The Lady Volleyball Cranes fell short of qualifying for the 2015 All Africa Games finals after finishing fourth in the five-team competition where only the top two qualified. The side managed only one win against Burundi as they lost to Ethiopia, Egypt and Kenya.
Lakony’s absence
Tony Lakony, who doubles as the technical director and national team coach, is away in Germany for a coaching course. In his absence Dutchman Bart Murting was appointed Lady Volleyball Cranes head coach. Murting was assisted by Uganda Volleyball Federation (UVF) first vice president Godwin Ssenyondo and Ndejje Elites coach Johnson Kawenyera as a trainer. Lakony’s direct approach that forces the best out of players was missed. When Murting and company took charge they failed to utilise their players’ strengths as lynchpins for Uganda’s game plans opting for a whole new set of tactics.
Less knowledgeable coaching staff
Murting hardly watches women’s local games in Uganda. The only match he has watched this year thus far is the KIU Open final between Sport-S and KAVC in Lugogo. It was from that game that he invited KAVC’s diagonal player Gloria Nantege to the national squad. Nantege, though, played for Uganda as a receiver attacker. Sennyondo, who was supposed to be his eyes out there during local tournaments, is more focused on Nkumba as a club. And the same applies to Kawenyera with Ndejje Elites.
Shunning national team call ups
Former captain Prossy Alobo, who took time off to give birth, was summoned but shunned the call claiming to be unfit. It was the same story with Alobo’s Vision Volleyball Camp teammates’ setter Milly Laker and Irene Adeke. When Christine Alupo pulled out because of a knee injury the team was left with Josephine Nammanda, Nnungi Saidat, Maureen Mwamula and Flavia Nandawula as the only players with prior national team experience.
Demotivated players
While the Kenyan volleyball team was given Ksh100,000 (about Shs3.2m) as allowance for the Kampala trip, their Ugandan counterparts were only given training allowances. The side was given Shs10,000 for every training session and earned nothing for the five days they stayed in camp. After the captain’s cries on a local sports show last Saturday morning, the team management organised and offered each Shs100,000 after their last game against Kenya.
Below par preparations
The side trained thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) at the International School of Uganda (ISU), Lubowa. Because of the distance, some players honoured the three days while others failed. The two-hour training sessions were spent mastering the middle attack which turned out to be the team’s weakest link throughout the tournament. The block which is supposed to the first line of attack rarely made an impact because looks like it was ignored.
Low standards of National League
Lastly the National Women’s League lacked competition, especially last year and it is likely to be the case again this time around. VVC was the most dominant team, because of the time they invest in training and pay attention to detail. Unfortunately it is not the same story elsewhere. KAVC and Sport-S train twice a week as a team. Ndejje, who would be the other strong side, rarely have a coach during their sessions, and Nkumba have lost their core players and forthwith surrendered the competitive edge.
UGANDA’S FULL RESULTS
Kenya 3-0 Uganda (25-11, 25-15, 25-19)
Uganda 1-3 Ethiopia (25-18, 19-25, 17-25, 13-25)
Egypt 3-0 Uganda (25-12, 25-15, 25-23)
Uganda 3-0 Burundi (25-14, 25-8, 25-11)
ckyazze@ug.nationmdia.com
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