National beach volleyball tour set to take place after 3-year delay
Friday, November 01, 2024
Olivier Ntagengwa and Patrick-Akumuntu, some of the country's most successful beach volleyball players in action during a previous competition. File.

The Rwanda Volleyball Federation (FRVB) is finally set to take place after being delayed by several challenges in the past three years.

Initially scheduled to take place in 2021, the tour faced setbacks that resulted from sanctions slapped on the federation during the 2021 Women's Volleyball African Nations Championship.

The first tour is scheduled to take place from November 1-3, the second one from January 3-5 and the third one from June 16-18.

In an exclusive interview, Jean Claude Byiringiro, the Executive Secretary of FRVB, said the three tours are recognised by the international volleyball federation.

He noted that five teams have already registered for the competition so far but the target is to have 16 teams, which is a number required by international standards.

Talking about the development of the game, he noted that their goal is to encourage the establishment of more academies, as he pointed out schools like Groupe Officiel de Butare and Saint Aloys of Rwamagana are already engaged with the game and have beach volleyball courts.

The FRVB’s development strategy also encourages local clubs to create academies, with 18 active volleyball clubs currently developing youth talent.

"For instance, police have partnered with Lycée de Kigali as their centre, while REG Volleyball Club has teamed up with APE Rugunga,” he noted.

Byiringiro believes that the upcoming tour will raise local awareness of beach volleyball and continue to position Rwanda among the nations that play the game well on the continent.