RWANDA will host the first ever Zone V volleyball club championships from February 19-24, according to the zone volleyball president Gustave Nkurunziza. The event, to be staged at Amahoro Indoor Stadium in Remera, is expected to attract 16 teams from around the region. The country is also due to host the Zone V general assembly in Kigali on February 23. Nkurunziza said the event will be played every year attracting top four teams in each country. “Every country will send top four teams of the national league to compete in Zone V, for this edition we have teams in the men category only but in the next edition will have to add the women category as well,” said Nkurunziza. Zone V is comprised of 12 countries, including Burundi, Djibouti Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. “We hope to see strong performances from our clubs,” said the former Rwanda Volleyball Federation president. “We need to increase the level of competition in Zone V as we want our players to earn more experience before they go professional. It will also be good to play many games before the competition at the Africa Club Championships,” the former Petit Seminaire Virgos Fedelis player noted. Rwanda is expected to be represented by Gisagara Volleyball Club, Rwanda Group Energy, and University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB). IPRC-Ngoma, IPRC-East and APR are vying the country’s fourth slot. Meanwhile, Rwanda Revenue Authority Volleyball Club, APR, University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB) and St Aloys have all progressed to the semifinals of this year’s National Heroes Day tournament. In Group A, RRA beat IPRC-Huye, St Aloys and Ruhango to finish top, while St Aloys beat Ruhango and IPRC-Huye. In Group B, UTB defeated KVC, IPRC-Kigali, APR and St Joseph to finish as group winners with APR finishing second having beaten St Joseph, KVC and IPRC-Kigali. In the semifinal stage, RRA will play against APR, while St Aloys will take on UTB on Sunday January 27 at Amahoro Stadium. Last year, Giragara (men) and Rwanda Revenue Authority (women) emerged winners of the inaugural edition after defeating REG and APR in the finals in straights (3-0) sets, respectively. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
