THE first phase of this year’s national Sitball and Sitting volleyball championship is scheduled to start this weekend in Kigali with 12 teams taking part in both the men and women categories.

Teams are grouped in two divisions for sitball/men, one division for women and one division for sitting volleyball/men. The system which will be used during this championship is round robin which means that all teams in division or group will play each other.

According to officials at the National Paralympics Committee, a total of 14 teams will take part in the championship. They include; Gatagara (Huye), Nyanza, Kivu, UNR, THT, Rwamagana, Rutsiro, Rusizi, Musanze, Gicumbi, Ubumwe, Kigali stars, Bugesera and Gicumbi.

The first phase will take place in Kigali, the second in Bugesera, while the third and fourth will take place in Musanze and Rusizi respectively.

The president of the National Paralympics Committee Dominique Bizimana told Times Sport that despite lack of sponsorship from the sports ministry, the championship will go ahead as scheduled.

"We have been lobbying for sponsorship from the Ministry of Sports but it looks like we will not get anything,” Bizimana told this paper. NPC needs frw 10m to successfully run the championship.

Intwari won last year’s sitball championship, while Kigali stars took the women’s crown.

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