Nine countries will be going for gold next week as some of the top international volleyball teams hit the court at the Langley Events Centre.
The teams are in town for the 2013 NORCECA men’s volleyball Continental championships, which begin Monday (Sept. 23) and runs until Sept. 28.
They will be staged in the LEC’s arena bowl.
NORCECA is the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Federation.
“The NORCECA championship is a very important event for us,” said Canadian men’s national team coach Glenn Hoag.
“It will mean more high level matches for our group (and) it will be another amazing experience for our players to play in front of a home crowd.
“We are training hard with the main objective of winning the event.”
The Canadian roster features a pair of former Trinity Western Spartans volleyball players in Josh Howatson and Rudy Verhoeff.
Canada is currently ranked third in NORCECA and 11th in the world. They were 18th but jumped seven spots after knocking off the 2012 Olympic gold medal winning team from Russia earlier this summer.
Some of the other top teams in Langley include:
The United States, ranked first in NORCECA and fifth in the world; Cuba (second, fifth); Puerto Rico (fourth, 20th); Mexico (fifth, 23rd); and the Dominican Republic (sixth, 41st).
The other countries are Guatemala, St. Lucia and the Bahamas.
Matches go daily at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The quarter-finals will be on Thursday and the semifinals on Friday.
The bronze medal game is Saturday at 6 p.m. and the gold medal match follows at 8 p.m.