Portugal U16 and U17 teams undergo training camp

27-03-2015| FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONELE DE VOLLEYBALL

Miranda do Douro, Portugal, March 25, 2015 – The Portugal U16 girls and U17 boys national teams are on training camp at Miranda do Douro, northeastern part of Portugal, aiming to build the squads, which are set to participate in WEVZA 2015 events, looking ahead of the international competitions set in 2017.

After their arrival, the teams had a town sightseeing before being hosted by the Mayor of Miranda do Douro, who held a brief ceremony at the City Hall. On his speech, Arthur Nunes, hoped for much success to the teams, while thanking the Portuguese Volleyball Federation with the opportunity to host these bright athletes.

The National Teams arrived at the northern region on Monday and will undergo two training sessions per day until next Friday.

“This camp will be important to re-evaluate the athletes that are already on the squad as well as to evaluate the newcomers,” National teams coordinator Hugo Silva explaining the objectives for the training camp. “It’s very important to put everybody on the same page to grow as a team. We will practice the technical aspects and get to know each other. For this week, we will emphasise on that.”

“If we could organise more training camps such as this one and put these young athletes to compete as a team in a lower division, I believe that we could accomplish good things in 2017,” Silva concluded.

The players are satisfied with their experience in the training camp and believe that these moments will help them develop as a player.

“It’s important to meet our new teammates and get to know how one plays,” 15-year-old Daniela Abreu said. “The coaches are very demanding, but once the session is over they make the team feel very good by joking around with us. I think these training camps are great because it gives me the opportunity to be with others and to improve as a player.”

“We were very welcomed here, the city is beautiful and the people are warm, despite the cold (weather) outside,” the 16-year-old Diogo Alves said. “I’m thrilled to work under the men’s national team coach (Hugo Silva). He is such an experienced coach, I will learn a lot from him. I think a young player will gain a lot from experience like this, as it helps develop social and technical skills. The newcomers are very welcome here as well and surely, nobody will want this week to come to an end.”

The coaching staff at Miranda do Douro is composed of Fernando Luis and Rui Moura for the U16 girls team, while Hugo Silva and Eduardo Jamal are in charge of the U17 boys team.