Ulinzi out

By Oscar Pilipili

Ulinzi men’s volleyball club has eventually withdrawn from the 2013 CAVB African Club Championships.

The tournament takes place in Libya on April 19-27. Brigadier Francis Ogolla, Armed Forces Volleyball Association chairman, told Feverpitch that the team will not travel to Libya since their players are involved in other military duties.

“We were offered opportunity to represent the country in African Championships, but we can’t travel because our players can’t stay out of the country for that long,” he said.

“They (players) have other military commitments to execute and that’s the main reason we’re skipping the tournament,” Ogolla said on telephone yesterday.

Brigadier Ogolla said, however, the military team, that finished third overall in the league last year, shall be available for all local competitions.

“We’re not going to travel to Libya, but our team will participate in the national league and other local tournaments,” he added.

Ulinzi manager, Alfred Chedotum, said his players have not been demoralised by the team’s failure to honour the Championships.

“Our training programme is on as usual and players are focused on the national league, which will start next month,” he noted.

“Our target for the year is to win the league and qualify for the next African Club Championships as Kenyan champions,” Chedotum said.

Ulinzi were named alongside National champions Kenya Prisons and General Service Unit, as teams to represent the country in the continental show.

Although GSU are yet to state official position over Championships, sources within volleyball told Feverpitch that their chances of traveling are very slim.

This leaves Prisons as the only Kenyan team that will honour the tournament.

Prisons have already presented all necessary participation documents and are currently training at Moi International Sports Centre arena under Coach Gideon Chenje.

Chenje guided the team to second-place finish during the 2011 edition of the Championships and he now looks forward to even better performance on this occasion. The women’s version of the competition will be held in Madagascar on April 1-15.

African and National champions Prisons, Pipeline and Nairobi Water are Kenya’s representatives to the annual event.

Both Pipeline and Prisons have won the Championships before while Nairobi Water are debutants.

Meanwhile, World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has issued an alert to warn athletes about the health risks of the black market substance GW501516, FIVB website has reported.