This archive report was first published on 8 January 2020.
Published on January 8, 2020, Kenya will make its debut in the fifth catchball games in Las Vegas, USA from February 28 to March 1.
Catchball, a new sport in Kenya, is a variation of volleyball played by two teams on a court divided by a net. The objective is to pass the ball over the net to ground it on the opponent's side, while preventing the same effort by the opponent.
Kenya's women's catchball national team coach, Shadrack Okello, expressed optimism about the team's chances in Las Vegas, citing the sport's simplicity and the team's hard work.
"Catchball is a game derived from volleyball and it is very enjoyable due to its simplicity. It is played indoors with six players on each side. The big difference between volleyball and catchball is that in the latter the ball is thrown and not spiked," Okello explained.
Okello introduced the game in Kenya in 2018 and has been training the national team at the KICC ground. The team has 28 players, but the squad will be trimmed ahead of the tournament.
Team captain Gemmine Akinyi highlighted the team's biggest challenge: lack of training equipment and an indoor facility to hold their sessions.
"We train at this open ground in Babadogo and the weather hasn’t been favourable and therefore we have been forced to miss many sessions which is not good bearing in mind we are going for an international tournament for the first time. We also lack equipment such as proper balls and shoes," she said.
Kenya has been placed in Group C, which includes other beginners in the sport. They will battle against Capital Catchball from Washington DC, Dream Catchers from Seattle, LA Angels, Net Angels from Atlanta, and Vegas Royals.
