Kenyan Men and Women National Teams start training for All Africa Games

Nairobi, Kenya, May 16, 2007: As the clock ticks away to this year’s All Africa Games set for July in Algeria, the Kenyan men and women provisional national teams have started training for the event.

According to Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) President Waithaka Kioni, both teams start non residential training at the outdoor gymnasium at Nyayo National Stadium this morning.

“We have very little time left and it would be suicidal to wait for the teams to start training when the All Africa Games Steering Committee takes over responsibility of putting the Kenyan contingent in residential training camp,” Kioni said.

The KVF President said since the national coaches and their assistants were given a free hand to select the provisional squads which will later be trimmed to 12 each before they depart for Algeria, KVF expects that only the best will be selected.

“As a federation we are treating All Africa Games very seriously in view of next year’s Olympic Games which will be staged in Beijing. A good performance by our teams in Algeria will be a morale booster ahead of Olympic Games qualifiers,” Kioni said.

He assured the players and coaches that KVF in conjunction with the All Africa Games Steering Committee will ensure that the teams get all the support they require so as to adequately prepare for the coming event.

Kioni challenged all the players in the provisional team to work hard and prove their worth to the coaches during training since that is the only way they can be considered for final selection.

“The assignment in Algeria will not be easy since it is coming ahead of Olympic Games and most countries would like to use the Pan Africa Games to gauge their teams as such we have all to be committed,” he said.

The Men Team Manager Kenneth Tonui who is also the KVF National Treasurer said the team was all set since the players would like to improve on their past performance.

“We shall be taking a young team to Algeria with a mixture of some experienced players. Our aim is to reach the medal bracket then aim for the finals,” Tonui said.

The women head coach Sammy Kirongo and his Deputy Paul Gitau said the players they have are up to the task ahead adding that the final selection will depend on many issues since they expect the exercise to be too close to call.



Photo Caption

Palanga one of Kenya women team stars



By Jack Kwemba, From Nairobi, Kenya