Newly elected Bitok praying for magical last dance with Malkia Strikers

When Paul Bitok returned to Kenya in July 2019 after a decade in Rwanda, he had no intentions of venturing into coaching.

He had seen it all, having plied his trade locally and abroad as a professional player, transitioned into coaching with resounding success and was now plotting a route to management of his favourite sport.

He was highly tipped as the heir to the late Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) President Waithaka Kioni but there was a problem at the national women’s volleyball team, Malkia Strikers.

Finnish coach Shaileen Ramdoo, who was seconded to Kenya by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), had fallen out with members of his technical bench and KVF needed a quick fix.

Enter Paul Bitok. His first assignment was the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco where he delivered gold as Kenya defended their title following a 3-1 win over rivals Cameroon.

A few months later, he guided Kenya back to the Olympic Games after topping the African qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 held in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Fast forward to 2023, Bitok is an integral member of Kenya’s technical bench led by Brazilian Luizomar de Moura who is looking to reclaim the African Nations Championship title from Cameroon and win a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

It will be Bitok’s last assignment as a coach as he prepares to transition to administration following his resounding victory in the KVF elections held on Saturday where he was elected Deputy President after garnering 191 votes. His competitor Edward Kisaka got 23 votes.

“I have served the sport as a player and coach for over three decades which has helped me to understand various aspects of volleyball. I am now moving into administration fully aware of the challenges within Kenyan volleyball. I believe this will make it easy for me to move into administration,” Bitok told Nation Sport after Saturday’s morning session here at the Palais Polyvalent des Sports (Paposy) Arena in Yaounde.    

“I am ready to learn the ropes of leadership from those who have served because I have a lot of ideas on how to improve the sport,” he added.

Top of his agenda is the revival of youth programmes having successfully overseen a 10-year project in Rwanda that made the Amavubi a force to reckon with in African volleyball. His in-tray also takes in the professionalisation of the KVF National League and monetisation of KVF products.

“Over the last four years, we have had a very smooth transition of players at the national team because we have tried to incorporate the young players quite early. We have managed to do this without a youth programme so you can imagine how good Kenya can become if we have one that is functioning,” offered Bitok.  

“We have a lot of talent that needs to be developed through the junior national teams (both genders) and our local league. It’s unfortunate that our calendar still collides with the FIVB calendar because we are not able to finish our league in time and this interferes with national teams program. I want us to have a fixed calendar that will also help us to attract sponsors to the league and national teams,” explained Bitok, who also dreams of KVF having its own permanent premises where the secretariat will be operating from.

His last stint with Malkia Strikers has seen him take part in the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme since 2020. Bitok believes that Kenya will soon dine with the top volleyball nations if management at KVF improves.

“FIVB Empowerment Programme has lifted the standard of our national team and you can see now that we have professional players. We need to take advantage of this goodwill from FIVB and sponsors such as Mozzart Bet to take our team to a different level.

“The late Kioni left a legacy of Kenya consistently qualifying for big competitions like the Olympics and World Championship. We now need to think of reaching the second round or knockout stages at this high level. With the kind of support we have, I believe Kenya can be among the top 12 nations in the world,” he added with the conviction of a street preacher.

Kenya currently sit pretty top of Pool ‘B’ with 12 points at the ongoing CAVB African Nations Championship following their 3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 25-14) win over Morocco on Saturday which guaranteed them top spot in the group and a place in the quarter-finals.

Bitok insists Kenya remain favourites and believes a 10th African crown and ticket to Paris 2024 will be his best retirement package as he prepares for his new role.

“Kenya is in good shape because the team has bonded so well after training together for over two months thanks to FIVB. Reception which used to be a problem has really improved and even when we are playing out of system, we can score points.

“This competition is a bit tricky because of technical opponents like Egypt or Algeria who we have to approach cautiously. However, the girls are focused and understand what is at stake. This is the only trophy I haven't won in the last four years and winning it will be the best thank you message from my players as they send me to leadership position.”

Over to you Deputy President!