By Alisa Lashley 

After Kristoff Shepperd copped his first individual award during the recently held Inter-Guianas under 21 volleyball tournament in Cayenne, the 20-year-old is currently enjoying ace success at a national level.

The Pepperpot Magazine took the opportunity to interview and gain background knowledge on the young athlete and what contributed to who his current successes.

Growing up in a sport-oriented family, with three elder siblings, it was hard for Kristoff to not like sports. From a very tender age, his father instilled pointers for him to learn to play cricket and football along with his elder brothers and cousins. “I always say if I had dedicated the amount of time I do to volleyball towards cricket or football, I would have probably been on the West Indies cricket team or playing in the world cup by now,” Shepperd expressed.

After completing both his nursery and primary education in Mahaicony, Kristoff went on to attend the St Roses high school from 2011 and graduated in 2016. After which he continued his studies at the aforementioned school through the CAPE examinations. However, it was decided that he would discontinue his second year and pursue a degree at the University of Guyana in International Relations, where he is currently a second-year student.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS 

“I started playing volleyball in St. Rose’s High School as a part of a Physical Education programme for CSEC. My Physical Education teacher at the time, Mr. Alque Stanley was always pushing my classmates and me to learn all sports in relation to the subject. I also played badminton, basketball, table tennis, aside from Volleyball for a short period of time. But it was volleyball, over the other sports that won my heart,“ Kristoff said.

Kristoff, however, started to take volleyball serious take in 2016, and in that year he started to play for the Vanguard volleyball club, where the coaches were the individuals who taught him the basics of the game. Kristoff further related that he will always be grateful for the efforts invested by the coaches of Vanguard that aided in perfecting his craft. However in that same year, he tried out to be a part of the national U-19 team to represent Guyana at the inter-Guiana Games, but unfortunately, he didn’t make the team that year. He conveyed that his losses were mere setbacks for a greater comeback, “That did not stop me. I used the fact that I wasn’t selected as motivation to work harder and become better. In 2017 I tried out again for the national U-18 team to represent Guyana at the inter-Guiana Games, and I successfully made the team. It just so happened that we also won the inter Guiana volleyball tournament that year.“

TRANSITION AND CONQUER
In 2018 Shepperd got the opportunity to play with the Demerara senior team at a tournament in Suriname, an experience that he described as one which took his game to a next level because of the influence and gaming tips he gathered from senior players.
“I continued to play with vanguard volleyball club up to 2019, where I then transferred to Castrol volleyball club. That same year we won the Demerara volleyball association ‘ B ’division tournament as well. I think 2019 was a good year for me, because I also made my second national team that year, representing Guyana at an invitational tournament in French Guiana. This year I made my third national team, representing Guyana at the inter Guiana volleyball tournament in French Guiana where I got the best server award, which to date is my first individual award. Although we lost the tournament this year, I wasn’t disappointed with our performance because I know the situations we faced as a team to get there and I believe we held strong, performed the best we could have and fought really hard for the championship,“ Kristoff expressed.

OVERCOMING CHALLENGES
“ Life as a working student athlete can be quite challenging because you have to go to work for eight hours, then you have to go to classes and you still have to find time to train and perfect your craft and trust me if you don’t have a goal in mind, you would not be motivated to train. Motivation for me comes from the fact that I want the opportunity to play volleyball at an International and if push comes to shove, gain a spot on one of the best volleyball team in the world,“ Shepperd indicated.

Amidst his athletic goals, after reading for his degree at the University, he is expected to begin working towards attaining Master’s Degree in either Sports Representation and Management or Project Management. It is Kristoff’s Personal belief that more can be done for athletes in Guyana, but only if someone steps up and take on the responsibility, hence the reason for his interest in the aforesaid fields of study.

In his advice to upcoming young athletes, he implored them to have a goal to work towards and no matter what to continue to work for towards attaining that goal, not to allow anything or anyone to stop them from reaching higher heights and to remember that individual training is a vital factor in the enhancement of their game productivity.