Tunis here we come
Kenya Lionesses head coach Felix Oloo yesterday retained five debutants in the squad for the upcoming Rugby Africa Solidarity camp in Tunis, Tunisia where three teams led by hosts Tunisia, Madagascar and Kenya will have 10 days of rugby training action as they tune up to the event that will offer the teams a back-to-back tournament for the next two weekends to boost the team’s Olympics preparations.
Lionesses is currently the only team qualified for Olympics among the three, as the rest prepare to feature at the Olympics Repechage-Final qualifier event in Monaco on June 21.
Coach Oloo will enjoy the services of returning Nakuru fly half Grace Adhiambo who missed previous tournaments in Madrid and Dubai owing to personal commitments.
Her return is a boost for the team that already welcomed winger Sinaida Aura who shrugged off early retirement to don the Kenyan colors at the Sevens stadium in Dubai early this month.
The squad made up 14 players will be skippered by Philadelphia Orlando assisted by Sheila Chajira.
Completing the squad is Christabel Lindo, Janet Okello, Stella Wafula, Cynthia Camilla and Celestine Masinde.
After the Emirates invitational event, two debutants and one experienced player were dropped.
The three; Homeboyz winger Linet Moraa, Judith Ouma and Naomi Amuguni, however, Amuguni will be available for the final preparations in Las Vegas in June.
According to Oloo, the 10-day event divided into two tournaments will be a good ground for the Kenya Lionesses to step up the competitiveness and fitness levels.
He says he was amazed by the potential of the team after eight days of staying in a bubble at Kasarani stadium before their departure for Tunisia.
“This has been one of the best training camps we have had this year and I believe there will be improvements on the overall team performance in Tunisia.
There is tremendous improvement in fitness levels as well as their recovery and I am very positive that we will fly the country’s flag high in Tunisia,” Oloo said.
He added: “Having a referee at the camp has also been very beneficial to us because as we were training he was able to advise us on the areas we need to work on to avoid penalties in competitive matches and also the areas where we are executing perfectly.
NOCK also scheduled a mental health session with the team and this has played a big role in building the team’s morale at the camp.”
