World championship left us a better side, says U-21 skipper

After Rwanda finished in the 20th position at the 2013 Men’s U-21 World Junior Volleyball Championships in Turkey, the national team captain Aimable Mutuyimana says players have gained valuable experience in the 10 days of the competition.Debutants Rwanda secured just one win in the championship, a 3-2 victory over Venezuela.However, Mutuyimana, who was the team’s star performer, says he is happy with the overall performance.He says that the World championship is the biggest experience for the youngsters.“We learned a lot in the last 10 days we were there. Playing against big teams in our group was very difficult at the beginning of the championship.However, we learned a lot from their system and mentality. This championship definitely improved our mentality. That was our aim and I think we accomplished it,” he said.He added, “Everybody has dreams of playing at such a level but success comes step at a time. Our first objective was to get some experience. After the Venezuela match on August 30, we celebrated our first win ever at a World championship.”“We were happy to win that match. The game was not difficult at the beginning but it increasingly got harder. But we fought until the last second. Overall it was a great experience for me and my teammates,” said the APR volleyball club centre.He added, “When we qualified for FIVB U-21 Men’s World Championship, every Rwandan was happy. It was a big step, especially after playing against Morocco and winning bronze with 3-0 at the African Championship to qualify for the World championship.”“During this championship we had some difficulties both mentally and physically. We mistakes but kept learning and improving,” he told Fivb.org.“We learned a lot from the tournament. We learned that we should fight until the end no matter who we play against. Our mentality has changed a lot.”The 20-year old believes that the experience from Turkey will help the team a lot for future international competitions.“This is a great start for Rwanda’s volleyball. I’m sure our younger brothers will do better jobs than we did on our debut,” the team skipper noted.

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World championship left us a better side, says U-21 skipper