Malkia Strikers opt for Mombasa camp after Brazil miss

National women’s volleyball team Malkia Strikers will now be forced to train in Mombasa after their Brazil trip failed to materialise owing to the Covid-19 situation in the South American nation.

The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) secretary general Francis Mutuku Wednesday said the Tokyo Olympics-bound squad will instead camp in Mombasa for three days, starting Thursday, since the low altitude climate in the coastal city mirrors that of Brazil and Tokyo.

“The choice to go and train in Mombasa offers the team an ideal environment that mirrors the expected one in Tokyo during the Olympics and also similar to what was expected in Brazil.

“While in Mombasa, the Malkia Strikers will be joined by the various technical officials recently unveiled by Olympics Kenya to offer the Team Kenya an-all rounded support ranging from nutrition, strength and conditioning, psychological, among others as a complement to what their coaches and Managers are offering,” read part of Mutuku’s statement.

“Similarly, a range of other trainings have been lined up at the low altitude camp. These will include but not limited to general soft and life skills such as Media, the latest version, V2 Playbook that has just been issued by Tokyo Games organizers.”

Malkia Strikers were due to hold a high-performance training camp in Sao Paulo, for a period of six weeks, but the government cancelled the trip citing the alarming Covid-19 situation in Brazil.

The team have been in a bio-secure bubble camp at the Kenyatta University since late March in preparation for the Summer Olympics that starts on July 23.

The nine-time African champions are in pool ‘A’ alongside Japan, Brazil, Korea, Serbia and Dominican Republic and will open their campaign against the hosts on July 26.