Volleyball club success earns national level reward
VENAI Naicker has been appointed assistant coach of the national university volleyball team.
The 43-year-old will work under head coach Andries Kekana at the
19th Confederation of University and Colleges Sports Associations Games to be held in Botswana next month.
This comes on the back of an excellent start to the season with his club team, the University of Kwazulunatal (UKZN). Naicker, of Chatsworth, guided UKZN to a top eight finish last month at the Volleyball South Africa (VSA) Champions Cup, the country’s elite club competition.
He will be joined by four of his club players in Gaborone, with middle blockers Avikar Ramcharan, Thando Ngobese and outside hitters Brandon Govender and Devin O’regan included in the 12-man squad.
“I was thrilled when I heard the news,” Naicker said.
“But I honestly was more excited to hear that four of my boys had made the final 12. The boys put in a lot of work during our training sessions.
It’s nice to see their hard work being rewarded,” he added.
Naicker is a former setter who has been involved in the game for more than 30 years.
He began playing competitively for former Chatsworth-based club Invaders, before turning his attention to coaching.
He holds a VSA Level 1 coaching certification and recently completed a FIVB Level 1 Beach Volleyball course.
“I’ve been lucky to have attended various coaching courses run by internationally renowned coaches. My greatest asset as a coach has to be my wife, Dr Rowena Naidoo. I know it sounds clichéd, but having a partner that understands sport, especially volleyball, is great,” Naicker said.
He believes South Africa has the potential to make a real impact at the competition, which will also feature Botswana, Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
“I have no doubt that South Africa will medal at this tournament. We have a bunch of extremely talented players. What we lack in experience, we more than make up for in sheer determination,” Naicker concluded.