Experienced beach volleyball pair of Gaudencia Makokha and Naomi Too are keen to emulate their African Beach Games performance when the All African Games gets underway on August 19-31 in Rabat, Morocco.
Makokha and Too bagged bronze in the inaugural games in Cape Verde last June.
The team, which is in residential training at Milele Beach Hotel in Mombasa under the watchful eyes of Patrick Owino, has Phoscah Kasisi and Gladys Wangui as training partners.
The pair boasts of experience and exposure also having featured in previous international events among them the 2017 FIVB World Championship in Australia. The two also placed third in the African Nations Cup event in Mozambique.
Makokha said it's race against time for them as they seek to correct their wrongs and focusing on the games.
“The good thing is that we have been a pair for the longest time and we know how to go about it. We really don’t know who our opponents are but what we know is that the top 16 nations if not all will be in the competition. However, we are giving our all in the training to be ready for the games,” said Makokha.
Interestingly, both Makokha and Too, who both play for the former Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) league champions Kenya Pipeline were part of the national team that won gold during the Congo, Brazaville games as veterans pair of Edna Rotich and Eunice Maiyo represented Kenya in beach games.
However, Kenya will not feature a men’s team during the games. KVF first vice-chairman Charles Nyaberi said it was unfortunate the men’s team had failed to make the cut by finishing in the 16 top Africa team as per the last rankings.
“It’s unfortunate that the men’s team are placed 18 in Africa and therefore they won’t be participating in the event unlike the women’s team who fall within the bracket,” said Nyaberi.
He added: “The development perhaps is a wake-up call for us to ensure we field these teams to any available event as that contributes towards improvement in the ranking.”
