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Paradox of overachieving handball clubs and struggling national teams
Nairobi Water players and officials celebrate with the trophy after winning the women's East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship title at Nyayo National Stadium on December 9, 2023.
What you need to know:
- National Cereals and Produce Board (men) and Nairobi Water (women) recently retained their East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship (ECAHCC) titles at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi
- The CAHB men's Championship will serve as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifier, as well as the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship
- Kenya will also compete at the IHF Africa Zone Five and they will be keen to go better than their compatriots who finished third during the U-18 youth IHF trophy Championship and fifth in the U-20 in Nairobi in 2022
What a contrast it has been for Kenyan handball.
While top clubs performed well in the annual East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship, the men’s and women’s national teams have been a pale shadow on the continental front.
National Cereals and Produce Board (men) and Nairobi Water (women) recently retained their East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship (ECAHCC) titles at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi,
Cereals overpowered Gicumbi of Rwanda 34-32 in the final, while Nairobi Water reigned supreme against compatriots Cereals 27-24 in the women's category that was played in a round robin format.
The two teams also won the regional titles last year in Zanzibar.
The ECAHCC featured Jeshi La Kujenga Taifa, Police Rwanda, Uganda Prisons, Juba City and Uganda People Defence Forces (UPDF) amongst others.
National Cereals and Produce Board players and officials celebrate with the trophy after winning the men's East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship title at Nyayo National Stadium on December 9, 2023.
With a busy 2024 calendar, that involves men's Confederation of African Handball (CAHB) Championship set for January 17-27, in Egypt, African Games on March 8-23 in three cities of Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast, Under-19 and Under-17 men and boy's International Handball Federation Africa Trophy Zone Five in Djibouti in May as well as women's Cup of Nations to be hosted in Democratic Republic of Congo in December, the country will have a lot on its hands.
Kenya will also compete at the inaugural World Commonwealth Beach Handball in India in late May before action switches to Rwanda for the East and Central Africa Handball Clubs Championship in December.
Kenya missed the last edition of the CAHB men's Championship that was held in Cairo in 2022 and have the chance to ruffle feathers in next year's edition as they seek to book one of the five slots for the Worlds to be jointly co-hosted in Denmark ,Croatia and Norway on January 9-27, 2025.
The ECAHCC competition that had attracted four local men’s clubs namely Cereals, General Service Unit (GSU), Equity Bank and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will, without a doubt, showcased the calibre of the players the country has and the selectors and technical bench will have a headache drafting a provisional squad.
The CAHB men's Championship will serve as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifier, as well as the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship.
In the African Games, Kenya men and women booked a place in the Ghana showpiece from Zone Five by virtue of continental rankings.
Kenya women's team will be hoping to better their performance after they finished last in the 2019 edition, featuring 10 nations, that was held in Morocco.
There are likely to be minimum changes in the women's squad that last did duties for the country in Morocco with notable exclusion being reliable Nairobi Water left back Brenda Ariviza who is away on maternity leave.
The selection may also see the return of KDF pivot player Eupharasia Mukasia who missed Morocco Games due to shoulder injury.
Mukasia was feted the best pivot player during the ECAHCC.
But it is also worrying that some players do well for their clubs in the National League and fail to excel at the international level.
A player who sought anonymity, and has been a regular in the national team said:
"I really don't know what happens to some new players after they earn a national call up. These players perform well at the club level but once they are drafted in the national team, they just don't show up during the competition."
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) players celebrate after defeating Nationals Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) 37-35 in the final match of Kenya Handball Federation men’s Super Cup at Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi on June 01, 2023.
Kenya will also compete at the IHF Africa Zone Five and they will be keen to go better than their compatriots who finished third during the U-18 youth IHF trophy Championship and fifth in the U-20 in Nairobi in 2022.
Kenya beat Ethiopia 36-34 to bag bronze medal.
Kenya women's team have enough experience and exposure to improve on their previous dismal performance in the African Handball championship which will act as the 2025 World Women's Handball Championship with the top four nations qualifying.
The East Africans will make a return to the event after they missed the last edition that was held in Senegal last year.
Kenya finished 10th ahead of Madagascar in an event that attracted 11 countries with Angola claiming the title in 2021.
In the local league that is scheduled to resume in February, the top four men's teams are unbeaten, while the women's league is slowly taking shape.
Defending champions and leaders Cereals, KDF, Equity Bank all have 18 points from nine matches in a 25- league team while GSU have 16 points from eight matches.
In the women's category, record champions and leaders Nairobi Water lead the standing unbeaten with 18 points from nine matches, while rivals Cereals, KDF and Rangers have 18, 14 and 12 points, from 10, eight and eight matches each played in that order respectively.
The top six men and four women's teams will qualify for KHF Super Cup event scheduled for April.
