African Champions Kcb Ladies Arrive Home
to a Rousing Welcome
Nairobi, Kenya,
April 26-: Work at the usually
busy Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
in Nairobi came to a near standstill as
newly crowned African Women Club
champions Kenya Commercial Bank jetted
back home.As the new African Volleyball
Queens landed at JKIA, it was song and
dance at the arrival lounge as their
fans, family members, friends,
colleagues and Kenya Volleyball
Federation officials went into frenzy.
History had just been made by the
youthful KCB team under the tutelage of
soft spoken Paul Bitok who guided them
to their first ever African Club
Championships title in Mauritius where
they beat the dreaded Al Ahly from Egypt
in the finals.“While playing for the
national team and KCB, our generation
tried in vain to win the African Women
Club Championships and we are very proud
of the present team for succeeding where
we failed,” said Anne Wekhomba who is a
former KCB and national team
player.Wekhomba who is also a 1987 All
Africa Games veteran was at the airport
to receive the team along with another
former KCB and national team veteran
Rose Wanjala.Workers and traveling along
with arriving visitors watched in
amusement as the traditional Isikuti
beats and dance rented the air with some
tourists taking pictures to treasurer
the images and memories of the
captivating moment.Aboard the same plane
with KCB team was Kenya Volleyball
Federation President Waithaka Kioni who
was the first passenger to embark off
the plane and join the welcoming party
which included KVF Nairobi Branch boss
Joseph Kimosop, former KVF Secretary
General and CAVB Sports Commission
member Jacob Owiti.Others on hand to
receive the victorious team were KVF
officials Martin Makokha, Moses Mbuthia,
former international volleyballer and
KCB employee Edward Kisaka and KCB
Public Relations Officer
MrOwiro.Speaking to battery of
journalist which included BBC sports
journalist John Nene, Bitok attributed
their victory to team work and fighting
spirit. “When we left the country for
Mauritius,our aim was to reach the
finals and win a silver so as to improve
on the bronze medal which we won in
Nairobi last year,” he said.However the
towering coach whois a former
professional player in Tunisia said
after beating defending champions Kenya
Pipeline in the semi finals they became
confident and believed that they had
what it takes to win the title.While
congratulating KCB for winning the title
for the first time, Kioni commended
Bitok for doing a good job in Mauritius.
“What I can tell you is that Bitok
contributed fifty percent of the victory
while the players contributed another
fifty,” Kioni said. Pipeline who
finished in third position to settle for
the bronze medal is expected back in the
country on Friday. After the rousing
welcome at JKIA, the newly crowned
African Volleyball Queens left the
airport in a convoy of about 10 vehicles
which snaked its way along airport road
before joining Mombasa Road headed for a
lavish lunch at the Panari Sky Centre
which is the latest Five Star Hotel in
Nairobi.
By Jack Kwemba-Press
Officer, Kenya Volleyball Federation |
