Volleyball giants Kwanthanze Secondary School will be forced to go back to the drawing board heading into 2022 following a two-year gap in the schools' sports calendar.
Coach Justine Kigwari expressed concern that most of his regular players will sit for their exams in April next year, leaving them with no choice but to go back to the market.
"My players haven't played for two years due to Covid-19 disruptions yet they will be sitting for their Form 4 exams in April. This is despite heavy investment from the sports point of view," he added.
He said lack of games has denied the players the opportunity to showcase their talent at both national and regional levels.
"This means they have also missed out on the opportunities to be scouted by leading clubs in the country. Players like Loice Simiyu, Pauline Itoo, and Stacy Awuor among others will be gone by April next year," said a worried Kigwari.
It is unclear when the games will resume amidst calls from stakeholders for school games to resume as soon as possible as one way to curb the increased cases of indiscipline that have hit the country in the past three months.
"We have no choice but to go back on the drawing board. We need to bring in new players who can serve as in the next cycle. There's a lot of work to be done to improve the current situation," he observed.
"The current crop of players was the best and we expected them to dominate last year and this year. However, Covid-19 happened and everything stalled. We played with Kenya Prisons in the Nandi Governor's Cup last month in Kapsabet and the girls stretched the wardresses to their limit even though they lost," he added.
Kigwari is credited for guiding the Eastern side to 11 titles between 2013-2019 (five national and six East Africa trophies). Kwanthanze's production line has benefited both clubs and the national team also known as Malkia Strikers.
KCB's Sharon Chepchumba, Kenya Pipeline's Gladys Ekaru, and Pamela Masaisai of Kenya Prisons, who turn out for Malkia are products of Kwanthanze.
"Despite the challenge ahead of us, we remain committed to churning out players who will end up becoming world-beaters. Libero Josephine Misiko is probably one of the best liberos from our production line," he noted.
