Rabat, Morocco, Feb 8 – African teams have for “donkey’s years” had to contend with playing second fiddle to their European, Asian and South American match adversaries.
But for the top brass of this noble game of “spikes and sets”, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Just like the old and famous Chinese adage, a journey of a thousand miles journey (in sports) begins with a single step.
And as Confédération Africaine de Volleyball (CAVB) President Bouchra Hajij would put it, “great strides have to been made towards spurring technical growth of the sport across the board in the continent.”
Speaking exclusively to Capital Sport at the confederation’s headquarters in Rabat, Morocco, Hajij is candid that it will take a while before an African team makes it to the semi-finals of the prestigious Olympic Games.
“To be honest, we can’t go to the semifinal now but the level of commitment and determination at the present- especially for Malkia Strikers of Kenya is phenomenon and goes to show that we will close the gap in the near future,” the CAVB boss says.
She adds: “It takes time to prepare a player to the highest level, hence the old Chinese saying.”
Bouchra reckons that the ranking for Junior volleyball is very high, a clear indication where Africa wants to go as a continent.
“Morocco are ranked 11th in the world from more than 200 countries which to me is an achievement,” Bouchra explains.
She goes on to elaborate that taking the game to the next level will call for converted efforts from all stakeholders.
“We need to work and compete a lot more. We need to play a high level of competition and not rest in our laurels,” Bouchra points out.
She expounds: “Morocco is a perfect example of class. They are the champions of the men and women’s beach volleyball in Africa. They have exhibited class and character, and this is where we are headed as a continent. It’s a gradual process. Remember, Rome was not built in one day.”
Morocco won the double at last year’s African Nations Beach Volleyball Championships in Agadir, Morocco.
In the men’s final, the pair of Abicha/Elgraoui from beat the Mozambican duo of Ainadino Martinho/Monjane 2-0 (21-19/ 21-15).
The women’s final pit two Moroccan pairs: Mahassine / Yakki beat Zeroual / Darhar 2-0 ( 21-14 / 21-19).
Nigeria has savoured a good run, as the back-to-back champions of the U19 Boys African Nations Volleyball Championship.
They beat Egypt 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 31-29).
“We are working hard to improve the level of competition in Africa and in the near future, I believe we will take it to the next level,” Bouchra says.
– Queens of Africa –
The CAVB boss further heaps praise on the Kenyan national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers.
“They (Malkia) are a good team and we are all behind them as the African continent. They have made us proud and have the potential to go places with time. We saw they improved tremendously at the last Olympics, they did not let Africa down, they won a set against Japan who ae a good team, and did not lose by big margins,” she says.
Malkia Strikers, have ruled the African continent since the 1990s, winning the Women’s African Volleyball Championship a record nine times!
They have qualified three times for the Olympics: in 2000, 2004 and for the belated 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Kenya also has a beach volleyball team, who were the only Africa’s women’s team at the Tokyo Olympics.
Kenya’s women’s sitting volleyball team did not qualify for Tokyo.
At last year’s World Championships in the Netherlands and Poland, Malkia Strikers made history by winning their first ever match at that level of competition, defeating African rivals Cameroon 3-0 in sets of 25-20,27-25 and 25-19.
Asked what CAVB is doing to boost African players and ensure that they compete professionally, the CAVB President said in finality: “We have an empowerment project with the Kenyan Women team which is comprehensive, it is not a Kenyan team but African team, we do that to countries that have a passion in volleyball.”
She adds: “We ask our leaders managing the sport to have good governance, there should not be wrangles as we are seeing in Cameroon and Guinea, if we have good governance we give our players chance to play at a top, professional level.”
-Alex Isaboke is reporting from Rabat, Morocco-
