Venezuela’s Valeria & Chacin working hard and dreaming big

If you might think that 16-year-old Valeria Moreno is a bit too young for an FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championship, think again. Her teammate at the ongoing 2026 event in the Hague Mariana Chacin is only 13! And no, they are not just some underdogs that came to the Netherlands just for the experience. They have worked hard to be successful and it showed in the pool stage, where they won two of their three matches and advanced to the knockout stage as pool runners-up. Not only that, they are aiming higher – at the semifinals and even the championship title – and dreaming even higher – to play at the Olympic Games one day.

• Watch the 2026 FIVB U18 Beach Volleyball World Championships on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Valeria & Chacin started their Pool G campaign in the Hague with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-19) sweep of their first match against Kazakhstan’s Gayana Galash & Merey Kozhakhmet. In what proved to be the de facto final for the first place in the pool, the Venezuelan girls put up a great fight against Latvia’s Paula Krieva & Estere Zakite, pushing both sets deep into overtime before conceding a 2-0 (22-20, 25-23) defeat. While the Latvians went on to win the pool without dropping a set, Valeria & Chacin secured the second place with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) shutout of Canada’s Julia McDougall & Natalia Casas in their last pool game.

“I am very happy to have qualified for the next round,” Valeria Moreno told the FIVB after the match against Canada. “We have worked hard. We have put a lot of effort into this. And, thank god, we managed to qualify. And well, now we have to keep working and keep advancing.”

“Yes, we have worked very hard for this, and we are very happy to be where we are at,” confirmed Chacin. “And we are going for more! I feel that we have done a good job. God willing, we are going to go through to the semifinals and the final and become champions.”

There is still a long road ahead to the title and it starts on Saturday morning with a sixteenthfinal encounter* with the team that finished third in Pool C – Japan’s Ririka Imai & Hazuki Ichiyanagi. The winner of that match will then have a tough eighthfinal meeting with second-seeded Pool B winners Lauren Leach & Janie McCanna of the United States in the early afternoon in a battle for a spot in Saturday evening’s quarterfinals.

“We are already finished for today. Now we are going to the hotel to rest and prepare ourselves mentally for tomorrow's matches,” said Valeria. Hopefully, it will be three matches. But we go step by step – first the first one, then the second one, and then the third one, and then, god willing, on to the semifinals!”

Just days before the U18 World Championship, Venezuela was devastated by huge earthquakes. Luckily, the beach volleyball players were not affected directly, but their preparation was interrupted and they had to overcome the mental effect of the tragedy.

“Because of the earthquake situation, they had to cease all physical activities. We had to stop training for about a week, but we still did basic workouts where we live. We still kept preparing and we managed to get this far,” said Valeria.

“People in Venezuela were very affected... And thank god we are here! Now we try not to think about that, because what matters now is to focus on here rather than on there,” Chacin added.

Even the tragedy that hit their country did not prevent the Venezuelan girls from continuing to chase their goals, because those goals are also the next steps towards the bigger dream – to compete at the Olympics one day. As Valeria wisely put it, “to reach your dreams, you have to start somewhere.”

“Somewhere” for 13-year-old Chacin is this U18 event in the Netherlands, the first World Championship in her career.

“I am super happy to be here. Truly a super beautiful experience!” she exclaimed.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Valeria is already quite experienced in playing at World Championships. Last year, she and Aidana Ramirez reached the eighthfinals of the U18 World Championship in Qatar, and then, they even tested their skills at the U21 World Championship in Mexico.

“Well, it is no small thing – it's a World Championship!” Valeria stated. “It is super important! And it is in a European country – something absolutely incredible! The facilities are extraordinary, something that we hadn't seen, at least as far as I am concerned. For us, it is extremely important to be here and gain precious experience.”

Needless to ask, both Valeria and Mariana have the same big dream for their sporting careers.

“Well, I think it is everyone's dream – the Olympic Games!” Valeria pointed out. “And for that, you have to start somewhere and you have to keep working. That's why we are here – at a World Championship. Then we will keep growing and, hopefully, reach an Olympic Games.”

“The Olympics... It's everyone's dream,” Mariana confirmed. “And well when you work hard, dreams are achieved.”

(\) At publication time, Valeria & Chacin had already won their sixteenthfinal match against Japan by 2-0 (21-13, 21-15).*

2026 FIVB Beach Volleyball U18 World Championship: schedule and results

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