Canada women’s captain Tammy Mahon has said the team feels “fresh and ready” ahead of the NORCECA Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament which begins in Tijuana, Mexico on Sunday.
The eventual winners of the tournament, which runs until May 6, will qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“Never mind the rankings, there’s no team that can claim to be an overwhelming favourite,” Mahon, who is in her 11th season with the squad, said. “No other team has done more than what we’ve done over the last year. We’ve had a great two weeks of training with the full team leading into this and we feel fresh and ready.”
Canada has fared well at the tournament in previous years, finishing second in 2000 and 2007 and third in 2003 but they have not qualified for the Games since Atlanta 1996.
“We definitely have a size advantage on our opponents,” star player Sarah Pavan said. “And we’ve always been a strong blocking team. But a big key is the fact we are a team that has played together for a while. We’ve really stuck with it.”
