Beach volleyball women take aim at Rio 2016

The Namibian national women’s beach volleyball team is working hard towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held Brazil in September. The team’s coach, James Verrinder, who doubles as the director of Namibia Beach Volleyball, told Nampa this week that the four players train six times a week in the afternoons only, because most of them are employed full-time. The team consists of Kim Seebach, Julia Laggner, Rosi Hennes and Stephanie Palmhert. They competed in the annual Castle Light International Championship last December in Swakopmund when they won against Uganda. They also won against Rwanda in the first round and against Angola in the second round of the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Continental Cup in Cairo, Egypt, last November. That meant that Namibia qualified for the third round of the CAVB Continental Cup Olympic qualifiers after finishing third out of four countries participating in Group C, with Egypt finishing in top position and Rwanda as runners-up. The top three countries from each of the four groups (12 teams) qualify for the next round, which is already the semi-final. Only one team in each gender from Africa will qualify for the Olympic Games set to take place from September 7 to 18 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The date and venue for the next round of qualifying competitions will be announced later. Verrinder is optimistic that the sport is growing in Namibia. There are three beach volleyball clubs in Swakopmund and one in Windhoek, and there are plans to establish clubs in Oshakati and Rundu. Beach Volleyball is affiliated to the Namibia Volleyball Federation, and Verrinder appreciates the recent agreement between Volleyball England and the Namibia Volleyball Federation, saying it was a great initiative for volleyball development in the country. The agreement was signed by the two federations in Windhoek on January 22, and will see the two organisations sharing expertise and equipment in the next 10 to 15 years. Namibia’s men’s beach volleyball team did not proceed past the first round of the qualifying competitions. NAMPA