Kenyan teams competing in this year’s African Women Volleyball championship are currently in Tunisia ready to win some medals to bring back home.
Kenya’s national Women’s volleyball is one of the well-performing sports categories outside athletics but the hype seems to have died down.
At the club level, the teams also perform very well. Kenyan clubs have won the continental title 14 times with Pipeline winning six times, while Prisons Kenya five times. Posta Kenya and KCB have won twice and once respectively since the inception of the event in 1986.
The Prisons Kenya, Kenya Pipeline and KCB clubs have qualified for this year’s competition that ends on June 1st.
Head coach David Lung’aho of the national champions; Kenya Prisons had this to say; “We have good players who have improved tremendously if their current form is anything to go by and we are ready to reclaim the title we last won in 2013.
Kenya Pipeline coach Paul Gitau is also hopeful that this is the time to end their 17-year title drought. Back in the competition after a four-year absence KCB coach Japheth Munala said the team is determined to improve from their last performance.
All the best to the teams!
The Future of Volleyball in Kenya
International volleyball federation FIVB delegation visited Kenya in May and held strategic discussions with the Kenya Volleyball Federation, National Olympic Committee of Kenya, and Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage on the development of volleyball in the country ahead of the women’s national team’s participation at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship and future events.
The FIVB Head of Technical and Development, Steve Tutton, said:
“On behalf of FIVB President Dr Ary S. Graça F°, we are pleased to be here in Kenya to discuss future projects with the aim of boosting volleyball in the country and raising the level of national teams. We thank the Volleyball Federation of Kenya and the country’s sports institutions for their dedication to and support of volleyball, and their commitment to working together to improve the level of volleyball in the county and increase the competitive level of the national teams.
In related news; the Malkia Strikers are set to depart for a three-month training camp in Brazil. This is the second time the FIVB is supporting the country’s preparations for an international volleyball competition through the Volleyball Empowerment programme after the team was selected for a pilot project ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Images: FIVB
