been gearing up for it for four years now. We want it here, now, and it’s getting closer and closer.”

The U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team finished sixth at the 2004 Paralympic Games and ninth at the 2007 World Organization for Volleyball Disabled (WOVD) World Championships in Roermond, Netherlands.

The team has competed in two events so far in 2010. The U.S. Men’s Sitting Team took silver at the Parapan American Championship held March 5-8 in Denver. It finished seventh at the WOVD World Cup on March 20-25 in Port Said, Egypt.

At UCO, the U.S. team is looking forward to using its “sixth-man,” – the crowd – to its benefit at such a huge event.

“It feels amazing to be able to play at home,” Duda said. “Not only does the travel take it out of you, but the whole situation takes things from you; how you talk to your family, eating your own food, sleeping in beds that are your own size. All of that is going to be taken care of. It allows you to focus on volleyball rather than all of those other factors.”

The event will be the first qualifier for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and the U.S. Men are hoping to snag their bid early. Among the top teams in the tournament will be Iran, Egypt and Brazil.

The last time the team competed for a Paralympic slot was at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, where they had a heartbreaking, five-set loss to host Brazil in the gold medal match.

The circumstances in 2010 are much different than they were in 2007, and so are the athletes.

“It really precipitated me going back to the gym and working harder than ever,” Duda said. “We all took the loss pretty personally. We have all been working a lot harder.”

Other players on the current team who played in Rio are Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.), who was the U.S. flag bearer for the Parapan American Games, U.S. Team Captain Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.), James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa.), Roderick Green (West Monroe, La.), Edgar Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Josh Franklin (Houston, Texas). Players who have joined the team since 2007 are Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo.), Charlie Swearingen (Gulfport, Miss.), Ed O’Neil (Amherst, Mass.) and J. Dee Marinko (New Castle, Okla.).

Edgar Miraku (Elbasan, Albania), the men’s assistant coach at the time, experienced the loss along with the team. Since taking the head coaching job at the beginning of 2010, he has made it a point to emphasize that the loss is in the past and the only way to move forward is to work harder and use it to fuel their desire to go to London.

The team’s ultimate goal is to get the bid to London, but they also are entering the event wanting to send a message, that they’re not the same team that they were in 2007.

“We want to go and represent USA to the best of our ability, and the best way to do that is going in and competing and making sure that we show that we’ve improved over the last few years,” Miraku said.

“We want to make sure that we compete with some of the better and best competition in the world in sitting volleyball and use that as a stepping stone so the next time around, we push ourselves again one more step to compete.”

The U.S. Men and Women's Sitting Volleyball Teams both train at Central, which is an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site.

For more informaton, visit the 2010 Sitting World Championship web site.

2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships

U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team
Number Name (Hometown/Resident athletes at the University of Central Oklahoma are noted)
2 Dan Regan (St. Louis, Mo./Edmond, Okla.)
3 Charlie Swearingon (Gulfport, Miss./Edmond, Okla.)
4 Ed O'Neil (Amherst, Mass./Edmond, Okla.)
5 Eric Duda (Gainesville, Fla./Edmond, Okla.)
7 Brad Johnson (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
8 James Stuck (New Kensington, Pa./Edmond, Okla.)
10 Edgardo Laforest (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
11 Roderick Green (West Monroe, La./Edmond, Okla.)
12 Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.)
13 Josh Franklin (Houston, Texas)
18 J. Dee Marinko (New Castle, Okla.)

U.S. Men’s Pool Play Schedule (all times CT)

July 11 at 3:30 p.m.: USA vs. China
July 12 at 6 p.m.: USA vs. Bosnia Herzegovina
July 13 at 8 p.m.: USA vs. Libya
July 14 at 3:30 p.m.: USA vs. Canada

Tags: Brad Johnson, Brent Rasmussen, Central Oklahoma, Charlie Swearingen, Dan Regan, Ed O'Neil, Edgar Miraku, Edgardo Laforest, Eric Duda, James Stuck, Josh Franklin, Roderick Green, Sitting Volleyball, Sitting Volleyball World Championships