Volleyball…Beijing 2008

Hugh Mc Cutcheon is pushing hard for his team to get a spot on the podium at the Beijing Olympics.

Christchurch-born Hugh McCutcheon has been on a rollercoaster ride since taking over as the United States men’s volleyball coach three years ago.

In the lead up to next year’s Bejing Olympics McCutcheon had a dream start in 2005, where he led the US team to a 27-6 winning record, but the world No. 5 team stumbled at the 2006 world championships, finishing 10th.

The American volleyball administration has stuck with McCutcheon, who originally moved to America in 1990 to further his playing career at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah.

The former Shirley Boys’ High School, Canterbury and New Zealand volleyball representative said he was hurt by the world championships’ result, but the team has bounced back well, registering podium finishes in four major events this year.

“At the world champs we had some issues with injuries and some other team dynamics issues that we’ve since addressed.”

After its fourth place finish at the Athens Olympics in 2004, the US men’s team has its sights firmly set on claiming a medal in Bejing.

“It’s the ultimate. The goal of our programme is to get on the podium in Beijing.”

Olympic host China is the only team guaranteed a place in the 12 team tournament in Bejing, with the rest having to qualify.

Qualifying begins next month at the FIVB world cup in Japan, where teams will play 11 matches in 14 days with the top three teams cementing Olympic births.

McCutcheon considers Brazil and Russia as gold medal favourites for the Olympics.

Part of his team’s build-up to the Olympics has involved consultations with the New Zealand netball team and swapping of success formulas READ MORE press.co.nz

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 4:48 pm and is filed under USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.