In a bid to prepare for the African Nations Champions to be held in Kigali in early September, Brazilian Paulo De Tarso Milagres has been appointed as the Head Coach of the National Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Team, tasked to perform well in the upcoming African Nations Championships.

Paulo De Tarso Milagres has been re-appointed by the Rwanda Volleyball Federation. The Brazilian tactician returns for his second stint where he led Rwanda between 2010 and 2011 before being replaced by Kenyan Paul Bitok.

In the men’s team, Paulo De Tarso Milagres will be assisted by the experienced Fidèle Nyirimana as the 1st assistant coach and Dominique Ntawangundi as the 2nd assistant coach while in the women’s team, he will be assisted by Jean Luc Ndayikengurukiye and Christophe Mudahinyuka as the first and second assistant coaches respectively. Gertrude Kubwimana will serve as the team administrator for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Both Rwandan teams will participate in The African Volleyball Championships which will serve also as qualifiers for the 2022 FIVB World Championships.

The African Nations Championship for women will run between September, 5th to 15th while the men’s championship is slated between September, 10th to 20th 2021. Both national teams are expected to be called up today, August 4th.

Milagres, 44, has 19 years of experience. He led Rwanda Men’s National Team and Men’s U-21 between 2010 and 2011. From 2015-2018, he was the head coach of EC Pinheiros in Brazil, 2018/2019 he was appointed assistant coach of this team before heading to Poland in the Azoty Roleski Group PWSZ Tarnów which is also where he comes from. He will be taking over from Elie Mutabazi.

The Volleyball governing body of Africa, CAVB has named Rwanda as the host of the continent’s most prestigious volleyball competition, The Men and Women Africa Nations Volleyball Championships.

The announcement was made in a letter addressed to all national volleyball federations under CAVB on Monday, 2nd August 2021, and signed by the president of the continent’s governing body.

In recent months, it has been observed that Rwanda is hosting various continental and international sports events, and being a couple of nations that sent in bids to host, chances were high for the event to end up in the country of 1000 hills.

The documented French read in part that interested national federations have been given until the 6th of August to hand in their registrations. Thereafter, CAVB will be allowed 3 days to assess these registrations and ask the federations to confirm their participation on the 9th of August.

The deadline for submission of all appropriate documentation has been set to 22nd August henceforth the tournament calendar will be announced. FRVB as the host federation has also posted on their official tweeter handle stating that an official release will be coming soon.

Neighbours to the north of Rwanda, Uganda already made a public announcement affirming their interest for the men’s national to participate in this reputable contest.

For a huge contest like CAVB Africa Nations Volleyball Championships, one would wonder where a small country like Rwanda would host the event, but for those who have been attending sports events, the magnificent Kigali Arena comes as a no surprise on the list of venues or even the only venue.

The stadium not only hosts basketball games but also volleyball as we have seen the recently concluded Genocide Memorial Tournament hosted there. There is no doubt the new FRVB board is working around the clock to see that the already capable Kigali Arena is ready come time for the competition.

Amidst all the current world scares of COVID-19, Rwanda is one of many nations that has exhibited proper implementation of Standard Operating Procedures to combat the pandemic and for that matter is a worthy candidate for this obligation.