Volleyball star returns after successful Algerian foray

Mosah Mokganedi | Tuesday June 17, 2014 06:59

 

She expects her game to improve after she helped her club, Mechaal Baladiat Bejaia to second place finish in the Algerian league and cup competitions although her first two months were plagued by injury. 

She believes Botswana has a lot to learn from the Algerians. “Besides taking sports seriously, Algeria has good sports facilities. Their development programmes are also good,” she said. 

She explained that Algerians are doing well in volleyball because they play indoors all the time unlike Botswana where many players use the facilities for the first during international competitions. Chaba said that in Algeria,  she learned to be strong as a professional player and her team relied heavily on her when the going got tough. “They treated me well, I never felt like I was a foreigner,” she said, although she always faced the language barrier. Algeria’s main languages are French and Arabic. 

Chaba said she adjusted well in the playing field as “the volleyball language is the same worldwide. 

I stayed alone and would be indoors most of the time and made me home sick”. She did not have a problem with food because Algerian cuisine is similar to that of Botswana, though the preparation and cooking is different.