NAIROBI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Fistball, with origins in Europe, was launched on Sunday in Nairobi amid huge challenges like equipment acquisition.
Fistball, which is similar to volleyball in which players try to hit a ball over the net but differs in other aspects, will first be introduced in Kenya's primary schools before it is spread out.
"Being a new sport in Kenya, there are several challenge of lack of equipment, but we will for the time being use volleyball facilities like nets and balls.It is our intention to ground the sports at institutions of lower learning so that the school children can grow with it before we roll it out elsewhere," Morgan Kirimi, the President of the Kenya Fistball Federation told Xinhua.
The game is a team sport played by five players each in which two teams competes against each other on two half-fields, similar to volleyball.
The players try to play the ball across the net from one half of the field of play to the opponents half using only their arm or closed fist unlike in volleyball where open hands are allowed.
After clearing the net, the ball may be contacted up to three times by the five players on each team with a bounce being permissible before each contact unlike in volleyball where no bounce is allowed. A set ends when one team has scored 11 points.
Kirimi said he was introduced to the sport in 2013 but was still undertaking the required procedures of registering the federation as required before the game could be introduced to the public.
"We had to come up with a constitution, office bearers among other issues before applying to the authorities for formal registration. We have a certificate from the Registrar of Sports hence our determination to roll out the game" Kirimi noted.
South Africa and Namibia were the first countries to pioneer the game in Africa and Kenya now joins 11 other nations where the game is played.
"We became affiliated to the sport's global organization before the continental one because there was still no quorum to establish an African association, but we are now set to launch one," Kirimi remarked.
Teachers from primary schools around Nairobi gathered for an induction course to introduce the game to their respective schools.
"We anticipate to speedily train pupils how to play the game so that that can start competing against each other and help the game to spread," Fredrick Kago, a local primary schools sports official said.
"We are in the process of making a presentation to and detailed description on the safety of the game to education authorities for the game to be recognized as an extra-curricular activity in learning institution," he noted.
