SITTING VOLLEYBALL: Kenya to host continental showpiece

SHEBESH TOURNAMENT Kasarani Volleyball team receiving ball from Embakasi team during Shebesh Tournament Cup at Kasarani sports centre on friday, Feb 17, 2017. {PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Kenya is stepping up preparations to host the Africa Sitting Volleyball Championship slated for May 15-22 in Nairobi.

The continental showpiece will act as a qualifier for the World Cup that will be held in the Netherlands next year.

Already 13 countries have registered to take part in the continental showpiece that will be held at Safaricom Stadium Kasarani Indoor Arena.

The countries are Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Sudan, Lesotho, Namibia, Congo, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, Burundi, Egypt and hosts Kenya.

“Our aim is to win the Africa trophy and make it to the world cup, to do this we have laid a strategy whose part is to commence early preparations by doing our national selection early,” Kenya Sitting Volleyball President Polycarp Mboya, said.

The federation branches held their various championships on Friday to select teams that will represent the counties at the national trials slated for Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in Kakamega this coming weekend (February 25-26).

Mboya said a squad of 48 players (24 men and 24 women) will be selected at the MMUST trials who will then proceed for residential camp at a later date.

“The squad will be whittled down to the final 12 men and 12 women who will then perform duty for the country at the continental showpiece,” Mboya said.

The Nairobi county selection for the trials, held at Kasarani Stadium Indoor Arena on Friday, was sponsored by Nairobi Women Representative Rachel Shebesh to a tune of Sh1.1 million.

Langata beat Dagoretti 2-0(25-12, 25-6) to lift the men’s category while Kasarani and Starehe finished the Nairobi county contest in third and fourth place.

Women’s contest was won by Kamkunji who beat Kasarani 2-0(25-15, 25-19) while Langata and Starehe came in third and fourth in the category.

The winners were awarded Sh50, 000 each by Shebesh while runners up got Sh35, 000 each. Third and fourth placed teams got Sh25, 000 and 15,000 each in the categories.

A squad of 24 (12 men and 12 women) was selected to represent Nairobi County at the national trials in Kakamega.

Shebesh who has also funded the Nairobi teams’ trip to Kakamega said: “There is need to inject support in sports taken part by the disabled. By doing so we give them a level playground with the able bodied people who easily get funded to take part in competitions.’

Shebesh was funding the Nairobi Sitting Volleyball contest for the second year running. Shebesh, who has also pledged to support wheelchair boxing and wheelchair karate for the disabled, has also injected Sh1 million into wheelchair basketball who has already held their first championship.

Apart from the contest, Shebesh also advised the players to explore business opportunities to be self-reliant economically.

 

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