Kenya Lionesses have their sights on Challenger Sevens Series scheduled for August in Chile.
The team posted a disastrous performance during the Africa Cup Sevens last month in Tunisia— the worst ever performance ever in 15 years.
Head coach Dennis Mwanja said they have to go back to the drawing board if they are to improve results.
" We have to go back to the basics and look at our passing, tackling, and defence alignement. The next two months are going to be crucial to ensure we are competitive for the series,” added Mwanja
Lionesses beat Zambia 22-0 and 12-5 and Ghana 20-0 but lost to Uganda 10-7 and Tunisia 19-5 to finish fifth overall.
They subsequently missed out on a ticket to the World Cup and Commonwealth Games with South Africa qualifying for the Commonwealth and World Cup. SA will be joined by losing finalists Madagascar for the World Cup.
The winner of the Challenger Series will qualify for the World Sevens Series for the 2022/2023 season and will play in six tournaments against the world's top teams like New Zealand, Australia, England and France among others.
Mwanja said a lack of leadership cost Lionesses during the Africa Cup sevens which acted as a World cup cum Commonwealth Games qualifier.
"We were without Philadelphia Olando, Christabel Lindo, Grace Okullu and Janet Okello and that was our downfall. If you lack leaders on the pitch against quality opposition, you end up losing matches,” added McGowan
The former international said lack of depth is hurting the side and with the start of the national Sevens circuit this weekend, he will be on the lookout to add more players to the team.
“ We have a golden opportunity with the start of the circuit to look for new talent and bolster our stock,” added Mwanja. Mwanja expressed confidence of an improvement in performance in the future.
“ We have learnt a lot of lessons from the Africa Cup and going forward, the girls will be sharper," he said.
Elsewhere, the Kakamega Sevens will serve as the final leg of the national sevens circuit.
The Kakamega 7s, originally slated as the third leg of the circuit will serve as the season-ended and will take place on July 16-17 in Kakamega.
The National Sevens Circuit kicks off this weekend with the George Mwangi Kabeberi 7s at the RFUEA ground in Nairobi.
This will pave way for the Christie 7s at the same venue on May 28-29. The circuit will resume after a two week break with the Driftwood 7s in Mombasa on June 18-19, paving way for the Dala 7s in Kisumu City on July 2-3 with the Prinsloo 7s taking place in Nakuru on July 9-10.
