Kenya women’s netball coach Evelyn Cherono is confident the team is progressing well as preparations gather pace for the Africa Netball World Cup qualifiers to be held in Nairobi from September 19-26.
Cherono, who doubles up as Kenya Prisons coach, said the squad training at the Kasarani Annex is in good shape and determined to deliver a strong performance in the historic home championship.
“I have 18 players training and we are all good to go. The team is well and we hope for the best,” explained Cherono.
The coach added that the squad will eventually be trimmed to 15 players, with 12 selected for the match-day team while three will serve as reserves.
She said the technical bench is concentrating on improving the players’ fitness and skills before making the final selections and determining their preferred positions.
“At the moment, we are focusing on skills and fitness so that by next week, we will know who will play which position and who can cover different positions,” said Cherono.
Kenya’s Divas face a tough Pool A assignment featuring South Africa, Malawi, Namibia and Nigeria. They will begin their campaign against Nigeria on September 19 at 7.00pm.
Cherono singled out South Africa as one of the strongest opponents, citing their recent participation in the Commonwealth Games, while admitting that Nigeria remains difficult to assess because Kenya have not faced them recently.
“Of course South Africa because they were from Commonwealth last month and maybe Nigeria, we have never seen them. So we cannot predict and say we are going to beat them,” she said.
She warned that Kenya must raise their performance against South Africa while approaching Nigeria with caution due to the limited knowledge of their opponents.
The Nairobi qualifiers will feature several of Africa’s leading netball nations, with Kenya aiming to earn a historic first appearance at the Netball World Cup.
The top two teams will qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Sydney, Australia, while South Africa and Uganda have already booked their places through their positions in the world rankings.
Kenya’s preparations have largely been conducted outdoors at Kasarani as the indoor facilities are currently occupied by the Africa Women’s Volleyball Nations Championship.
The netball squad is expected to enter residential camp once the volleyball tournament ends, providing the technical bench with an opportunity to step up preparations ahead of the qualifiers.
Cherono is working alongside a technical team that has also been boosted by Zimbabwean coach Tapiwa Chirenda, who joined the Kenyan setup on a short-term contract covering the qualifiers.
The Nairobi tournament will be the first time an East African nation hosts the continental World Cup qualifiers, adding further importance to Kenya’s campaign.
With the championship drawing closer, Cherono believes continued work on fitness, technical skills and positional flexibility will enable the Divas to build a strong team capable of fighting for one of the two available World Cup tickets.
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