Bitok eyes KVF top seat as he is named coach of month
KCB women’s volleyball team’s technical director Paul Bitok has criticized the poor state of Kenyan volleyball and assured Kenyans that if elected as the deputy chairman of the Kenya Volleyball federation, the country’s game will never be the same again.
Bitok was speaking yesterday after receiving the newly introduced Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) coach of the month award at a Nairobi Hotel. The award has been sponsored by pay television StarTimes.
“ I know it’s the first time for a coach and a former player to go for this top seat, but if I don’t then it leaves me with a lot of guilt. Our structures should be reassessed and improved for the sake of the future of volleyball,” said Bitok.
On September 26th, the federation’s Secretary General Ben Juma Chepkechir released a notice that said that the polls will be preceded by an annual general meeting during which the delegates will discuss important issues pertaining to the sport in the country.
The SG further directed the respective branches to conduct their AGMs and subsequent elections on or before October 15 and thereafter send their representatives to Nairobi.
According to Chepkechir, the initial elections were supposed to be held on October 29th at Nyayo national stadium in Nairobi after their Annual general meeting.
Another notice was sent to media houses on October 8th advising Kenya Volleyball Federation branches not to hold elections since the registrar was yet to clear them for elections.
According to this latest notice from Chepkerir, it mentioned two important reasons that made the elections postponed.
The first one was that the constitution as amended by the SGM had not been registered and that at the particular time, the registrar of sports had not confirmed the number of their county-based branches that had been registered.
It is yet to be confirmed if this debacle, pull and shove will continue or has been put to rest.
“ We need to stop with the constant confusion and wrangles every now and then, but take time to grow this sport. matches in our leagues are played once a month with no proper formulae,” lamented Bitok who also added that his main objective once elected to office will be to streamline the league’s structures and form new ones that will enable the development of youth volleyball in the country.
KVF has now postponed elections twice due to branch registration issues and as of October 24th 2022, only 24 branches had submitted their applications to the registrar.
According to Bitok, there might be some hope for the elections to be held in three month’s time, meaning in January 2023.
Bitok’s dreams for Kenyan volleyball at the moment are on hold, with all hopes now on the branches who form the roots of the federation.
