Kenya Lionesses will feature in two tournaments in Spain and France next month as part of build-up for the Tokyo Olympics in July.
The Lionesses will join Shujaa, who have also been invited to the tournament.
Team manager Camilyne Oyuayo said the team will resume training on Thursday in readiness for the two tournaments after Christmas and New Year break.
Oyuayo said with three weeks remaining, it's a race against time to ensure the girls are in good shape both mentally and physically.
"We resumed training in mid-November and we had to take the Covid tests. So our training has been limited and the girls have to work hard work between now and when we depart for the two events," added Oyuayo.
The Lionesses will be up against the heavyweights including Olympic and World Series champions New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada and Fiji in the two warm-up tournaments.
Oyuayo said playing quality opposition before the global extravaganza will aid their preparations. "The chance to play against some of the big teams will help us to be competitive during Olympics in July," she said.
Lioness had a dismal showing at the Rio Olympics, finishing bottom of their group after losing all four preliminary matches. They went down 52-0 to New Zealand, 40-7 to France, 19-10 to Spain and 24-0 to Japan in the classification matches before beating Colombia 22-10 to finish 11th overall.
The team manager said by playing in the World Sevens Series qualifier for the past three seasons, the team will be keen to make an impression.
“The team has greatly improved. We struggled in Rio four years ago because we were making a debut but I can see the team has made considerable steps to be strong," she added.
Oyuayo lauded the effort of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) Elite Coaching Commission for their role in helping prepare the team.
