Mitali challenges V-ball teams to do country proud

The Minister of Sports and Culture, Protais Mitali has challenged the volleyball national teams that qualified for the World Championships to be good ambassadors for the county. Four teams including Men U19, U21 and U23 Beach volleyball men and women are due to represent Rwanda at the world stage. The U23 Beach volleyball teams left the country on Monday night ahead of the 2013 World Championships scheduled for June 6 to 9 in Myslowice, Poland. The U19 team is preparing for the World Championships, which will be held in Mexican cities of Tijuana and Mexicali from June 27 to July 7, while the U21 will play in this year’s FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship set for August 22 to September 1 in Ankara and Izmir Turkey. On Monday, Minister Mitali handed the national flag to the four captains; Dynise Mutatsimpundu (women beach v-ball team), Olivier Ntagengwa (men beach v-ball), Isaac Iradukunda for U19 and Aimable Mutuyimana for U21 at the ministry offices at Amahoro stadium. “You are going to represent your country, so you need to give all your best on and off the field. The country is proud of you for what you achieved because it is not easy to have four teams from one federation in world champions,” he told the players. He added, “We thank Volleyball federation for their effort, but we still have long way to go so you need to keep your eyes on the bigger picture. The players have done well to achieve this, and the whole country will be behind them and you have the full support of the President of Republic, so you need to go there and do your country proud.” Beach V-ball teams off to Poland Meanwhile Rwanda (U23) beach volleyball men and women teams left the country yesterday night for the World Championships to be held in Poland from June 6-9. The women team is comprised of Charlotte Nzayisenga (Ruhango) and Denyse Mutatsimpundu (APR), while the men’s team is made up of Olivier Ntagengwa (National University of Rwanda) and Thierry Mugabo (Lycee de Nyanza). The teams are under the guidance of Alexis Mbaraga, while volleyball federation vice president Julius Kansiime Kagarama led the delegation. Skipper Olivier Ntagengwa said that “We’re ready for the world championships. We have been preparing well, but even though we don’t have much experience in such top class competitions, I am optimistic about our chances to do well.” U19 Youth team Coach Jean Marie Nsengiyumva said that the trainings have been going well ahead of the world cup. The team will leave for Turkey on June 10 to play a couple of friendly games before flying to Mexico. The team started intensive training on Monday. The youth team played in the Genocide Memorial Tournament over the weekend where they secured third place. “Everyone saw them play over the weekend when we beat big teams in the tournament, and they did well but we need to improve before going for the world championship,” “We learned many things and we hope it will help us in the tournament. We have seen some mistakes and we have to correct them before going in the tournament,” said Nsengiyumva. Rwanda has been drawn with France, Russia, Iran and Finland at the High Performance Centre in Tijuana. Junior U21 The U21 will start training this month ahead of the world cup which is slated for August 22 to September 1 in Ankara and Izmir Turkey. Rwanda, Africa’s bronze medalists have been drawn in Pool C alongside fellow African side Tunisia, Serbia, USA and Canada whose matches will be played in Ataturk Sports Hall in Izmir.