TOKYO 2020: Eyes on the prize for veteran volleyballer Agala

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) women's league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Brackcides Agala's dream of featuring at the Olympics came true three weeks ago when the Sammy Mulinge-coached beach volleyball women saw off Nigeria in a continental cup final to book the only slot to the Summer Games. 

A week after qualification, the team of Agala, partner Gaudencia Makokha and the duo of Phoscah Kasisi and Yvonne Wavinya who were part of the qualification journey in Morocco hit camp in Mombasa with about 12 days to prepare for their biggest sporting assignment ever. 

With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) only allowing a pair to represent each country, unlike in the continental showpiece, Agala and Makokha made cut. 

The duo, alongside coach Mulinge left the country on July 17 for Tokyo Olympics athletes' village. Unlike their indoor volleyball counterparts who had a chance to camp in Kurume City for acclimatisation and final training camp, the beach duo has had less than a week to get used to the weather in Tokyo. 

“The heat is just too much. The sun is just too hot. But then, this is the situation we find ourselves in and therefore we just have to adapt. This is the kind of weather for beach volleyball so we have to adapt quickly and move on. We are keeping hydrated, drinking a lot of water to compensate for the loss of fluids," offered Agala in an interview. 

Her exclusion from Malkia Strikers' provisional squad that did duty at the Africa Games in January last year, a competition that served as the qualifiers to the Olympics came as a surprise as she had just been named the MVP at the KVF playoffs in barely a month earlier. 

She took the disappointment in stride and when called upon to join Makokha, whose partner Naomi Too had been injured during the 2019 league playoffs while turning out for her side Kenya Pipeline, she took the chance and ran away with it. In the end, she has had the last laugh. 

“Volleyball is just volleyball so I had no trouble transitioning. There are a few things that differ, like the rules. But, when one has the basics of indoor volleyball it shouldn’t be hard to play beach volleyball. The difference is that in beach volleyball you are only two players while in indoor volleyball the players are six. One side of the beach volleyball court is 8m by 8m while for indoor volleyball it is 9m by 9m. So you really have to coordinate with your teammate. When one of you is on the blocks the other is at the back covering," explained the Prison wardress. 

Mulinge's charges are in group D, up against tough opposition in bronze medalists United States, Brazil and Latvia on their debut at the Olympics stage. A total of 24 teams have been pooled into six groups. 

Ahead of their travel, coach Mulinge had admitted that they head to the Games with the least experience in their group but in a quick rejoinder said they would give their all. 

“I won’t say they will be difficult to play against. I believe we will also give every team a hard time. I know the teams in our group are ranked top in the world, but we are also African champions. So, I wouldn’t say they are very good until we meet them on the court. Beach volleyball is unpredictable, sometimes it depends on how you prepared on the day of the game," Agala quipped. 

As the duo make history by being the first Kenyan squad to feature at the Olympics, the veteran volleyballer believes the sport can do a lot better if accorded the right support with a working league and exposure through continental and global tournaments. 

“The only problem is the game is not getting the requisite support. For instance, the only serious tournament we played in before coming here (Olympics) was the qualifying tournament. The teams we are going to play against have played in more than 12 tournaments before they came here. Some were at the World Tour, as recently as last week, yet Kenyans expect us to perform! So if we have to perform then we should be given the facilities. Once you have the facilities, the performance can improve," she opines. 

Tough task ahead for Olympic bound beach babes

Meanwhile, she has made peace with playing on empty stadiums. “Those are the rules, we just have to live with it," she calmly offers. As Japan hosted the first action of the Tokyo Olympics Games two days before the opening ceremony, a softball match won by the host who are the defending champions in the discipline that last featured at Beijing 2008 Games, it was in front of empty seats. 

"We can’t fail to play because there are no fans. You have to imagine playing with fans. We know back home we have a lot of support. So, those are our fans," Agala concluded.