Kenya women volleyball coach warns on fitness ahead of Worlds

by Kimathi Kamau

NAIROBI, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Head coach Japheth Munala on Thursday called on his players to maintain their fitness over the festive season to stay in shape for the forthcoming 2018 FIVB World Women's Volleyball Championships set for Tokyo, Japan next September.

Munala warned no player is assured a place in the Japan-bound team emphasizing only the fittest will be considered for the global event.

Nine-time African champions Kenya landed a daunting Pool D of the competition where they will take on the world-beaters Serbia and Brazil as well as Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Kazakhstan.

Munala warned the players of the team known as Malkia Strikers not to relax as they head out for Christmas and New Year holidays outlining plans to start preparations early for the global competition in the first part of next year.

"It takes time and effort to build fitness. It is easier to maintain fitness than to start rebuilding it when it's lost," the Malkia coach advised.

Munala called on the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) to organize high profile matches against global powerhouses such as U.S., China, Japan, Brazil to give his team the workout it needs to perform at the world championships.

"This can only be realized through better training and playing friendly games with top countries in the world," Munala emphasized.

The coach advised local clubs to commence training for the KVF League by January to help national team players build on their fitness ahead of the World Championships.

"Malkia will begin training in March. It is my wish to proceed for residential camp in time as we focus on the event," Munala underscored.

"I plan to make a few changes in the squad, with priority being a left attacker as this was our greatest weakness which saw us finish second to hosts Cameroon in the qualifiers.

Kenya qualified for Japan by finishing second in the 2017 CAVB African Championships to Cameroon were their bid for a 10th continental title ended at the decider.

His aim in Japan is to improve on their performance in 2010 where Kenya finished 21st.

Team captain, Mercy Moim, reiterated Munala's sentiments saying Kenya is in a very tight group which needs focus to overcome.

"The rest of the teams in the pool are the top five in the world. Our target is to win two to three matches to be sure of the next stage. Enditem