Throughout 2015, Karatekas will have fond memories of 2014. In August, Solange Ingabire, then a S.6 student, won bronze at the 15th Senior African Karate Championship in Senegal.

While in Dakar, Dieudonne Mwizerwa passed assessments to become the highest rated Karate referee (level A Judge in Kata and level B Judge in Kumite), in East Africa.

His contribution in imparting awareness of the martial art sport’s rules will be imperative. What’s more, also in Dakar, Rwanda was "honored” – and designated to provisionally lead and revive Zone 5 of the Union of African Karate Federations (UFAK) after years of inactivity.

Famous Japanese instructor, Hidekazu Mizutani, visited and offered improvement tips and, an annual Japan Ambassador Cup was introduced as a new event to boost local talent detection.

The list is long but, perhaps, the icing on the cake was the generous three-week coaching programme by Tamer Abdel-Raouf, a highly rated Egyptian coach, for the national team.

As a sign of better things to come, in November, Rwanda’s team at the 22nd edition of the World Karate Federation (WKF) Championships in Bremen, Germany, put up a better show than previous ones.

Tamer installed in the team the poise and self-assurance that could catapult it to greater things in 2015 and beyond.

Four things that could sway expectations in 2015

One: More funds

A conspicuous lack of sufficient funds was not the only hindrance for the Rwanda Karate Federation (Ferwaka) in 2014.

Even so, Vanily Ngarambe and Emery Espoir Ntungane, both 21, and Ingabire, 20, The Three Musketeers that carried Rwanda’s flag to the WKF contest proved that local talent can do better, if properly managed.

"The big challenge in 2014 is finance. We don’t have enough funds for our plans, no income of our own, but depend on the ministry of sports. Talent detection, particularly, is difficult, and we only rely on school competitions,” Ferwaka technical director Guy Didier Rurangayire admits.

Two: Big game experience

In Bremen, the untried trio bowed out in the preliminaries. But the details speak volumes. After a brilliant start, being 4-0 ahead in two minutes (a game lasts three minutes), Ngarambe, the only one to snatch points, was outsmarted by Armenia’s Artur Aslanyan, in the closing 60 seconds.

Aslanyan came from behind to win 6 fast points. What happened in the high-speed final seconds caused indescribable anguish to spectators back home.

With just seconds to register what was to be a legendary win, Ngarambe was exhausted, "under too much pressure not to err,” and was equally short of better coaching guidance.

The young man acknowledges lacking decisive "match management experience” that is useful in such situations. The older Armenian is a professional who has competed on big stages for over seven years.

Ingabire’s fight against Serbia’s Ivana ÄŒomagić was equally telling. She stood her ground, only to lose 0-1, in the final 15 seconds. Between 2009 and the Bremen championships, ÄŒomagić competed in 16 top league European championships, unlike Ingabire whose only big experience was in Dakar.

Despite being the fastest kicker among the trio, Ntungane lost 0-5. He could not believe his awful fate when the first draw pitted him against France’s Sofiane Agoudjil, an age-mate, but a tested fighter and who is ranked number two in Europe in the male under 60kg category.

In short, lack of experience is an old catch-22 more emphasized in 2014. Good coaches such as Russian Adamov, or Egypt’s Tamer, may improve player’s techniques but ample real big matches experience is the missing link.

"Players need more international competitions, that is how they will continue to progress. But this is too expensive for us and for the country. We’ll move slowly and hopefully we shall get there,” Rurangayire said.

Three: Caring for a promising young generation

Unlike Rwanda’s previous WKF representatives, the trio was never intimidated into succumbing to awkwardly brutal defeats of the past.

During the 2012 WKF edition, in France, none of Rwanda’s five fighters obtained a point in a game. Most were knocked out 0-8 before time elapsed. But Ngarambe’s generation, if properly managed, have the potential to compete favourably against the best in the world.

The federation has monitored the progress of the trio, and others younger, for years.

Rurangayire knows that the Bremen trio, is young, has potential and if "we take good care of them, in two years, we can have a world champion.”

"We need skilled coaches and a strategic plan. These are not achieved overnight but we’ll get there.”

Four: A ‘professionalism’ reality check

Adding to woes in 2014, the reality, Rurangayire says, is that "our karate is not a professional sport” and this has far reaching implications.

Eager athletes constantly face a delicate balancing act between school and ‘unprofitable’ sporting interests – another challenge that gnawed on chances of winning big in 2014.

The present generation comprises secondary school students and others enrolled in different colleges in and outside the country.

Assembling them for training ahead of tournaments is "easier said than done” as they get torn between concentrating on studies and giving their time and energy to competitions from which they don’t earn.

Two months before Bremen, Ngarambe and Ntungane had to sacrifice studies for intensive training in Kigali. Others could not make it. Discouraging as it was, Coach Ruslan Adamov, worked diligently, with whoever was at hand.

"It’s tough as players go to school in different far off locations. Others don’t study but bringing them all together it means a lot of resolve and self-sacrifice,” Rurangayire observes.

2015 tests

Come 2015, the international events Rwanda is likely to feature in include East African championships in Uganda, a mid-year Zone V event, the September All African Games in Congo-Brazzaville and the World Junior, Cadet and U21 Championships 2015 set for Indonesia, in November.