Kenya Netball Federation Fixtures Director Ronald Okomo Onyango says the country is fully prepared to host the Netball World Cup African qualifiers, with the organisers expecting 10 women’s and seven men’s teams for the September 19-26 championship in Nairobi.
Onyango, who is also the competition manager for the qualifiers, said preparations had gathered pace with venues assessed, technical officials trained and government support secured ahead of the tournament.
“As a country, we are ready to host. We have notified that 10 countries for the women’s competition are coming and seven countries for the men’s competition,” said Onyango.
The championship will be staged at two venues at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, with the Kasarani Indoor Arena hosting the women’s matches while the Kasarani Annex will be used for the men’s competition.
Onyango said the venues had been assessed and necessary preparations undertaken to ensure they meet the requirements for the continental tournament.
The qualifiers will provide teams with a pathway to the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, with only two countries expected to secure qualification slots from the African competition.
The tournament will be a landmark occasion for Kenya, which is hosting an African netball championship or World Cup qualifier for the first time. It is also significant for East Africa, which has never hosted such a continental event.
Onyango said one of the major challenges encountered during preparations was the need to develop a pool of qualified technical officials capable of handling the demanding duties of an international championship.
To address the gap, Africa Netball Technical Delegate Magriet Bester travelled from South Africa to train Kenyan officials. The three-day course ran from August 29 to 31 at Kasarani, covering technical and bench duties required during matches.
“Being the first time, there are things that we have to put in place. We had never had trained technical officials to man these matches, which was a challenge,” Onyango said.
He, however, described the training as a positive development, saying Kenya now has officials equipped to handle the championship.
The qualifiers will feature Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Tanzania in the women’s competition.
Kenya’s national teams have also been preparing at Kasarani, under coach Peter Oloo (men) and Evelyn Cherono (women), while Zimbabwean coach Tapiwa Chirenda has joined the technical set-up on a short-term basis ahead of the qualifiers.
Onyango expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Creative Economy, the Sports Fund and President William Ruto for supporting Kenya’s hosting bid.
He also urged Kenyans to turn out in large numbers when the championship begins, with Kenya scheduled to face Nigeria in the women’s opening match on September 19 at 7pm.
“We want our fans from all parts of the country to come and fill the stadium. Let us fill the stadium on the 19th when we have our first match against Nigeria,” he said.
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