The national U20 women volleyball team has started residential camp for intensive preparations ahead of the upcoming CAVB Africa U20 Nations Championship.

The continental tourney runs from August 24 to September 3 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The team, which reported to camp over the weekend at St Francois d’Assise in Kicukiro, carried out its first training session on Sunday evening at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

The 23-player provisional squad is training under the watchful eyes of Christophe Mudahinyuka, the head coach, assisted by APR coach Alex Nkuranga.

"We have less than two weeks to prepare for the African Championships, it’s not the duration of training we had wished for but it is reasonable time to train and be ready. The players are responding well to the rigorous drills, we will be in Kenya to challenge for the title,” Mudahinyuka told Times Sport in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

He further noted that, "The team has been inactive on continental the scene for years now, and most of the players are going to be playing their first international competition. Everyone is motivated to do well in training so they can make it to the final squad – I like the spirit.”

Meanwhile, the national U21 men’s team has also started preparations ahead of the 2018 African Junior Championships, scheduled for September 12-19 in Nigeria.

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