Twenty-two volleyball clubs will take part in this year’s Genocide volleyball tournament slated to run from June 4-5 in Kigali. The Rwanda Volleyball Federation Executive Secretary Christian Hatumimana confirmed the development in an interview with Times Sport, yesterday.

"We have 22 teams which have confirmed to compete in the tournament. We hope to host a good tournament. We have done our best in terms of preparations and are still doing all we can to make the event a success,” added Hatumimana.

Rwanda will be represented by five teams in the men’s category including APR, Rayon Sports, Kirehe, INATEK and IPRC-South.

The foreign teams expected to participate include Kampala Amateur Volleyball club, Ndejje University and Sport S in men’s category; others are Cobra (South Sudan) and VC Espoir (DRC) while Burundi, Tanzania and Congo Brazzaville have not confirmed participation. Others are in the women category, include, Kenya Sports Authority and Nairobi Waters.

The women category will attract defending champions, Rwanda Revenue Authority, APR, St Alloys Rwamagana and Ruhango from Rwanda; Kenya Commercial Bank and Nairobi Waters; while Ugandan trio Vision, Sport S and Ndejje University will also feature.

The matches will be played at Amahoro Indoor Stadium, Maison Des Jeunes Kimisagara, NPC Gymnasium, Maison Des Jeunes Kimisagara, Premature, University of Rwanda’s College of Education and College of Business and Economics, Ecole Belge, and Club Rafiki Nyamirambo. Semi finals as well as final matches are due on Sunday.

The two-day tournament is sponsored by the Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG), the Ministry of Sports, and Rwanda National Olympic Committee.

The event is held annually in remembrance of over 50 members of the volleyball fraternity who include players, coaches, and administrators as well as other Rwandans who were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Rayon Sports won last year’s edition in the men’s category while Rwanda Revenue Authority are the defending champions in the women’s fray.

Since 1995, the Rwanda Volleyball Federation (FRVB) has organised an annual Genocide memorial tournament.

The tourney was initiated by former Rwanda Volleyball national team player Antoine Sebalinda after his brother Dominique Sebalinda was killed in the Genocide alongside other national team players.

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