Mbuthia tips beach volleyball to make a splash in Kenya

Kenya Beach Volleyball Commission will embark on a nationwide campaign to popularise the sport in the country, after the national women’s beach volleyball team participated in the just concluded Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time ever.

Commission chairman Moses Mbuthia admitted the game is still in its infancy in the country but promised it is poised for growth, with secondary schools their first stop, where he says there is immense potential ready to be tapped.

The commission on Tuesday launched the initiative at Graceland secondary school, and Mbuthia says they will start a beach volleyball circuit in all the 47 counties starting October in Homa Bay County.

“We want to ‘sell’ the beach volleyball sport to all the counties, and already there are those counties well-endowed with the sand,” said Mbuthia, adding: “With just a net and some sand, playing the sport by itself is not very expensive and it’s not necessarily the ocean sand, the counties can import or build sand and then set court. Nyandarua County has already done that.”

“We’ll be partnering with secondary and primary schools and yesterday (Tuesday) we started here in Nairobi at Graceland where the administration assured they are ready to encourage the students to take up the sport.”

Kenya’s pair of Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Agala finished last in Pool ‘D’ of the Tokyo Games that had Brazil, USA and Latvia, and Mbuthia believes the Japan outing was a launching pad for the country’s rise in the sport.

“We’ve tried to encourage players to take up this sport by setting the court at Nyayo before but it didn’t pick up, and after Kenya participated for the first time in Olympics, everybody now wants to be associated with beach volleyball.

“Even some players have approached us and now they want to switch to beach volleyball and this is a motivation coming from the team which went to Japan. Now we’ve the new kid on the block,” he added.

Mbuthia, who is also the Kenya Volleyball Federation Nairobi chairman, said they will also conduct training clinics in addition to launching beach circuits in all the 47 counties with the first leg set for Sindo Bay, Homa Bay County in October.

“The county government of Homa Bay has already said they’re ready to partner with us and from there we will go all over the country. Makueni has also laid their groundwork at River Kaiti and so we’re ready to spread the sport,” he said, adding: ” Unlike the traditional volleyball, the beach volleyball points are earned in every circuit and internationally our circuit shall be homologated by the FIVB.”