By Hillary Mukasa, FKF Instructor
It is on a Wednesday afternoon and the name of one experienced teacher rings into my mind. A teacher who has taught many young students in Isiolo County since 1989. He is a teacher who has taught many prominent athletes in Isiolo County and continues to impact positively on matters of sports in the entire county.
The teacher is Mr. Naftali Macharia. When you mention his name, great names from Isiolo such as Masoud Juma, the former Kenya Football Federation golden boot winner, football coach Mutembei, FKF Instructor Jabir and teams such as Taqwa FC come into the minds of sportsmen.
This time the story is not about football, neither is it about football household names in Isiolo but it’s about the state of volleyball in Isiolo.
Naftali points out that volleyball games in Isiolo are played in both primary and secondary schools and there is one known club that trains at the stadium. The biggest challenge is the lack of qualified coaches, equipment and lack of motivation is another challenge.
Students concentrate on football more than volleyball because they have seen footballers from the region excel. For instance, recently 4 football players from Isiolo who participated in the Chapa Dimba tournament were selected to participate in Spain and watched FC Barcelona and Messi live in action.
Mr., Naftali is the County chairman of Sports and Regional Chairman of sports at school level in Isiolo. Demoralization from office of education in charge of curricular activities is another major setback in volleyball in the region.
When asked about the way forward to re kindle the development of the game Naftali Macharia, the passionate sportsman proposes a joint venture between the ministry of education in training coaches and umpires and soliciting for sponsorship so that there is a club in Isiolo participating in the Kenya Volleyball Association league and tournaments.
