Depleted roll ball team seeking glory in Bangladesh

Head Coach Jacob Nyaudoh will lead the national roll ball team to Dhaka, Bangladesh on a quest to defend the World Cup title they won two years ago.

The fourth championship, organized under the auspices of International Roll Ball Federation (IRBF) will be held on February 15-21 with Nyaudoh hopeful they can overcome facilitation challenges to triumph.

The team is yet to be provided with an indoor training arena and have been forced to pitch camp at the Kasarani Stadium Gate 4 as their makeshift plan which differs from the standardized pitches.

“So far we have been training well although we haven’t been able to access an indoor arena. It’s one of the critical challenges we are having.

“The issue of the pitch isn’t the only problem .The players do not have any playing kits and have not received their allowances. It has not been easy but we are praying to God that they remain motivated because we have an important task ahead of us,” Nyaudoh told Citizen Digital.

However, Nyaundo has expressed his optimism that they will excel in Bangladesh.

He however remains optimistic and has stated the focus of their training sessions has been addressing the weaknesses that showed in the team during the African championships in Uganda.

“In Uganda our main weakness was shooting .This has prompted us to do a lot of shooting exercises and now every player can shoot well,” he said.

Meanwhile, the coach has done several changes to the women squad that represented the country during the African Championships in Uganda.

He has defended his decision to travel with only four players from the group that played in the last world cup saying that the decision was reached so as to give an equal chance to players who have been in and out of the team.

“We have called up several players like Joan Waithera who played in the second world cup but missed out in the third world cup. They are players who have a lot experience as they have played the game since 2013.It’s an opportunity for them to show as what they can offer,” he added.

According to the tactician, the lack of passports has cost some players their places in the squad.

“The roll ball federation presented our budget four months ago to the ministry of sports. They must be aware of our trip and I believe that they are already working on it,” Nyaudoh stated.

Kenya women team won the third edition of the Roll Ball World Cup in 2015 after upsetting India 2-1 in the final played at Balewadi sports stadium in Pune that had brought together a total of 33 teams from across the world with this year’s edition set to comprise of 45 teams [men and women] which will battle it together for the top honors.

The Kenyans, both men and women, are the reigning African champions.

Roll ball is played on skates and involves a total of 12 players with only six allowed to set foot on the pitch at a time.

The players usually have an option to hold the ball in a single hand or both hands and are expected to dribble the ball while carrying it.

The World Cup in Bangladesh will be only its fourth edition.

-Report by Mwangi Githinji.