The national women’s sitting volleyball team will have a ten-day training camp and also play international friendly matches in Slovenia from November 2 to 12.

The development was confirmed to Times Sport on Monday by the Rwanda National Paralympic Committee (NPC) president Célestin Nzeyimana.

Rwanda women’s team, which is set to become the first African country to compete at the Paralympic Games next year in Brazil, will start preparations on October 10 at NPC gymnasium before travelling to Slovenia on November 1.

"It is very important for the team to start preparations early, we have two big competitions coming up, and we want to do well in both of them. The training camp in Slovenia will benefit the team, especially in terms of experience and confidence building,” Nzeyimana explained.

About the friendly games the team intends to play in Europe, Nzeyimana said they would play against Slovenia, Netherlands and possibly Germany.

Peter Karreman’s team inked history by becoming the first African nation to qualify for the world’s biggest Paralympic event in July when Rwanda beat Egypt in a five-setter thriller in the qualifiers final in Kigali and booked a slot for the 2016 Paralympic Games slated for September 7-18, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

By qualifying for Paralympics, Rwanda also automatically earned a ticket to compete at the Intercontinental and World ParaVolley Championship scheduled for March 7-13, 2016 in Hangzhou City, China.

At the 15th Summer Paralympics, Africa will be represented by Rwanda (women) and Egypt in men’s sitting volleyball. The 11-day events will see over 4350 athletes from 178 countries vying for 528 medals in 23 different disciplines.