Coach Gideon Tarus hit the ground running with an elaborate training regimen that is focusing on the squad’s back court defense and blocking
National men’s volleyball team, Wafalme Stars, finally started their non-residential training on Monday 7 August, after close to three weeks of waiting, ahead of next month’s CAVB Africa Nations Championship.
Coach Gideon Tarus hit the ground running with an elaborate training regimen that is focusing on the squad’s back court defense and blocking in the first week with the team expected to be in camp for about three weeks.
A team of 21 was named on 20 July with preparations expected to serve off soon after; but the wait stretched to close to three weeks. The players resulted to outdoor training one week before moving to Nyayo Indoor gymnasium where preparations are ongoing.
From the provisional list, 20 players in camp readying for the September 1 to 15 showpiece. The only exception is Kenya Defence Forces’ (KDF) Bernard Wechuli who is tied up with military training.
“We started on a high with the first week focusing exclusively on defense. I am lucky to say that the players are physically fit and that has taken us one step ahead.
Once we have perfected the two areas, we will move to other technical areas like service. We are keen to get all the basics right while perfecting our plays and I am happy to report that all is well so far,” head coach Gideon Tarus said.
Tarus further admitted that having all the squad members available from the first day is a blessing to his technical bench as they get to run the program effectively, without disruption and everyone on the same page.
Wafalme Stars will be looking to improve on their ninth-place finish from 2021 when the competition was held in Rwanda with what has been touted as a better squad than the last.
In Rwanda, 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 qualified Morocco in the 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.