NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 31 – Just another ordinary Saturday
on October 26, 2019, Triza Atuka was flying high blocking all shots and
striking all spikes for her club Kenya Pipeline at the Nandi leg of the Kenya
Volleyball Federation league until misery struck.

Atuka collided with KCB’s Lorine Chebet and the aftermath of
that collision was the tearing of her Anterior Cruciate Ligaments (ACL) which
resulted into a surgery that would essentially see her miss up to nine months
of action.

“It was terrible news to be honest. For any sportsperson,
injury is a nightmare. I was at the top of my game, looking forward to the
play-offs in a months’ time, the Olympic qualifiers and Africa Games. All this
was brought down in the flip of a minute,” Atuka recounted.

But what followed was the building of one of the strongest
ever mentalities for the 27-year old, one that was birthed out of difficulty
and one that would take her through six months of rest and recovery with a
confident eye at the future.

“When you are in that situation, the best thing you can do
to yourself is be positive. You cannot start feeling sorry for yourself and
engage in wishful thinking. That will only make it worse for you. You’ve got to
embrace the situation, accept it and work towards your recovery,” the soft-spoken
middle blocker stated.

She says it was a tough period for her, but with an able
support system of friends, family and her club Kenya Pipeline, she managed to
go through the toughest periods of all that included surgery and the first few
months of recovery.

“I am really thankful because of my club. We have a very
good medical cover and it is easier for you when you don’t have to worry about
how you will finance your hospital bills. Mentally, you are at a better place
because you just need to worry about your recovery,” she states.

Five months since she had surgery on her ACL, Atuka says she
now feels okay and is ready to get back to action on the courts, once the
coronavirus pandemic wears out.

“I have been doing lots of physiotherapy to work on the
strength and conditioning and I feel okay. I look forward to getting back on
the field and work on my fitness to get to playing form,” she notes.

And just like a lucky bird, her dream of making it into a
maiden Olympic has been revived with the games now moved to July 2021. Had they
gone on this year, she would definitely have been out but now she looks at it
as a second chance.

“We missed the Olympics in 2016 when we lost to Cameroon in
the qualifiers. We really cried that day. All of us. No one was consolable
because we felt that we played so well but were not lucky to win. I was
heartbroken,” narrates Atuka.

“I had looked forward to this year’s qualifiers and then
unluckily again, I could not make it because of injury. It was really sad
because that meant I have to wait for another four years and with sport, you
are never assured that you will be on top every year,”

“Now I have a second chance. I look forward to getting back
to the field and working hard to get on form. I know it will not be easy to get
back to the team because there are others who are replaced me when I was out
but I will give it my best shot,” Atuka said.

Atuka’s injury pain was compounded by not only missing the
Olympics, but being out of her team as they failed to successfully vie for the
national title at the play-offs in November.

This was the second consecutive time she missed out. In
2018, she missed the play-offs as she was recovering from stomach surgery.
Coincidentally in both those two occasions she missed out, Pipeline lost.

More painful was the fact that Pipeline had been champions
since she joined them in 2013. They won four straight titles with Atuka playing
a central role, literally.

And with the oilers dislodged twice in a row by arch-rivals
Prisons, Atuka believes they can still get their place back on top despite the
fact that most of the senior players have been poached by the money-dangling
KCB.

“I believe we have what it takes because the team is now
rebuilding. I had been in training several times before the virus just checking
on them and giving them moral support and from what I see, the future is
bright. There are young players who have come from school and in the near
future, the team will be back on top. Mark my words,” the confident star
stated.

The Mukumu Girls High School alumnus was herself approached
by the bankers, dangling a fat paycheck and a deal that would turn anyone’s
head.

But she has now exclusively disclosed to Capital Sport that
she rejected the deal at first sight and decided to stick to the oilers, even
when most of her teammates, including coach Japheth Munala jumped ship to wade
into KCB waters.

“Yes, they did approach me with a very good deal but for me,
loyalty tops anything else. At that time, I had just returned to playing from
surgery and Pipeline took great care of me. How would it have looked on my part
had I decided to leave? It would have been thankless of me,”

“At the same time, most of the players had left. I would
have felt bad to leave the team at that state, knowing I was leaving it at a
bad place. When I joined Pipeline from KCB in 2013, I found the team at the top
and it has always been my ambition to also leave it at the top,” Atuka
disclosed.

She further adds that Pipeline has given her a life and a
career in volleyball which has propelled her all the way to the national team
where she has also been an assistant captain.

She joined Pipeline in 2013 after two years at KCB, having
moved to the big city after her talents were spotted at Mukumu Girls where she
horned her skills.

Her national team debut was in 2015 and since then, it has
been a story of happily ever after.

“I have had some of the biggest moments in my career at
Pipeline and Malkia Strikers. We went all the way to the finals of the African
Club Championship with Pipeline, won group three of the Grand Prix as well as
winning the African Cup title several times. I am looking forward for more and
working hard to achieve even bigger things,” Atuka, named the 2017 best blocker
at the African showpiece stated.

Her immediate focus though is getting back to playing, help
Pipeline regain their foothold as a national and continental giant and in the
short term, play at her first ever Olympics.

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