Kenya women’s beach volleyball team has started residential training at the Pride Inn Flamingo Hotel in Mombasa in readiness for the 2020 Olympic Games.
The quartet of Brackcides Agala, Gaudencia Makokha, Phoscah Kasisi and Yvonne Wavinya who entered residential training yesterday, defied the odds to win the sole ticket reserved for Africa at the Olympics games during the recently concluded CAVB Continental Cup/Olympic qualifiers in Agadir, Morocco.
Kenyan players saw off the pairs of Touch Nnoruga and Francisca Albertina, as well as Francisca Ikhiede and Amarachi Nwachukwu from Nigeria 2-1 (17-21, 21-18,15-10) and 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) respectively.
The results saw Kenya qualify for the Olympics for the first time and will be in Tokyo for the July 23 to August 8 quadrennial event.
The team’s coach, Sammy Mulinge, has said he will seek to polish the team’s movement on the course, mental strength and approach to games which affected the team during the qualifiers.
“I have four players so far. I had put in a request to have two more, one coach,referee and an official to help with the logistics and I’m waiting for feedback. During the qualifiers, I could see the weakness in players whenever a team was ahead of us and that’s something that I intend to work on,” Mulinge, who also coaches Kenya Ports Authority men’s volleyball team, said.
Olympics draw
“Our court coverage and movement was also wanting and we need to get right before we depart to the host city. The players are in competition mood and I just want to make good use of the time we have in training,” he added.
The draws and confirmation of teams for the Olympics will be done today.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) has organised a four-day high performance coaching course at the Nyayo National Stadium.
The course which will be facilitated by Japan-based trainer Godfrey Owese who holds a FIVB Level Three Certificate starts today.
Twenty-eight participants will grace the course that ends on Thursday.
Owese, who is attached to Philipines University volleyball team in Manila, said he was glad to share ideas with coaches across the nation.
“I’m happy to be in Kenya and more so for the coaching course. We have been holding discussions with some of the coaches in Kenya through video conferences but I’m excited that I get to share information with a bigger group. I hope that at the end of it all, they will have learnt something new,” Owese, a former national team player, said.
KVF Technical Director David Lung’aho said the course was timely. BY DAILY NATION