Africa-Press – Uganda. As the Silverbacks exit Kigali today after their quarterfinal show at the Fiba Afrobasket Championship, the Volleyball Cranes get in on the action in the African Nations Championship.
Unlike the Silverbacks who were appearing at the continental stage for the third straight time, Shilla Omuriwe Buyongo and her charges are here for the first time ever and any kind of experience will help.
Team captain George Aporu told Daily Monitor that while the nation has not been at the championship before, different players in the team have experienced something similar or at least close to this level.
“We have a good number of players who have been at the top level of African volleyball,” Aporu said.
Aporu himself, Smith Okumu, Emmanuel Elanyu, Bernard Malinga and Johnson Rukundo are some of the players who have played at the Africa Clubs Championship. The team also has hard-hitter Daudi Okello who has played at the top level in Europe and Asia.
“As a country it is the first time we are here but as players I think we’ve some good experience to ride on,” Aporu said.
Early preparations
The Cranes started preparations for the championship over a month ago under newly appointed Omuriwe and Luke Eitit.
The month-long camp held at Nkumba University got players back in shape after a lengthy period of no competitive volleyball.
However, with the team subjected to the mandatory seven-day quarantine on arrival in Kigali, regression kicked in.
The team’s first training session in Kigali was held on Saturday after their second Covid-19 tests.
“We had gained some momentum before coming here and we would have loved to continue with that,” Aporu said.
“That didn’t happen for us but we shall not relent. We are using the time we have and we’ll be ready.”
The championship sarts today with the technical meeting and action serves off tomorrow.
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