Privatisation of Kenyan volleyball clubs will save us embarrassment in future

The African Clubs Championship serves off this week with the crème de la crème in the continent set to battle it out for the prestigious volleyball title.

In the women’s competition, Kenya will be represented by defending champions KCB and six-time winners Kenya Pipeline.

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will be Kenya’s sole representative in the men’s category.

This is after record Kenyan champions General Service Unit (GSU) pulled out citing financial constraints. It’s a pity that some of the best players who play for GSU in the Kenyan league will miss out on this golden opportunity to rub shoulders with top players from African giants such as Esperance, Al Ahly and Zamalek.

In Shadrack Misiko and Dominic Chelule, GSU have arguably some of the best middle blockers in the country who have been knocking at the national team door for some time now.

Playing at the Clubs Championship would provide good exposure for this duo and promising setter Mathias Kemboi which would benefit our men's national team greatly.

Denying these players such an opportunity to market themselves to potential suitors and turn professional should be a thing of the past especially now that the Sports Registrar is registering sports teams as independent entities.

In the past one month, Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) National League clubs have been rushing against time to comply with the Sports Act 2013 as members of KVF and get their registration certificates from Sports Registrar Rose Wasike.

But this effort should not just end at acquiring the certificates. Top tier clubs, including those supported by government institutions, should go out of their way to source for funding from sponsors in the corporate world with the newly acquired private club status.

GSU, given their unrivaled sporting pedigree, should not struggle getting sponsorship if the management of the club packages them well.

It’s high time GSU, like the champions they are on the court, lead the way for other local clubs by embracing professionalism in their day-to-day operations.

Proper communication and social media platforms, solid organisational structures and a robust strategic plan for the next five years are key to transforming our local clubs into fully professional outfits. And GSU don’t need to look far for encouragement than their neighbours at Ruaraka, Trailblazers VC and KCB, Kenya Pipeline as well as their brothers at Kenya Police Football Club.

Despite both clubs being newbies in the leagues they feature in, Trailblazers are a shining example of how a professional club should run with sponsorship the only missing ingredient so far. But you can easily tell it’s only a matter of when and not if they will get a befitting sponsorship.

Kenya Police FC, who like GSU have absorbed their players into the National Police Service by offering them permanent jobs, boast betting firm Betika and 748 Air Services as their sponsors. While funds from Betika take care of operational costs, 748 Air Services flies Police FC to their respective match venues significantly reducing their travel costs.

It's not lost on anyone how KCB and Kenya Pipeline have transformed women's volleyball in Kenya by offering lucrative contracts to their players in recent seasons.

These local examples are sufficient evidence that GSU and other local volleyball clubs stand to reap big by embracing professionalism. Tales of skipping key continental events due to financial constraints will soon be a thing of the past.

I'll end my rant here and wish our three representatives in Tunisia the best of luck in this year’s edition.

KPA have what it takes to better their fifth-place finish in the last two editions while Kenya Pipeline and KCB have their work cut out to ensure the trophy remains home.

May the Championship begin!