NAIROBI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) women's volleyball club will represent Kenya in the regional Rwanda Genocide Memorial tournament, which starts on June 8-10 in Kigali.
The tournament, which is marking its eighth year, has attracted 22 teams from Kenya, Uganda, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Tanzania, Burundi and hosts Rwanda.
KCB are using the event as part of their player exposure events as they challenge for dominance in the Kenyan volleyball scene.
Club Patron Judith Sidi Odhiambo says it is very important to the team.
"We want to expose the girls to a different level of competition, the genocide memorial offers a great experience and that will be valuable for the team returning to the Africa Club Championship," said Sidi said Tuesday in Nairobi.
The team departs for Kigali on Wednesday. KCB will face stiff competition from 22 international teams including the hosts APR, Rwanda Energy, Rwanda Revenue, Kinnda Odzoho from Congo Brazzaville and Uganda's Sport S among other clubs.
KCB head coach Vernon Khayinga is beaming with confidence ahead of the outing with a keen focus on returning back with the most coveted trophy.
"We are excited for the Rwanda trip. We have been working on our middle blockers, we will play a very tactical game to win the knock out matches and mastermind a great victory in the finals," said the coach.
The KCB squad will be led by setter and captain Gladys Wairimu deputized by Doreen Marani. Others in the team are Metrine Nabwile, Milligren Lutuvula, and Egline Kulova. Veteran Sally Wanjala will star as a setter during the event.
The team's captain Wairimu says the squad has done well in training and is ready for the regional challenge.
"We will perform well by working together as a team, each game matters to us and the morale is quite high in the camp," said Wairimu.
KXCB has two players in the national team, which will start its training camp in two weeks' time ahead of the World Championships in Japan in September.
