African championships: Volleyball Lions in Istanbul to finalise preparations.

The team’s departure via the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport was coordinated by the President of the Cameroon Volleyball Federation, FECAVOLLEY, Bello Bourdanne.

The playing and technical bodies were led by head coach, Jean-Patrice Ndaki Mboulet and his assistant, Sogue Fabrice Stephan.

According to the schedule of the volleyball federation, the selection is expected to camp in the European country for close to three weeks.

The team is expected to fly out to Kinshasa in the first weeks of September where the 2026 African Volleyball Championships will be organized. The tournament will run from September 7 to September 21 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

Before leaving Yaounde for Europe, the team had trained at the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Yaounde for one week.

The camp was attended by some 18 players selected from both Cameroon and abroad. 

In a statement posted on its official social media handles last week, FECAVOLLEY said the players demonstrated full commitment during the weeklong series.

The federation said the players who are led by veteran middle blocker Arthur Voukeng, all satisfied the coaching body on the progress that they made during the camping which particularly focused on competition-type tactical orientations and refining team cohesion. 

“Under the leadership of coach Jean-Patrice Ndaki Mboulet, the players displayed great composure and unwavering determination to deliver a strong performance at this major continental event,” FECAVOLLEY wrote on the post on the first week of camping and the departure for Istanbul.

The Volleyball Lionesses are looking to head to Kinshasa in top form as the selection aims to claim its first winners’ trophy in the African Volleyball Championship in over 20 years.

The team finished fourth in the 2023 tournament despite making it to the finals of the two previous editions of competition in 2019 and 2021 where they were humbled by Tunisia.

The selection will also aim to use the Kinshasa tournament to bag qualification tickets to the FIVB World Volleyball Championship, the sport’s biggest men’s international competition. 

The two finalists of the tournament will qualify for the 2027 edition of the planetary showpiece. 

In a post on his official Instagram handle on Sunday after the team left Yaounde, team captain, Arthur Voukeng hinted that the players are keen on hitting the two targets of securing both the winner’s trophy in Kinshasa and bagging the ticket to the World Cup competition. 

“We never get enough of the suffering that comes with the things we truly love doing. Every session is a reminder that nothing meaningful comes without sacrifice. One step at a time. One battle at a time,” the middle blocker who was part of the Volleyball Lions generation of players that played the two finals in 2019 and 2021 and featured in the 2022 World Cup, said. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3883 of Wednesday August 19, 2026