Rwanda national sitting volleyball teams (men and women) will be hosting their counterparts from Uganda for friendly matches due June 13-14 at the NPC gymnasium at Amahoro Stadium. Four matches over two days, two in men’s and two in the women’s category will be played and Rwanda intend to use the platform as part of the intensified preparations ahead of the forthcoming Africa Sitting Volleyball Championships slated for July 19-29 at Green Hills Academy, Kigali. According to the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) secretary general Eric Karasira, the two-day event is in remembrance of the people who died during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Since February this year, both teams have been in residential camps for intensified training so that they can both qualify for the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At next month’s 10-day African Championships, 16 national teams, eight men’s and eight women’s will be tussling it out for a single ticket available for each of the two categories. At the 2016 Paralympic Games, Africa is offered a slot in each category – men and women. The National men’s sitting volleyball team qualified for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and since 2013, NPC’s major target was sending both men and women’s teams to the Rio Games. Meanwhile, the national women’s team coach, Dutch technician Peter Karemann is conducting a coaching clinic for 12 local sitting volleyball coaches. The seminar started on June 7 and will run through to June 11. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
