Rwanda women&039;s volleyball team captain Valentine Munezero insists her team is ready for the battle ahead of the forthcoming 2023 women’s African Nations Championship that will take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon, from August 16-26.
Munezero is part of the Rwandan team that Brazilian tactician Paulo De Tarso took to Yaoundé on Thursday morning, August 10, ahead of the tournament.
"There is always a chance at redemption, that gives us reason to go out there and give it all we got. With the preparation we’ve gone through, I believe we are stronger. We have built ourselves into a stronger group than we have been in the past few weeks,” she said
"Every player is well aware of what we need to do in the next few days and the position we target to achieve.”
"The good thing is that in our team we have a good spirit. All the players are ready for the tests ahead of us and we all know what we have to do and ready to perform well. It is just for us to perform well,” the APR women left attacker further noted.
So far, according to the CAVB, 17 teams have confirmed their participation in the tournament. They include hosts Cameroon, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, DRC, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Rwanda.
The Brazilian will be looking to build a strong team that can challenge for the top places at the helm African Nations Championship.
Rwanda on Saturday, August 12, played their first buildup match against Morocco as part of their preparation for the tournament.
The match took place at École Nationale Supérieure des Travaux Publics gymnasium, located 2.5 kilometers from the Hotel des Deputes where both teams are staying. The teams finished the match tied on 2-2 sets (23-25, 25-20, 20-25 & 25-20).
The team is expected to play more buildup games before the tournament kicks off.
The last time Rwanda participated in the African Cup of Nations was in 2021 when the country hosted the tournament in Kigali.
Unfortunately, the country was at the time disqualified from the tournament over fielding ineligible players.
All the teams must have arrived in Cameroon by Monday, August 14, then a "Technical Meeting" will be held the following day. It is during the meeting that the draw will take place.