Wafalme Stars set to begin training next week

National men’s volleyball team, Wafalme Stars’ preparations for this year’s Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Championship are set to begin, tentatively, next week.

The continental competition slated for 1 to 15 September in Egypt will be the first time Wafalme are in action since competing in the same tournament in Rwanda back in 2021. 

The team's technical bench led by General Service Unit (GSU) boss Gideon Tarus, assisted by David Lugh'aho, Sammy Mulinge and Elisha Aliwa as the trainer was confirmed last week. 

Tarus: Early preparations key as Wafalme Stars gear for continental glory

"We will be naming the provisional squad on Saturday (22 July) and are looking to have the team start training on Monday or Tuesday. All other communication on the team's training will be done after the team is named," acting Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) chair Charles Nyaberi told Mozzart Sport.

Coach Tarus remains confident the team can perform better than they did in the 2021 edition where they missed out on the knock-out stages on points difference after winning one match and earning points from a walkover. 

The team was pooled alongside Egypt, Morocco and Tanzania, gaining maximum points against fellow East Africans who did not play and beating Egypt 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12) in a historic victory.

Playing an already Morocco in final group match, Kenya went down 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21) to miss out on the quarters when Egypt beat fellow North Africans 3-1. 

Tarus' charges beat Burkina Faso and Niger 3-0 and 3-1 in the classification matches to finish in ninth place. 

Tunisia, Cameroon and Egypt occupied the podium places with Morocco finishing in fourth-place. 

"Everyone remembers that historic win against Egypt but this time we want to do more than that. We are targeting going past the group stage as that will give us the opportunity to contest for a podium place. We have to prove that we can compete at the same level with the best in the continent. I feel that will be possible since we have the ability to assemble a better squad than we had in 2021. Some of the players who were in Rwanda will be in the team but with better experience and are now better." Tarus told Mozzart Sport.