2006 Women's World Championship:

Kenya Drops Two Key Players from World Championships Team
Nairobi, Kenya, August 22-: Turkey based left attacker Violet Barasa who is the only professional player in the Kenyan women national team currently preparing for the coming World Championships in Japan and right attacker Asha Makuto have been dropped.
As the national team intensified its preparations for the world event at their camp in Karura, Japanese born veteran volleyball coach Sadatoshi Sugawara who is handling the Kenyan team was forced to drop the two key players after they failed to pass medical fitness test.
While Makuto was in the team which helped Kenya win the recent Malta Guinness sponsored Four Nations Tournament which brought together Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria, Barasa was left out after being found to be unfit for the tournament.
After the Four Nations Tournament, coach Sugawara recalled Barasa to give her another chance of making the team but she failed to match the rest in camp prompting the coach to drop her which means Kenya will be traveling to Japan without a professional player in the team since the current squad is made of schoolgirls and local based players.
“The sort of training the team is undergoing ahead of the World Championships is so vigorous that only those who are medically fit will make the final squad to Japan,” said Sugawara at the team’s training camp.
The Japanese tactician who is being assisted by local coaches David Lung’aho and Paul Bitok said due to time factor he was not going to call any more players to the team as any of the 17 players in camp are capable of switching positions and taking over from Barasa and Makuto who have been regular players in the team and have participated in Olympic Games and World Championships.
Among those who are likely to take Barasa’s position are veteran Telkom Kenya pla