Confessions: ‘Thirsty Mafisi’ officials preyed on me - Volleyball star

My name is (name withheld). I have played the game of volleyball since my days in high school. This sport is my source of livelihood.  I have represented my club and country at very high levels in world volleyball.

There is nothing in life that gives me more pleasure than flying out to represent my motherland, Kenya. Our team is respected and liked out there. Many people take photos with us because they say we are warm and sassy and fight bravely to the end. Mimi Volleyball ndio ilifanya nijue autograph ni nini.

However, my journey has not been smooth. When I started playing volleyball at top level, senior players mingled easily with team officials and within no time, I was playing along. It is not easy for a physically-fit young woman who trains daily and eats well not to succumb to such bodily desires.

What I find funny is that many a time, there is pressure to select the team and a number of players are at the peak of their performance. Then someone asks, “Apart from your performance, what other talent do you have?”

Not so long ago, there was a time when the team was to leave for Asia and an official kept calling and texting me. He asked to meet me and I obliged. But this man had confused me years ago and almost got me in trouble with his wife.

During our meeting, he asked me about my plans to retire, but I told him that I was still strong enough and my body was in great shape and that I believed I can still play for two or three more years. But he told me that younger players in the under-23 team are breathing fire and raring to go, especially after their triumphant outing in Congo. He said that my four colleagues and I were due for retirement and that our sale-by date had long passed.

“I can save you from being retired, but you have to do something for me in return. First, let us start by being close again; you do not have to hate me anymore,” he said as I sat there watching in disbelief. Then he offered me a chance to redeem my career if I agreed to regularly meet him at night. He said that his connections were far beyond our borders and that he could even marshal local journalists to heap praises on me. He promised that I could be the captain of the team even as the others retire.

I have not had a smooth ride with men and at my age, I do not have time for games. But most importantly, I swore never to sleep again with these loose men within the volleyball fraternity.

They have spoilt the game and no one respects them anymore. Some of them have already infiltrated the under-23 team and what is going on with some of those innocent girls is disgusting. As I take a bow from the sport, I leave with my head high. I have managed to achieve a lot as a player.

Looking back, there are things I wish I could have done differently and some that I regret ever doing. I wish that Kenyans will forgive me and learn to support their sports personalities who work hard under very difficult conditions.

But the biggest let-down is the government. Besides failure to invest on infrastructure, the Kenyan government has forsaken sportswomen and left them at the mercy of ‘marauding hyenas.’

(The interview was in Kiswahili and sheng transcribed and translated by John Lawrence)