Kenya’s Loraine Edha Achieng: “Handball is in my blood”

As the fourth edition of the International Handball Week comes to an end, we finish with an inspiring tale of how handball can transform lives.

Those present at the official foundation of the International Handball Federation (IHF) back on 12 July 1946 could hardly have imagined that the sport would evolve at such a pace across the world and then transfer into a new discipline played on beaches and sand all over the globe.

It is to Africa we go, where we speak to Kenyan women's beach handball national team player Loraine Edha Achieng about how handball shaped her life.

Early steps
"I watched many sports as a kid, but I remember first watching handball when I was around 14 – I didn't have a phone at that time, so it was in person, not on YouTube," jokes Achieng to ihf.info.

"I watched coach Tash Faridi coaching at Primary School, but the first time I actually played it was at High School when I was 15."

And discovering the sport had unintended, positive consequences for Achieng.

"I was told by my coach at school, Caroline Nyadiero, that I could get a scholarship when I play," explained 23-year-old Achieng. "Up to 16 years old, school in Kenya is free, but if you want to go to the upper school, for 17-18-year-olds, it costs money and I had issues with school fees.

"She told me that I can go to a school where I can play handball with a full scholarship. Handball helped me to get that education," added the Shimba Hills secondary school pupil.

"I used to watch handball and loved the game, but I didn't know how I could go and continue playing it. The school offered me a full scholarship, so I continued playing. I already knew the tactics from watching it, so I just needed the coaches to show me the steps."

A sandy intervention
Despite the continuation of playing and education, Achieng stopped playing when she finished high school, but it would not be too long before she picked up the ball again, although this time it was a different type of handball.

"After I finished High School, I stopped playing handball because I didn't have enough knowledge about how I could still continue playing, so I left handball at 19," said Achieng, who played as a centre back or pivot.

"In January 2022, coach Nyadiero called me and introduced me to beach handball. She knew me from school and seeing me in the national competitions and told me I could continue with my handball skills on the beach, so that's when I went and started training on the sand."

And it was love at first sight.

"I had never seen it before; I didn't know how it was played or anything. I was scared. I thought that if I fell on the sand, I would get hurt," she says with a smile about her introduction to the beach discipline.

"So I started afresh and learnt the tactics. I first learnt about the 360-degree spin shot for two points and the one-point shots, but it took me time to do a 360 without being scared.

"I just wanted to play defence because it was much easier than doing 360s but coach Nyadiero kept telling me it would get easier. It was really hard, it took me so long to be able to do it because I had not played for a long time and my physical fitness was down, I had gained weight.

"I knew I had to catch up," added Achieng who plays as a defensive specialist on the sand.

"Sand is a very hard surface to play on, you have to sprint on it and it is very physical, plus you have to be fast and be creative faster. I worked so hard, lost weight and the more training I did I became fitter and I eventually did my first 360. I felt really excited. I felt like I had achieved something."

A growing sport in Kenya, making dreams come true
The first Kenyan beach handball league came to an end in March 2022 with Achieng and her 'Coast Queens' side winning the first-ever title. 

"I trained for a year and played in the league that was running in Mombasa and it felt good to win – it felt like what I had sacrificed bore fruit; everybody likes winning of course but winning is amazing," explains Achieng.

Players from all clubs were then invited to a national selection in Mombasa, 15 players were selected before a final selection of 10 were nominated in June for the national team for the upcoming IHF Beach Handball Global Tour stage in Tunisia and African Beach Games at the same venue.

"I was selected and called my mum; I was so excited. I told her I'd been selected to go to Tunisia to represent my country. I was crying and she was crying too – I'd never been out of Kenya before, never been on a plane and didn't have a passport."

A few calls were made, a passport was secured and the Kenyan National Olympic Committee organised visas. All that was left for Achieng was to pack her suitcase.

