Kasisi optimistic of 2021 Tokyo Olympic dream

Kenya national beach volleyball captain Phosca Kasisi. [Gideon Maundu, Standard]

Kenyan teams failed to honour second round qualifiers in Gambia and Nigeria respectively in March due to coronavirus outbreak.

Phoscah Kasisi, the Kenya national women’s beach volleyball captain, is a proven leader on the volleyball court.

Not only is she smart, but also gifted athletically and quite competitive on the court.

She is an extremely talented player, dominating both the indoor volleyball and beach volleyball circles.

“Volleyball is everything to me. Since I was young, it is the sport that I grew up admiring and am glad to have been the chance to lead the national team,” Kasisi said.

The 27-year-old guided the national team through the first round where Kenya finished second behind eventual winners Rwanda during the qualifiers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in January.

However, Olympics dream of the national beach volleyball team were shattered in March after the government cancelled all activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Kenyans' trip to Abuja, Nigeria for the second round of the Tokyo Games qualifiers thus went up in smoke.

Two months since that aborted trip, Kasisi’s dream might just turn into a reality. She now has hope of achieving her Olympics dream after the world governing body FIVB extended the qualification period.

The new Olympic ranking qualification deadline was extended to June 13, 2021 (after the previous deadline of June 14, 2020) with the Olympic ranking list set to be published a day later, on June 14, 2021.

Kenya's men and women teams failed to honour the second round qualifiers that were held in Gambia and Nigeria respectively in March after the government banned athletes from traveling for international events due to coronavirus outbreak.

The development saw the quartet of Brackcides Agala, Gaudencia Makokha, Yvonne Wavinya, Kasisi miss out on the qualifiers in Abuja, with the hosts and Zambia being the only participants.

Kenya, Togo and Democratic Republic of Congo skipped the event.

“What I can say for now is that there is hope. We did not miss the qualifiers out of neglect but because of a worldwide health risk, the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.

“It’s out of our hands now but we hope the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) will readmit countries that missed the second round into the qualification tournament in the spirit of fair play,” said the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) server.

Born in Bungoma County, Kasisi started playing volleyball aged 12 years after drawing inspiration from her father and elder brothers.

“My dad was one of the best volleyball players during his times when he was studying in Amagoro. The same goes for my bigger brother.”

Kasisi went on to play in the 2007 Kenya national primary school games where she was voted the best server.

She joined St. Christopher Mabanga but later switched to Malava Girls before proceeding to join Cheptil where she completed her high school education while playing netball, handball and volleyball.

She was also voted the Most Valuable Player at the 2011 East Africa Region Secondary School games in Burundi.

She was signed by Kenya Pipeline after sitting for the Form Four examinations at Cheptil Girls High School in 2014.

She later moved to Nairobi Queens in 2015 and in 2016, signed for KCB.

With limited playing time with the Malkia Strikers, Kasisi switched to beach volleyball, where she was named as the team's captain.