The Director of Conade maintains hope for Mexican beach volleyball
Ana Guevara, the director of Conade, maintains her hope that beach volleyball will awaken worldwide and begin to bring great satisfactions to our country in high-profile tournaments. Recently, in the World Beach Pro-Tour Elite 16 held last month in Tepic, no national pair could achieve a victory during their three matches. However, the top leader of sports in our country believes that volleyball players can awaken at some point.
"The quality of the team in the challenge was much better, and we hope that they improve throughout the season. We are trying to create the best scenarios and take advantage of the opportunity that the event offers because in most of the pairs, a young player and an adult have been playing together, and this generates growth in the level. But I believe that Mexico can awaken in beach volleyball," Guevara mentioned.
Even the men's team now has a new coach, the Brazilian Ricardo Santos, who as a player won three Olympic medals (gold in Athens 2004, silver in Sydney 2000, and bronze in Beijing 2008). He also has three medals in the World Championship (gold in Rio 2013, silver in Stare Jablonki 2013, and silver in Rome 2011).
"Unlike other sports, this discipline allows for early qualification for the Olympic Games. The points, wild cards, the tour, and the score allow you to qualify, and we will wait and see what happens since the team already has a coach," mentioned the head of Conade.
The former sprinter hopes that Mexican volleyball players take full advantage of the Beach Volleyball World Championship, which will be held in October in Tlaxcala, to gain level and experience. However, she is aware that they still do not have the level to reach the podium.
"The level is very high, but I think the maturity of the team can continue to grow. It is a great incentive to have the World Championship at home, and hopefully, they make it past the round of 16. But in past tournaments, I have already seen a more competitive and better organized Mexico with a level that will grow. The tour will allow them to achieve that, so let's wait and see what happens, but we already know that in sports, nothing is written until it happens," she stated.
It is worth remembering that in February 2022, Conade and the Mexican Volleyball Federation presented a national program to monitor both the women's and men's pairs in the Olympic cycle of Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028. The organization led by Ana Guevara provides support through scholarships and resources for them to participate in international events. The objective of this program is to qualify two men's pairs and one women's pair in this cycle or the next.