KCB likely to miss Africa tourney

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) women’s league second-place finishers Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) have remained non-committal on their participation at this year’s Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) women's club championship set for April 21 to 30 in Tunisia.

KCB are set to represent Kenya in the annual competition alongside KVF women’s league title holders Prisons Kenya and third-place league finishers Kenya Pipeline. While the other two teams have sought permission to continue with training, KCB have resorted to individual training after the suspension of sporting activities in the country.

The bankers have eight of their players in residential camp with the national women’s team, Malkia Strikers, in preparation for the Summer Olympics. In addition to the players, head coach Japheth Munala and technical director Paul Bitok are serving the national team as assistant coach and head coach respectively.

“We drew up a budget after receipt of the invitation to the competition from the national federation and forwarded to our sponsors and we are awaiting their response on whether we are travelling to Tunisia or not,” confirmed team manager Moses Kimani.

Teams are expected to arrive in Tunisia on April 19 with a technical meeting set for April 20 before action serves off on April 21 to 30. National Federations were required to register their representative clubs before April 5 while teams were, thereafter, required to confirm their final participation before the deadline which was set for April 12.

With the deadlines already gone, KCB were dealt another blow after the national team technical bench decided that none of the players in camp will be released to their respective clubs for the African tourney, leaving the moneybags without the services of their key players.

“We had informed the sponsor that the eight players attached to the national team will be unavailable for club duty so it was up to them to decide whether it was worth it to have the remaining players travel to Tunisia. While going for any championship, a team has set targets and must have their best to achieve said targets. We do not intend to be in any competition just as participants,” added Kimani further alluding to the team’s likelihood of missing the championship.