Kenya picked to host next year’s Africa Volleyball Cup of Nations

Kenya's skipper Brackides Agala (second left) is congratulated by teammates Jane Wacu (second right) and Everlyne Makuto (left) during a match against Croatia in Porec on August 1, 2014. PHOTO | FIVB GRAND PRIX

What you need to know:

  • Two tournaments to be held in May and June 2015
  • The continental events which will act as World Cup qualifiers will be played from May 15-25 (men) and June 10-20 (women).

Kenya will host next year’s Africa Volleyball Cup of Nations Championships for both men and women in May in what promises to be a busy season for the country.

The continental events which will act as World Cup qualifiers will be played from May 15-25 (men) and June 10-20 (women).

This will be the first time Kenya will host the men’s competition in 11 years. Last year, the country hosted the women’s tournament at Kasarani which they won without losing a single match.

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Kenya has also bid to host men’s Africa Club Cup Championship which, if successful, will be hosted at Kasarani from March 5-17 while the women’s event, whose hosts are yet to be known, will be staged between March 25 and April 6.

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) chairman Waithaka Kioni who attended an Africa Zone Presidents’ meeting in Cairo, Egypt, last week said the successful bid shows the country is capable of hosting many international tournaments.

“We have already started preparations and I know we shall have a successful event both on and off the pitch,” Kioni told Daily Nation Sport.

The 2015 African Volleyball Federation (CAVB) calendar that was released in Cairo has 11 volleyball events at the age-group, senior and FIVB levels besides the Olympic qualifications for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and KVF is expected to field teams in most of these events.

Kioni confirmed that the various teams will embark on early preparations and expressed confidence that Kenya will field teams in most of the events.

“It is a busy calendar and we want to ensure we take part in many as events as possible to give to give our teams the necessary exposure,” Kioni added.

KVF will start the busy calendar by sending a women’s Under-20 team to the African Nations Championships set to take place in Egypt from February 24 to Match 2. This competition will come after boys’ Youth African Nations Championship. The African Club Championships will be held in March and April, preceding the FIVB Club World Championships in May.

The men’s African Club Championship is slated for March 5-17, while the women’s tournament will run from March 25 to April 6. The host nations will be named at a later date.

Kenya will then begin her campaign at the preliminary round of the 2015 FIVB World Grand Prix which begins on June 26 to July 5 as they seek to better their 2014 results where they won three out of five games.