Shujaa to camp for nine days for Vancouver and Edmonton Sevens

Rugby Sevens team in Kurumu City, Japan, on July 13, 2021. [Edward Alusa/Team Kenya]

The National Sevens Team Shujaa, goes to camp for nine days before heading for Vancouver and Edmonton Sevens Canada being the first and second legs of the 2021/2022 HSBC World Sevens Series.

Head coach Innocent Simiyu said a final squad of 13 players would be picked this weekend after the conclusion of the Kenya Cup League.

The final squad would be picked from an earlier training squad of 22 players that was named last weekend, the players having trained together for the last three weeks.

Simiyu said the final squad would be selected on four pillars, which include good health, being skillful, must be in good form in the strength and conditioning and in a good training environment.

“These are the four pillars to guide my selection of the final squad that goes for residential training for nine days before we depart to the North American country,” Simiyu told Standard Sports.

The team leaves for Canada on September 13.

The training squad of 22 players includes the larger Olympics training team and nine trialists in readiness for the 2021/2022 HSBC Sevens World Series that kicks-off with Vancouver Sevens on September 18-19 ahead of the Edmonton Sevens on September 25-26.

 “The team selection is based on its last performance at the Olympics where we retained 15 players and called up 9 trialists based on Kenya Cup performance. We will continue calling up more players for trials until we settle on the additional 9 players,” he said.

Russia based Willy Ambaka is expected to join the rest of the squad during the Singapore Sevens and Dubai Sevens on October 29-30 and on December 3-4 respectively.

As they prepare for the 2021/2022 HSBC World Sevens Series, the technical team’s focus is to get a formidable side that could reach the medal bracket at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Rugby Sevens at the Commonwealth Games will run from July 28-August 8, 2022 while the Rugby World Cup Sevens will run from September 9-11 at the Cape Town Stadium.