The men’s team will have a tougher road to London than the women due to the fact that they have yet to qualify. The men finished in 6th place at World Cup, which put them outside the automatic berths. They will have two more opportunities to qualify for London and in the midst of fighting for a berth, they’ll compete in the World League competition.
Like the women, the men are currently spread out all over the globe playing with their respective professional teams overseas. After the men return from their professional teams abroad in April, they’ll report straight to Anaheim to train up for the first event, the Continental championship. Head Coach Alan Knipe will then go about the business of preparing the team for the upcoming competition and hopefully for the Olympic Games.
NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament – May 2012
They men’s team’s first event is the Continental championship. They will travel to Puerto Rico sometime in May (dates are not yet set) and nothing but a first place finish will earn them a spot in London.
Though we had hoped that either the USA or Cuba would qualify at World Cup, making this tournament an easier road for the other, that was not to be. Only the top three teams at World Cup qualified and Cuba and the U.S. finished fifth and sixth respectively. Cuba will be the Americans toughest competition at this event as they are currently ranked No. 5 in the world while the USA is ranked No. 6. Though the Americans beat the Cubans in five sets at their last meeting in the World Cup and also in World League last summer, the Cubans prevailed in last year’s NORCECA Final so a win here will by no means be an easy feat.
World League – May 18th – May 27th and June 15th – July 8th
Should the men win the Continental championship, they will be able to focus on preparing for World League. This tournament is not an Olympic Qualifier. This year the World League competition will be in a different format than we’re used to and it will take place in two separate chunks – between May 18th and May 27th and June 15th – July 8th. World League play will take a break so that the teams that have yet to qualify for London can compete in what will be the last chance to qualify at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Because of the qualification tournaments and the impending Olympics, World League competition will be shortened and played in just four weeks instead of the usual six. The difference this year is that instead of playing each country twice in a row at home and twice in a row at their place, each country will host all three other teams in the pool on one weekend. The USA locations have not yet been determined.
FIVB World Olympic Qualification Tournament – June 2-10
The men hope this tournament is not necessary for their qualification because it tends to be very stressful and unpredictable. The best of the rest of the unqualified teams will fight it out for the final spots at the Olympics in one of three FIVB tournaments located in Japan, Rome and Berlin. Who they would play here all depends on how things go at the Continental Qualifiers, but the men would have to win the tournament that they draw into and there could still be some good teams that have yet to qualify in these events. Though teams will not be in tournaments with other teams from their own region, the competition is chosen by drawing lots instead of by world ranking which means anything can happen. The men will have to perform in a pressure cooker and if they they do not qualify here or at the Continental tournament, they will not compete in London.
Men’s National Teams Qualified As of January 2012:
- Great Britain (Host Country)
- Russia (1st at World Cup)
- Poland (2nd at World Cup)
- Brazil (3rd at World Cup)
