The national women’s volleyball team Malkia Strikers opted to train in Brazil due to the lack of quality training facilities in Kenya and the opportunity to be trained by some of the best coaches in the world.
In an interview with MozzartSport, which is one of their current sponsors, Malkia Strikers head coach Paul Bitok said that his players have improved massively thanks to the presence of the better equipment they are using in the South American nation.
“This is our second week of training and the players are adapting well. This week we are focusing on tactics and playing system and I am happy to report that the response is very positive. Our reception gives us a lot of problems and that has been the key area the coaches here have concentrated on.
“The type of equipment we are using is helping the players get better. We will get a chance to test how well we have improved when we play some friendly matches with local clubs here,” revealed Bitok.
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The Kenyan queens left the country two weeks ago to prepare for the eagerly awaited Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Women World Championships slated for September 23 all the way to October 15 in Poland and Netherlands.
Malkia Strikers players will also get a chance to be tutored by some of the best volleyball coaches around the globe. The four high-performance technical tacticians were recommended by the world governing body as part of their empowerment program.
The multiple African champions will train in Brazil for two months before departing to the other end of the globe in Serbia where they will test themselves in a friendly match against the hosts and Colombia.
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Malkia strikers who are taking part in their world championships for the seventh time have been pooled in Group A alongside their long-time rivals Cameroon, Belgium, Puerto Rico, Netherlands, and the reigning European champions Italy.
The four best teams in each group will qualify for the second round. Kenya has never made it past the first round of the competition. However, this time round they have a better chance of proceeding to the second round since they have a record of beating some of the teams in their pool.
Malkia Strikers faced a lot of challenges before their departure to Brazil. The government failed to approve their Ksh46 million something which complicated their plans.
Fortunately, Mozzart Bet came to their rescue at the last minute with a Ksh10 million sponsorship package.
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