As clouds gather and humidity rises across west Africa, whose annual rains bring an uptick of deadly, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, Musa Adamu Ibrahim, a nurse, is sitting at home, unemployed.

Hollering instructions only he may have fully understood, coach Koji Tsuzurabara still delivered his message loud and clear – so clear, it shattered the once-mighty aura of the Creamline Cool Smashers ...