Wafalme Stars result to outdoor fitness training in preparation for African tourney

Well aware of the task ahead, Wafalme Star, the national men’s volleyball team, players have resulted to training on their own before official training is commissioned.

A team of 21 was named on 20 July with preparations expected to serve off soon after; but the wait continues despite the side having less than a month to the CAVB Africa Nations Championship slated for 1 to 15 September in Egypt.

Coach Gideon Tarus who says official training is set to begin on Monday, more than a week late than they anticipated, has cleared the air of the ongoing activities.

Wafalme Stars set to begin training next week

“Seeing as seven of the players are drawn from GSU with three more who are on pro deals having roots in the same club they decided to begin their loading early when camp did not start last week as was initially stated.

When they began, they talked to the rest of the players who had already cleared their schedules in readiness for camp and agreed to get their fitness back as all of them have been on holiday as they wait.

This, therefore is not official training. The players decided on their own volition to get the fitness part out of the way so that we can get down to business when camp begins officially, which is a good thing,” Tarus explains.

The continental competition will be the first time Wafalme are in action since competing in the same tournament in Rwanda back in 2021. Tarus says it is crucial that they get their preparations underway as the task ahead is not light.

Tarus remains confident the team can perform better than they did in the 2021 edition where they missed out on the knock-out stages on points difference after winning one match and earning points from a walkover.

The team was pooled alongside Egypt, Morocco and Tanzania, gaining maximum points against fellow East Africans who did not play and beating Egypt 3-2 (19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12) in a historic victory.

Playing an already qualified Morocco in final group match, Kenya went down 3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21) to miss out on the quarters when Egypt beat fellow North Africans 3-1.

Tarus' charges beat Burkina Faso and Niger 3-0 and 3-1 in the classification matches to finish in ninth place.

Tunisia, Cameroon and Egypt occupied the podium places with Morocco finishing in fourth-place.