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The 2019 champions ended their season with a 10-8 record and on 29 points, four behind OBB, who occupy the last playoff spot.
Nemostars’ National Volleyball League action started with a 3-2 loss to Ndejje Sharks in September 2022 and ended with a 3-0 win over Nkumba Navy last Sunday.
Yes, Nemostars’ time in the league is up, at least for this season. And that is before the playoffs start.
The playoffs will serve off at the start of April and involve table leaders Sport-S, five-time champions KAVC, defending champions OBB and UCU Doves.
Andrew Okapis’ charges have had a season to forget and must do some soul-searching to return to the top next season.
What went wrong?
Nemostars’ slump started immediately after the demise of Neko Moduse Ojala, the club founder.
And as such, many have associated the nose-dive with the ways of players and the rest at the club minus the strict supervision of Old Coach.
“People have the right to relate the decline to Old Coach’s passing. He was a pillar,” head coach Okapis told Pulse Sports after the team’s last game of the season.
Ojala was referred to as the father of Ugandan volleyball, having been one of the founders of the Uganda Volleyball Federation and KAVC, the oldest club in the country.
Nemostars’ failure to make the playoffs only emphasized the decline. The club had already lost the Finals Playoffs to OBB after leading the three-game series 1-0.
They also lost the rescheduled 2021 National Club Championship final to Sport-S early last year.
As if that was not bad enough, the club failed to come out of the group at the 2022 Club Championship in Iganga.
“We are going through a transition, and it’s not easy. First, the loss of Old Coach, bringing in new players and change of the calendar,” Okapis revealed.
Not up to it
For a team that played the finals and only lost 2-1, the six-time champions were expected to be in the fight for this year’s championship.
But the loss of players like Jonathan Tumukunde and Emmanuel Elanyu has left a big gap that was not sufficiently filled by the new recruits.
“Generally, the mental strength of the younger players will get better. They are still growing into the winning mentality.”
The tactician, however, admits the club were not up to the required standards throughout the regular season and must go back to the drawing board and re-strategize.
“We were not up to it. We had shortfalls in critical departments like setting.”
While the Kololo-based outfit boasts two of the best setter in the league, Smith Okumu and Moses Odeke, their availability throughout the season was never certain.
“They were not training enough due to commitments elsewhere; this being a voluntary role, we don’t have complete control.
Odeke is a banker and has seen that job eat into his time for volleyball since leaving UCU Doves to join Nemostars.
“But we have assembled a team. It only needs to bond more, get the players more matches together, and they will deliver.”
Tony Kasumba, Deogratius Anguria, Jonathan Kigozi and Esau Ecil are some of the new players Nemostars assembled for the season, but their performances needed to be better.
New experience
Nemostars have not missed the playoffs since 2010. That will give a new experience to players like Okumu and team captain George Aporu.
“It will be a new experience for some of us, and we’ll embrace it,” Aporu told this website.
The feeling in the Nemostars camp is that of admission that the team was not good enough this season.
Such performances will create doubts in young players’ decision-making when choosing Nemostars as their club of choice over the teams winning big things.
And the sooner the club returns to the top, the better their bargaining power in the transfer market.
“We have many new faces, people who have never played in the playoffs. 50% of the starters are new, George has been playing through injury, and I have been quite busy myself,” Okumu revealed.
“Change of the calendar also affected us. Going into Christmas break for over a month, people didn’t come back the same,” the Volleyball Cranes setter added.
The 2019 champions ended their season with a 10-8 record and on 29 points, four behind OBB, who occupy the last playoff spot.
Okapis is confident the club will return to the top sooner rather than later.
He said: “If we can correct the setting department, we will be ok. Right now, teams are doing what we used to and doing it well. We have to do better and be ready for next season.”
In Nemostars’ absence, OBB will be looking to defend their title, while KAVC has eyes on reaching six league championships.
The team to beat, however, is Sport-S. Still unbeaten in 16 games, the Nsambya outfit will be looking to finally land the league title that has been elusive since 2009.
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