THE GOLDEN ERA: WHAT HAPPENED TO UADS VOLLEYBALL TEAM?
However, we must understand that no worthy feat comes without sacrifice and expended effort. In this regard, the highly revered UADS volleyball team is no different. The success experienced by the team was an outcome of the sacrifices made by the then members of this golden era team. Not only did they invest their financial resources in getting their training kits, but they also took their time to train hard and maintained their availability anytime the need arose to represent their faculty. They proved that with proper planning, academics and sport representation can co-exist. It is not surprising then that a prominent member of the team, Dr Okopi John, was the valedictorian of 2021 graduating set.
It is also important to note that all these achievements came at a moment when the team had close to no support from the sport office and the association in terms of personal training ball and other training gears. Also, the team had no personal volleyball jerseys to wear for professional matches, leaving them to make do with the football team's jerseys.
In an interview with a member of the current UADS volleyball team, Mr Kehinde Omotoso, who was also a member of the then UADS volleyball team, he buttressed the importance of self determination displayed by the old squad, and the enabling environment created for volleyball in ABH, as a major drive for the success of the team. He also made it known that the likes of Dr John Okopi, Dr Adetola Babalola, Dr Ademola Akintola and Dr Abeeb Kolawole, who was the team captain, were all phenomenal in terms of financial and time commitment. He asserted that their shows of sportsmanship were the forces behind his development from an unused substitute in 2019, to being the most decorated sportsman in UADS outside the shores of Intra-faculty games, a record he holds alongside David Alao, a final year student.
Sadly, nothing lasts forever. The highly revered UADS volleyball team is now a shadow of itself. Currently, the team has only one active player - Mr Kehinde Omotoso, who has done his best to revive the team by recruiting new players, organizing training for them, and sharing the experiences he gained as a rookie during the golden era. But all was to no avail as he received close to no support in his plight. According to him, the association is not showing the needed effort when it comes to volleyball like they do to football. He continued by saying that the bias shown towards volleyball is laughable, describing the volleyball team as the only team that has won gold and silver medals for the association, and not the football team. He also frowned at the attitude of UADS members towards volleyball and sport in general, stating that it is appalling and discouraging.
Taking a few steps backward to the build up of the last election, it was clearly stated in the outgoing sport secretary’s manifesto that “If elected, I plan to help rebuild the faculty volleyball team, purchase volleyballs and bibs for training and matches”, but nothing was done in this regard.
On our visit to the UADS sport office, Mr Arokoyo stated that the inability to get a consistent training session for the team, and the absence of competitive tournaments in the university due to the strike, were the major reasons for not purchasing the volleyballs and match jerseys. Having concluded his tenure, we can only hope that the successor of Mr Kehinde Arokoyo looks into this and saves the faculty’s volleyball team from its current dormancy and bring back our golden era.
Alonge Rasaq Adebayo
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