BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Youngster Jepkosgei happy with call-up to national team

Hot on the heels of her first national beach volleyball team call-up, youngster Sharon Jepkosgei is hoping for a further breakthrough.

“I need to work extremely hard as I have a bright future and that I deserve to be in the national team,” said Jepkosgei after training yesterday in Mombasa.

“I was very happy to get the call-up when I am only 13. I have so far learned a lot and I think I need to walk taller, but strive to work even harder,” she said.

She said it has been a big challenge training with experienced and internationally exposed players and that she will continue working hard to perfectly fit in the national team set up.

“For now, I am getting the true feeling of being in the team, but I need to continue working hard,” she said.

The team will battle for the top two slots against hosts Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda in the Africa Zone Five sub zonal 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifiers that run from January 10-12 at Balamwezi beach in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.

Coach Sammy Mulinge said he spotted Jepkosgei’s untapped talent during a volleyball tournament in Kapsabet last year and decided to work closely with her teacher and coach Joseph Dirch to expose her more to the game.

“I would like to thank teacher Dirch for allowing the girl to travel to Mombasa for residential training and I can confidently say that she has adopted well to beach volleyball technical demands,” said Mulinge.

Mulinge said he is currently working on ball control and service targets. “It’s windy and the girls must know how to control the ball,” said Mulinge.

Mulinge said he will name his travelling squad on Tuesday.