Kenya’s volleyball queens, champions of Africa, should be heartily celebrated
What you need to know:
- Women’s volleyball, in tandem with long distance athletics, is one of the few fields where Kenya seems effortlessly superior.
- The women’s team, with some improvements, should be able to perform better at world championships.
A friend from abroad who has played volleyball semi-professionally persuaded me to attend the African women’s volleyball championships at Kasarani last Saturday.
What a spectacle. I am more used to going to Harambee Stars’ matches and the contrast between watching Kenya play football and our volleyball champions is startling.
Their superiority on the day against a very technically gifted Algerian team was quite something.
Algeria, realising that they could not cope with the strength and organisation of the Kenyans, came up with a defensive strategy based on trying to keep the ball alive and forcing Kenyans into making mistakes.
But the flying attacker Evelyn Makuto was just too much. Time after time, she soared above everyone else on the court, sending thunderous spikes to various edges of the court.
All the players seemed to be enjoying themselves and their talents were thoroughly complementary. It was little wonder that, at the end of the tournament, Kenya won virtually all the individual awards with Makuto named most valuable player, Janet Wanja best setter, Ruth Jepng’etich best blocker, and Elizabeth Wanyama best libero.
And then there was the crowd. It has always seemed to me that Kenyan football teams never enjoy home advantage because the supporters are always so angry.
Toa huyo! (Coach, get that player off!) Pass! Shoot! Aaaaah! Bure kabisa (very useless). The pressure fans apply to their players reflects, it seems, the frustration in the fans’ lives, making playing at home an ordeal for the Harambee Stars.
The contrast could not be greater in volleyball. The packed crowd was permanently supportive even when the Algerians threatened to break away. Although Kenya won 3-0, some of the sets were very hard fought and rather than getting subdued the fans grew even louder when Kenya seemed to be struggling.
EFFORTLESSLY SUPERIOR
At a time when we seem to see only gloom and doom in the papers, we should celebrate heroes such as the Malkia Queens.
Women’s volleyball, in tandem with long distance athletics, is one of the few fields where Kenya seems effortlessly superior.
Coach David Lung’aho and his assistants Japheth Munala and Esther Jepkosgei deserve rich praise for their expert stewardship of a team whose record is staggering.
Kenya has won five out of the last six African championships and of the 17 tournaments held since the Africa Volleyball Championship started in 1976 the women’s national team has claimed nine with Egypt and Tunisia winning three apiece and Algeria and Seychelles taking one each.
The federation, too, deserves commendation. Unlike athletics, rugby, cycling, cricket and most notoriously football, the volleyball federation is rarely ever in the news for wrangles, which is a credit to federation chief Waithaka Kioni and his team.
More can be done. The men’s volleyball team has succumbed to dominance by the North Africans and needs to raise its game.
Also, the women’s team, with some improvements, should be able to perform better at world championships where they usually come up short against teams made up of full professionals.
The fact that more players such as Bracksides Agala, Mercy Moim, Jane Wacu and now Esther Wangeci and Makuto – the latter two who were poached by a French club after their exploits in the just-ended tournament – are joining European clubs to play professional volleyball should help raise standards.
Still, other federations have much to learn from the volleyball setup. The high school competition system, for example, has been used as a dedicated pipeline for talent with a seamless progression to the senior side and the club scene for the best players.
Asked last week how Kenya would cope with its qualification to so many tournaments including the World Grand Prix, All Africa Games and World Cup, coach Lung’aho said he was relaxed because the country has a “very good under-23” side which can take part in some of those events. Very few other coaches in any team sport in Kenya can say that.
The likes of Lung’aho and his team, javelin thrower Julius Yego and others are the type of shujaas (heroes) who should receive recognition during the next public holiday.
