CS Amina, Kenyan volleyball is the real deal!
KCB players carry coach Japheth Munala shoulder high after they won their semi-final match against Kenya Pipeline during the African Club Championships in Kelibia, Tunisia on May 30, 2022.
What you need to know:
- It’s not lost on anyone that the Ministry of Sports splashed Sh244 million on Harambee Stars for their preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Chema chajiuza, kibaya chajitembeza is one of my favourite Swahili proverbs.
Indeed, anyone who is good will always get the recognition they truly deserve with time. And on Tuesday night, it was yet another crowning moment for Kenya as African volleyball queens.
To put into perspective, Kenya’s status as a volleyball powerhouse was under serious threat with the national women’s team having lost to Cameroon in the Africa Nations Championship final last year, a third consecutive trophy for the West Africans.
The chance of redemption presented itself in two finals (third and first place) on the last day of action at the Africa Clubs Championships that ended on Tuesday in Kelibia, Tunisia.
Kenya Pipeline were the first to take to the courts, defying all odds to edge out last year’s winners CF Carthage of Tunisia 3-2 and earn the bronze medal. But it was KCB who grabbed the headlines in emphatic fashion, holding their nerve to beat record champions Al Ahly of Egypt 3-1 and reclaim the trophy they last won in 2006.
That victory effectively ended Kenya’s nine-year wait for the Africa Clubs Championships title with Prisons being the last winners back in 2013.
The top five rankings had three Kenyan teams with Prisons finishing fifth after losing to KCB in the quarter-finals. Kenya’s status as African queens was restored on Tuesday night but as these clubs prepare to release their players for national team duty, it’s not lost on anyone that volleyball as a sport has made a genuine case to attract more investment from government.
The national team will soon be heading for a two months training camp in Sao Paulo, Brazil courtesy of International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) ahead of the World Championships set for September 23 to October 15 in Netherlands and Poland.
The national women beach volleyball team will also feature in the World Championships from June 10 to 19 in Rome, Italy before proceeding for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
It’s not lost on anyone that the Ministry of Sports splashed Sh244 million on Harambee Stars for their preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
It’s worrying that Malkia Strikers, nine-time champions of Africa, don’t get the respect they deserve despite years of consistency. Honestly, Kenya has nothing left to prove in Africa as far as women’s volleyball is concerned.
And FIVB have taken note and are keenly interested in helping Kenya conquer the world through the Volleyball Empowerment Programme.
Sadly, the Ministry of Sports continues to spend peanuts on Malkia Strikers despite their string of historic performances. If only this team can get Sh244 million for preparations just like Harambee Stars, then we can begin dreaming of Kenya being a global force in volleyball.
The Sports Fund is heavily loaded but who is taking note of how the funds are being used if perennial winners like Malkia Strikers get peanuts from it? If the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed needed a reminder of how good the girls are, it was delivered on Tuesday night by KCB and Pipeline.
That was the much needed wake-up call. It's high time the Ministry of Sports properly invests in teams that can deliver and put Kenya on the global map.
