Kenya to introduce sitting volleyball in special learning institutions

Kenya will next year introduce sitting volleyball in the institutions of special learning so as to develop the game in the east African nation, officials said on Monday.

The chairman of the Kenya Para-Volley Federation (KPVF), Polycarp Mboya, said the federation will roll out junior sitting volleyball programs in special learning institutions in order to nurture talent at the formative levels of education.

"Pupils living with disabilities who learn in the country; special schools will be trained in the sport in a move aimed at developing the game among the junior ranks," Mboya told Xinhua in Nairobi.

"There are no adequate structures in Kenya to help in identifying young talent. We will put in place a junior national team from among school-going children," he said.

Kenya has dozens of state funded institutions that provide basic and higher education to children with various forms of disabilities.

Mboya said in order to develop sitting volleyball, there ought to be regular tournaments that will boost identification and nurturing of young talent.

The former national sitting volleyball team captain conceded that turning around para-volleyball in Kenya is an uphill task that is nevertheless surmountable.

Sitting volleyball is played by amputees with disabilities like amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Endit