Volleyball in attack error
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday October 2, 2021 06:00
Back in the day, some players such as Tracy Chaba were shipped for stints abroad in countries like Egypt and Algeria. Tebogo Sejewe and Chada Majaha attracted the eyes of South African clubs. Tshiamo Chakalisa, Thapelo Kamberuka and Gaoleseletse 'Lizzy' Gasekgonwe played in Rwanda. Men and women national teams were dominating in the region and on the continent. In 2010, the women’s team beat South Africa for the first time to qualify for the Zone VI All Africa Games. But just like during a volleyball game, the sport has recorded an attack error in recent years. Veteran coach, Isaac Samuel contends between 2010 and 2015, volleyball was at its peak. “We missed out on a medal when we fumbled against Seychelles during the Zone VI All Africa Games.
The women’s team was ranked number five,” he said. Volleyball had many competitions from the Mascom League, Capital Motors BMW to the JB Sports tournament. Samuel explained that when the year started, the tournaments were on the calendar and that made it easy for clubs to prepare. “The league awards were always exciting with players looking forward to individual awards. It was also a chance for them to dress up,” he added. But that smooth train ride has now derailed and the volleyball community is left with more questions than answers. There is no league or tournaments. “Our administrators must take the fall for this. When they sealed the Mascom sponsorship, they became comfortable and did not look for other partners.
When Mascom pulled the plug, they were shocked,” Samuel said. Seasoned player, Monica Alfred said things have changed. She does not see volleyball reclaiming its status anytime soon. “For the next three years, volleyball will not make a miraculous come back. Volleyball is a special sport because you need time to teach players the basics. It is unlike athletics where you throw a kid onto a track and just work on the finer details,” she said. Alfred said current players have been through different development programmes, which no longer exist. She said the development structure has collapsed. She said the structure was a feeder for clubs and national teams. “School sport has been suspended and even if we are to resume play tomorrow, the majority of us will not pitch up. We have gained weight, aged but there is nobody who could take over. The youngest players right now in volleyball are 24-years-old. Our administrators must come up with a better strategy to rescue the situation,” Alfred said.
She added that when they thought things would work out, COVID-19 hit and that derailed plans. “All we want is to return to play. Physiologically we are not prepared (myself included) because of fear of the COVID-19 infection,” she said. Volleyball star, Chaba said she doubts things would get back to normal. She said even before the outbreak of COVID-19, there was no league. “We spent almost two years without a league and towards the end of 2019, we played a tournament. We were already struggling,” she said. When asked if there was any update on the plans of volleyball moving forward, Chaba said there has not been any communication. She said there was a point when they were informed about a beach volleyball tournament but it did not materialise. For his part, award-winning setter Tjiyapo Madeluka said volleyball used to be exciting but it did not have much cash prize. The situation improved when Mascom came on board with the P100,000 prize money for the winning teams. “Before the Mascom sponsorship, we had tournaments that assisted in preparing the national teams.
The passion for volleyball was high and the leadership was hard working.
The national team even went for a training camp in Cuba for three weeks,” he said. Madeluka said after that camp, for the first time they won a set against a powerhouse, Tunisia at the All Africa Games. He said they even played 3-2 against Cameroon and Nigeria. Fast forward to date, Madeluka complained that the volleyball leadership has overstayed in office. He said the challenge is that the leadership does not have anybody to challenge them. Madeluka said Botswana has drastically dropped in rankings. He said in the past they always brought medals from Zone VI even if they had not prepared properly. “We used to send players abroad because our state of volleyball was high. A club like Kutlwano has marketed its players such as Chakalisa and South African clubs want others. We cannot keep them here thinking that our league will start,” he said. Madeluka said the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) had a congress over the weekend and it emerged that volleyball is far from returning to play. “Our leadership is saying that COVID-19 protocols will be expensive for clubs. Zone VI is scheduled for January, so we thought the federation would assist clubs to start training,” said the disappointed Madeluka. He suggested that the leadership should resign or better, all of them should not contest for elections that are scheduled for October. “Lack of league action has killed clubs. Sponsors have pulled out because they are not getting any mileage from clubs,” he said. As it stands, the volleyball space still has a long, rocky road ahead of them.
They also have an elective congress to prepare for which is expected to turn things around. Incumbent president, Daniel Molaodi has announced that he is not seeking re-election. It remains to be seen who will fill his boots.