"I was nervous and excited at the same time," she said about flying for the first time. "When I entered the plane, I realised it's not something to be scared of or nervous about. when I got my first (national team) jersey, I cried. I didn't believe that it was really happening. It felt like it was a dream."

A business trip to Tunisia
Despite the pure emotions of representing her country for the first time, Achieng and her team were in North Africa to win matches and take home medals.

But they knew they would face a tough task against the host nation in both competitions, starting with Stage 2 of the 2023 IHF Beach Handball Global Tour where Kenya finished as runners-up after seeing off Mali and Algeria.

"Our first game was against Tunisia; the tension was there, the pressure. I was feeling nervous. I was like, 'can we really beat Tunisia, they are strong?'," she explained. "I watched their games but we just had to look at the tactics on how we can play with them. Deep down, I knew there was a possibility to win but they won 2-0 (18:12, 16:9). I didn't lose hope; I said to myself, 'we can still beat them'."

And it was a debut to remember for Achieng, scoring four points before receiving a red card.

"I was nervous; it was a mistake," she says about the early exit. "I felt really felt bad. I had to be removed out of the game and sit out of the bench, but I rectified my mistake so that's why in the other games I just played safely and didn't get any further disqualifications."

Kenya faced Tunisia again in the stage final, losing 0-2 (13:24, 11:21), but with knowledge in the bank.

"My nervousness was a little bit settled because we had already played them," she said. "They defeated us, but we got our silver and had worked for it, defeating all the other teams. This was an achievement and I told myself we still have a future to have a gold medal."

That immediate future saw them stay on the Hammamet sand in Tunisia for the second edition of the African Beach Games and it would prove to be a watershed moment for Kenyan beach handball with the women's team ending with silver after taking the host nation to a shoot-out in the final, round-robin title-decider, losing 1-2 (19:24, 20:17, SO 2:5).

"We were celebrating even though we were number two because we knew we had given it our all and Tunisia had felt our strength," says Achieng, who recently completed a degree in Criminology and Security at Chuka University.

"The silver medal made us really happy and we were not disappointed in ourselves. We were singing, dancing and shouting at the medal ceremony; it just came naturally. We just felt like it. I realised that other countries love Kenya and some of the teams were really cheering for us.

"I learned a lot of things at the African Beach Games; even though some athletes didn't speak English, I downloaded a translator on my phone so that we could communicate. I made new friends and the experience was amazing. I learned that you can be a winner and sometimes you lose, but losing is not always a bad thing. 

"We played our best and we gave it our all," she added. "Beach handball is all about enjoyment and it's not always about winning. When you enjoy it, the rest will just come itself. That's how we played the last game against Tunisia – with no pressure. Because handball is in my blood, I told myself I just want to enjoy it and feel like I've really played my best."

 

 

A silver medal means more than a podium place
With their historic finish in Tunisia, beach handball is cemented in Kenya as a sport which can appear on the global stage and get results. And this is something that will have lasting consequences for the development of the sport in the East African country.

"After we returned home, we were escorted by the Kenyan National Olympic Committee representatives at the airport," she explained. "They were waiting for us, cheering for us and said we made them so proud.

"Getting the silver medal really meant everything," she added. "It means they can invest in other competitions and know that if they take Kenya beach handball to a competition, they will come back with fruits – we have a chance to win medals at other events."

Handball has been a life-changer, the love as strong as ever
It is apt that on this final day of the 2023 International Handball Week, Achieng tells ihf.info what she loves about the game and provides a bit of advice for the upcoming future Kenya stars.

"What I love about handball is that it brings people together and it is fun," she says. "It has given me friendship and knowledge. If I had not played handball, I would not have known that I can go out of the country and represent Kenya as a handball player. I talk with other people from other countries and I didn't know that is possible.

"One day you will see the fruits of your achievement," she adds about her advice to the next generation. "Success does not come on a silver platter and does not come fast. The more you keep on pushing yourself, the more you tell yourself that you can make it."

Photo: Staphey Wairimu, Kenya National Olympic Committee