The Volleyball governing body of Kenya KVF has set 20th January 2021 as the new date for the upcoming league campaign to be played indoors.
In a meeting held on Saturday in Nairobi, Representatives from the Kenya Volleyball Federation KVF and team managers agreed on new dates close to the one previously set. The league was earlier set to commence 15th -17th January 2021 but after this congress, The new league campaign will serve-off on 22nd January 2021.
“Going forward, we will be at par with other nations that have their league matches indoor and, in many occasions, have had an upper hand in championships,” said KVF treasurer Kenneth Tonui. Uganda still holds league games at outdoor venues due to the enormous number of teams participating in the tightly scheduled volleyball calendar except for the playoffs.
Following the statement above, Kenneth said the federation is looking at 4 venues, Makande Hall in Mombasa, Africa Nazerene University, Bomas of Kenya, and Moi International Sports Centre Indoor Arena, Kasarani to play the league matches.
“We will have matches spread across the four facilities and if all goes well, the season is scheduled to end in June. We are glad Nairobi Water women’s team is back in the league having been out of action for a while,” said Tonui.
The new league will attract 8 women’s teams including defending champions Kenya Prisons, KCB Women’s Team, Kenya Pipeline, Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), Kenya Army, Nairobi Prisons, and returning Nairobi Water.
In the men’s league, 13 teams are expected to participate including, General Service Unit (GSU), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Kenya Prisons, KDF, Equity Bank, Mombasa Prisons, Administration Police (AP), Vihiga County, Kenya Army, Forest Rangers, Nairobi Prisons, Western Prisons, and Rift Valley Prisons.
The early start of the national volleyball league is a good sign that Kenya is making big steps to the resumption of volleyball activities in the country. The women’s national volleyball team will participate at the TOKYO Olympics and this will be ample time for head coach Paul Bitok to assess his Malkia strikers.
