Kenya To Send Team To Beach Handball World Championships

MOMBASA, Kenya, Mar 29 – Kenya is focused on sending a team to the Beach Handball African and World Championships, with the sport now gaining momentum in the country.

The World Championships are scheduled for June 21-26 in Crete, Greece, while the African Championships will be held in Togo from the 8-12 of next month.

Titus Kasekwa, the coach and Technical Director of the Kenya Beach Handball Federation says the sport has been on a steady growth in the country and says participating in the two upcoming championships will be a massive step in ensuring the scale a metre higher.

Speaking over the weekend during the National League play-offs staged at the Nyali Beach in Mombasa, Kasekwa says the Federation has put measures in place to ensure a strong national team is selected for the immediate event in Togo.

“It is our dream to compete in the world championship now that the International Handball Federation has released the dates. We would also like to thank NOC-K for supporting the development of handball in the country, through the ongoing Development of National Sports System project,” Kasekwa said.

A total of 20 teams participated in the play-offs in Mombasa, where Saints edged out Pwani University to win the men’s title while Coast Queens beat Glorious Queens on penalties to win the women’s crown.

Both divisions have been fiercely competitive since the season began last October, and the playoffs were no different with players putting in their best to stake a claim in the national teams.

“The country is starting to embrace the sport. Seeing the venue packed to capacity is encouraging. We plan to train more coaches because we expect to have more teams participating in the league next season,” further said Kesekwa who also serves in the CAVB beach handball working group.

The Federation looks to develop beach handball in the country and one of the ways to achieve this was through the creation of the just concluded league.

“It’s exciting to see the level of interest people are developing in beach handball, it would be great to see more countries in Africa taking part in the sport,” mentioned Kasekwa.

This article originally came from Capital Sport