Volleyball has produced some of the best sportsmen of our times.  And this trend seems to be continuous as new youngsters emerge to keep the candle burning. One of them is APR Volleyball Club captain Aimable Mutuyimana, the man behind the military side’s triumph in the ongoing national league. 

The 23-year-old Mutuyimana made his first attempt at playing volleyball in 2004 when he joined Huye district-based Virigo fidelis Karubanda Seminary in senior one. 

But he never thought this was the beginning of his long career in volleyball. When he started out, he was only doing it for leisure but never thought he would turn into the star he is today. 

"I never thought volleyball would be part of my life like it is today, I’m just addicted to the sport from which I also to earn a living,” Mutuyimana says.  

On his first appearance as a rookie, he won two Southern Province inter-schools’ championship titles in 2005 and 2006 with his O’level school team before winning the national inter-schools’ title with GSO Butare in 2009. 

After finishing his secondary education in 2009, he joined Ngoma district-based INATEK Volleyball Club in 2010 and helped the club finish fourth in the league and Carre d’As behind APR, National University of Rwanda and Kigali Volleyball Club (KVC) respectively. They also reached the quarter-finals of the Genocide Memorial Tourney (GMT) and he was named best server of the competition. 

In 2011, he switched to KVC and spent only one season at the former champions’ side. During that season with KVC, they finished second runners-up in the league and Carre d’As lost to APR in the final of GMT. 

From early 2012 up to now, the hard fighter Mutuyimana is serving the six-time champions APR volleyball club. He is the current captain of the military side since February this year. 

When he joined APR in 2012, he helped them clinch the league title and Carre d’As title. Last year, he helped APR finish second in the league and led them to the Carre d’AS title beating champions UR- Huye campus (formerly NUR) in the final. 

This year, he captained the military side to the final of the GMT but lost in three straight sets to archrivals Rayon Sports. He is also driving the army-owned APR towards the seventh league title after beating closest archrivals Rayon sports in the first and return-leg league matches.

National career

Mutuyimana earned his first cap in the national Under-23 volleyball team in 2010, the team that participated at the 2010 Africa U23 championships staged in Libya. Rwanda captained by Christophe Mukunzi finished fourth as Tunisia won the tournament. 

In 2011, he was called to the senior men’s national team and featured in the FIVB/Africa Zone V championship hosted and won by Rwanda.

After this win, Rwanda qualified for 2011 all Africa games in Maputo, Mozambique where it finished in the fourth place behind champions Cameroun, Algeria and Kenya. 

In 2012, the soft spoken Mutuyimana was part of the APR team that finished tenth out of 21 clubs at the 2012 Africa club championships held in Tunisia. Egypt’s Zamalek won the competition. 

In 2013, he was part of the U21 national team that finished third at the Africa U21 championship in Tunisia to qualify for U21 World Championship staged in Turkey where Rwanda finished in a humiliating 20th place out of twenty countries. 

The same year (2013), he was also in action with the senior team that finished second at the FIVB/Africa Zone V championship in Kigali in November to qualify for this year’s World Championships final round of qualifiers held in Cameroun in February this year. Rwanda finished third out of five countries behind hosts Cameroun and Algeria.

Mutuyimana not certain of his future with APR

Mutuyimana  is  enrolling for masters’ degree at Kampala International University (KIU) in Uganda, a development that will certainly affect his stay at APR.  Mutuyimana won the Sports scholarship based on his sportsmanship. Rayon Sports’ Guillaume Irakarama also got the same masters scholarship from KIU two years ago.  He is now in his final year.

Who is Mutuyumana?

Aimable Mutuyimana was born on July 1, 1991 in Uwinkingi sector, Nyamagabe District of the Southern Province to Jean Baptiste Ndagijimana and Melene Mukanyarubaya. He is the third born from a family of seven children, four boys and three girls. 

He attended Winkingi primary school based in Nyamagabe before going to Huye-based Virgo Fidelis Karubanda Seminary for his O and Alevel between 2004-2009.  

In September 2010, he enrolled at Umutara Polytechnic University (UPU) (currently UR-Nyagatare campus). He will graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computing Technology next month. 

Mutuyimana considers former NUR, APR and national team setter, Elie Mutabazi his inspiration and one of the country’s volleyball legends.