•“When a student who is talented wants to join a school that does not focus on volleyball, we also let her join the team.”
•According to him, if the standards of volleyball are to reach world-class in Kenya, recruitment should be taken a notch higher.
Image: STEPHANIE NDEI
Producing winning teams is one thing but producing winning individuals is another and for coach Justin Kigwari of Kwanthanze Secondary School, he tends to achieve winning ways by focusing on the individuals.
“I do not care if we win the nationals or the East African games or if none of my players is scouted to play professionally,” he says. “My target has always been to have the best players in the country.”
Having joined Kwanthanze Secondary School in Machakos in 2009, Kigwari knew he had to produce a winning team.
“I have the intrinsic energy and discipline to make a good coach and I believed in Kwanthanze to make a good team despite having performed dismally in previous years,” he said.
Despite failing to qualify for 2009 zonal games, Kigwari has gone on to foster a team that is a feeder to not just professional volleyball clubs but also the national team.
Now a certified volleyball coach, he speaks of the recruitment process for the school team which entails scouting from primary schools across the country to identifying talent from high schools which do not really flourish in the sport.
“We go around schools in Kenya and we look at aspects such as height which we incorporate in our team. As we speak, we have a player in Form 2, who we recruited when she was in Class 7,” he said.
“When a student who is talented wants to join a school that does not focus on volleyball, we also let her join the team.”
When asked whether the students are given a scholarship, he said: “The students who make the cut to the volleyball team do not pay any school fees.”
According to him, if the standards of volleyball are to reach world-class in Kenya, recruitment should be taken a notch higher.
“We should develop skills from a younger age and have volleyball academies. Most of the girls who come in my team have never interacted with a ball before. Sharon Chepchumba, for example, was a football goalkeeper,” he revealed.
As he physically trains the players, Kigwari reveals he emphasizes on life skills because he knows he is nurturing players who will earn professional contracts as soon as they leave high school, a concept he believes every coach who handles student/athletes should focus on.
“How we handle the students should change because we are handling people who become professionals after high school. For example, I ask my players to learn how to verbally express themselves well,” he said.
With the players’ progress at heart, Kigwari intimates that he still keeps in touch with his players even after they have earned professional stints.
“I care about the longevity of their careers. I would like to see them earning a living out of it and maintaining a good character, even when I know they have good handlers in the clubs they join,” he said.
And even amidst the coronavirus pandemic, he reveals he is still in contact with his current players as they prepare for their next competition.
“I send them training drills tailored according to specific individual needs. Most of the drills can be done at home against the wall,” he said. Having first produced talent who were scouted by professional clubs in 2013, Kigwari says he knows the pandemic will affect the quality of the players even on his side.
While he takes pride in producing stellar sportswomen such as Sharon Chepchumba, Ann Lowem and Gladys Ekaru, Kigwari says he has set his sights on generating talent which will compete worldwide.
“I am getting more cautious as I think of the future of the players. I am now keen on producing athletes who will get scholarships to the USA and those who will help the country to become a powerhouse in volleyball,” he said.