Gaoleselesetse Lizzy Gasekgonwe, a key player for Rwanda’s APR Volleyball Club, has shared her candid thoughts on the current state of volleyball in Africa, Sports247 reports.
Speaking to Sports247 after her team APR of Rwanda fell to Kenya’s KCB in the classification match for positions 5–8, at the 2025 Africa Women Volleyball Championship, the Botswana native expressed concern about the continent’s dwindling player pool and the growing challenge of maintaining competitive standards.
“In Africa, our volleyball is now down because the developed countries have taken our strong players who are now playing professionally abroad. Right now, we are using the players we have,” she said.
She acknowledged the scarcity of experienced talent but remained optimistic about the development of younger players through coaching and competition.
“The players are scarce and our competition is slow, but I trust the coaches to build up another generation of youngsters.”
” I’ve been playing volleyball for a long time, and in this competition, I’ve seen many young players stepping up.” She said
Reflecting on APR’s performance against KCB, Gaoleselesetse maintained a positive outlook despite the loss.
“Though we lost, I am happy with the performance of my girls,” she said.
“They [KCB] took advantage of our setters. One of them is very young and inexperienced, while the experienced one is quite short, and they used that to their advantage. But that’s the game — someone has to win, and someone has to lose.”
Commenting on the overall level of competition at the 2025 Africa Women’s Volleyball Championship, she emphasized the unpredictable nature of the tournament.
“You can’t say you have the food on the table just because it looks good; the teams in the semi-finals are the same ones who lost their opening games,” she explained.
“Volleyball is a strategic game that demands mental strength. KCB is a strong team, and even though I expected to win, I’m happy we were able to take two sets from them. I was told no Rwandan team has beaten a Kenyan team in a long time,” Lizzy added.
As the curtain draws on the tournament, players like Gaoleselesetse remain pivotal in inspiring the next generation of African volleyball talent through their experience, leadership, and honest perspective on the sport’s evolution on the continent.
