National beach volleyball coach Patrick Owino believes Kenyan players will give a good account of themselves when they compete at the Africa Beach Games in Cape Verde later this month.
Ibrahim Odouri and James Mwaniki (men), as well as Gaudencia Makokha and Naomi Too (women), will don the Kenyan stripes and Owino is confident their experience will come in handy. The two pairs have participated at almost every international event and therefore they boast of a wealth of experience and exposure that should give them an edge over their competitors.
“The good thing is that the four players have been participating in the ongoing Kenya Beach Volleyball circuit events and there is nothing much to do as far as fitness level is concerned apart from gelling,” said Owino. “These pairs have played together for the longest time and they know what to do and how. The four days we have for training at the Strathmore University from Monday is just to tighten the loose ends but generally, the players are at a good place.”
Makokha said they are going to give their best shot and hopefully the results will favour them at the end of the 10-day event. “We are not sure of our opponents since teams are drawn from around Africa but what I know is that we will be out to perform well and qualify for the World Beach Games set for later in the year at a venue yet to be decided,” said Makokha.
The inaugural event, set for between June 14 and 23 and has attracted other events including beach football, athletics, handball, karate among other disciplines.
Kenya Volleyball Federation vice chairman Charles Nyaberi said the Africa beach volleyball will be a good build up to the teams ahead of the All Africa Games set for Morocco in August. Nyaberi was, however, was non-committal about the players to represent the nation in the Morocco bonanza. He said: “When that time comes, we will cross that bridge — but the KBV circuit rankings will be considered ahead of the Games.”
