RWANDA senior men’s national volleyball team is aiming to make history at the Men's Volleyball Africa Championship which kicks off on Friday, September 1, in Cairo, Egypt. Volleyball team left the country Tuesday for this year’s Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship scheduled for September 1 and runs through September 15 in Cairo. Rwanda is targeting a place in the second round (semifinals), something that the country has previously managed to do in U19, U21 and All Africa Games. Yet they are also keen to seize the chance to learn and develop, as they come up against African volleyball giants. It's a great opportunity for our team to be playing volleyball of such a great level - we're going to try to break the glass ceiling and fight for better future, Rwanda's captain Wicliff Dusenge told Weekend Sport. The Men's African Nations Volleyball Championship was supposed to take place on October 20-30 in Egypt but the Africa Volleyball Governing body (CAVB) rescheduled it a bit earlier in September. The tournament will also serve as the 2024 Olympic qualifiers. Dusenge admits Rwanda is among underdogs at the competition but he warned big guns that the team is not in Cairo just to compete. The level of the competition will be really high where we are going to face big teams but we are ready to face any team ahead of us, he said. For us, to face the best players in the world will be a great opportunity to learn from this kind of experience,” he added. CAVB has entrusted the Egyptian Volleyball Federation to host and organise the 2023 Men’s African Nations Championship. Rwanda have so many new young players, and they are very talented. We are expecting to challenge to the top places We came here for Rwanda and we came here to compete, to have more experience, to learn and enjoy the game, he noted. Dusenge is part of a 14-man team squad, coached by Brazilian coach Paulo De Tarso, that travelled to Egypt ahead of the tournament. De Tarso’s assistants Lawrence Guma Yakan and Dominique Ntawangundi have been leading the training sessions at Kimisagara Gymnasium since the team entered a residential camp in July. The Brazilian was at the time in Cameroon coaching the women’s team in the same competition. The players who travelled to Cairo form a well-balanced squad, where each contributes their unique strengths to the team. Half of the squad are experienced players experienced while another half are newcomers who will be making their international debut. De Tarso just left for Egypt before the team last week to look for the buildup matches for his men to prepare for the tournament. The team has shown great promise in the past, most notably with memorable performances in the during the most recent edition. Rwanda finished sixth during the 2021 edition of the continental volleyball showpiece in Kigali and De Tarso will be looking to build a strong team ready to improve their performance and challenge for the top places or even the championship during the 2023 edition. The country, now ranked 84th globally with 25 points, is also eager to improve their performance and move forward in the world rankings led by Poland with 407 points.
