Volleyball is an indoor sport, but in Kenya, it is something else. Or to be precise, it has been changed into an outdoor game.
Most of ‘elite’ clubs of Kenya, and by ‘elite’ we mean those featuring in the country’s top league, otherwise known as the National Volleyball League, are training and competing in pathetic courts.
Opera News has established that KCB, DCI, KDF, Prisons and Kenya Pipeline are some of the clubs with the worst courts so far. They have the dustiest courts which must first be watered before training sessions or matches.
On Monday, September 23, Opera News obtained a photo showing the real state of Kenya Pipeline Volleyball team’s court. It is dusty and unkempt. Worst still, players take it upon themselves to ‘clean’ it before using. This is an unimaginable condition of a court which is the home of star players like Janet Wanja, Triza Atuka, Agripina Kundu and Sharone Jepchumba, who are currently with Malkia Strikers at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup in Japan. On the photo, the player with the bucket is the club’s new signing from Kwanthanze High School Betty Sifuna.
Head coach Margaret Indakhala has confirmed this to Opera News explaining that watering the court has been their routine. “Yes, this is our usual ground. You know we have played on it till there is no grass at all, so we usually water it to clear the dust before training or competing,” she said, adding that, “This is the state of most Kenya’s volleyball courts.”