National volleyball team principle coach, Gerard Jouault has talked of how he wants to build a “quality” team for the Beijing Olympics qualifier set for February 1-10 in Pretoria, South Africa. “We know that we’re going to play against professionals teams in Pretoria, therefore, we need to build a quality team that can be able to compete with the best. “The first step towards achieving our goal would be to build a solid, dynamic and stable team of high quality players,” Jouault said before taking the team through his first training session since returning from holiday on Saturday. Jouault takes charge of the 18-man strong squad hoping that he could win the Pretoria qualifier to book a ticket to this year’s Olympic Games scheduled for August 8-24 in the Chinese city of Beijing.The Frenchman also noted that even in the wake of Rwanda failing to qualify for the Olympics, he wants to see his players put up a good show, which could catch the eye of scouts looking for players to take for professional ranks. “I want to seem them (players) turn in a good show against the biggest teams on the continent, something that can lead to starting a professional career,” he stated. He pointed out North African countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria as the teams to watch out in Pretoria. However, Jouault noted that lack of proper training facilities could be his team’s major hindrance as far as preparing for the tournament is concerned. Rwanda was given an open chance to seek its ticket to Beijing vie the Pretoria qualifier as it did not compete in the Algeria All African Games last July. In Beijing, Rwanda is expected to be represented in athletics, cycling, swimming, boxing and Paralympics. However, cycling and swimming must wait to wildcard approval while boxing must book their ticket through two qualifying rounds but they will miss the first round, which starts today, January 22-30 in Algiers, Algeria and now the focus will not turn to the second round in Namibia at the end of March.Ends
