Kenyanstar Magazine Volume 1, Issue 4

KENYANSTAR APR-JUN 2012 1

Volleyball

2 KENYANSTAR APR-JUN 2012

Volleyball


SOCCER

TENNIS

CRICKET

RUGBY

GOLF

SPOTLIGHT

ATHLETICS

OPINION

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44

16

20

Sports Management

Know Your Game; Tenis

Cricket Wings in Kenya

Expand Your VocabularyKenya FifteensKnow Your Star

Barclays Kenya Open

The Nairobi School Nurturing Rugby Talent

Kenya’s Olympic Journey

Sports and Drugs

INSIDE

Orange Mabingwa TournamentI Can Handle any Team; Michael KulaliThe Star of the StarletsKPL; Millions of Shillings Exchange Hands

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EDITOR’SNOTE

ADMINISTRATIONSamuel Eyinda([email protected])Booker Ngesa([email protected])

MANAGING EDITORMichael Kwambo ([email protected])

EDITORIALPeninah NjakweGregory MulemiStephanie HaanFrancis OntomwaCarrey OmbakaMwangi GichauKenyatta Otieno

SALES AND ADVERTISINGHabiba Rashid([email protected])

SUBSCRIPTIONSFanuel Andwati([email protected])

DESIGN AND LAYOUTAlex Ireri([email protected])

PHOTOGRAPHYPeninah NjakweGregory Mulemi

EDITED BY:Maureen OnyangoArticulate Edits LimitedP.O. Box 101011- [email protected]@gmail.com

Kenyanstar

@Kenyanstar

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part with-out written permission from the editor is strictly prohibited

A Publication of Intercontinental Publishers LtdP.O Box 45754 nairobiTel:4443649/50/72Fax:4443650Cell: 0700126608Email:[email protected]

www.kenyanstar.co.ke

KENYANSTAR TEAM

2012 is a significant year for Kenya. Politics aside, this is also the year that our brothers and sisters with feet that can fly will do us proud. We are optimistic that in the coming London 2012 Olympics, the Kenyan Anthem will be sung numerous times. The more times it is sung the more gold we will bag. For those who may not be aware of our track record in these games then all is not lost. One of our writers has traced Kenya’s performance in the Olympic Games since 1956. And as the country prepares to put its best feet in London we at the Kenyan Star will be here to update you on the selection, training and performance of out athletes.It is also at this time of the year that many companies will come out to sponsor athletes during training and even award them after good performance. This is why the magazine has focused on the important role played by corporates in supporting local teams through sponsorships. Now, take a moment and think, How would it feel to be the last person in the country to know that you have been fired, embarrassed or maybe angry? Well this is one of the fears that many of our coaches live with everyday. With jobs that have no security and what determines whether you are in or out is the fans’ emotional status and the players performance. Most of the coaches learn through the media that they have been fired even before they receive official communication. In this issue KenyanStar explores the trend and ways of reversing it as a way of improving performance of our local teams.

Game OnEnjoy

Maureen


FEEDBACK

Dear editor,I’m very disappointed with the edition 3 of Kenyanstar magazine. With Jonas Nahimana’s photo on the cover, I expected that I would read a lot about him in the maga-zine only to find a brief bio of him. However, I do think that the con-tent is of very good quality. I would like more stories in the magazine. Sharon Adenyi

H i Kenyanstar, we in Tana North district in Madogo di-vision have been doing soc-

cer trainings of young stars since 2008. We appreciate your efforts of highlighting young talents and hope that the same is extended to our side.

Richard Mambo

Having come to the end of 2011 KPL football action,I would be mean if I dont

pass my kudos to you. Your site has been of great importance to me. I have been viewing Kenyan-star in social media and incase I miss a live action. You have done a great job for updating us upto date actions in the world of foot-ball. Keep up the spirit.

John Atigara

What would YOU wantus to write about andcover in Kenyanstar?Is there anything you think is being done wellor badly?Send your feedback andsuggestions to [email protected]

Hello, I’m happy with the good work Kenyanstar is doing in coverage of Kenyan sports. I’m

particularly happy with the cricket story on page 12. I wish to request for details on how upcoming junior foot-ball team in Shihuli, Kakamega called Evestar FC can be featured and get to participate in upcoming activities.

Evelyn MukandaKakamega.

Cricket is a gentleman’s

game, so they say. It is a

bat-and-ball game played

between two teams of 11

players each. One team bats trying to

score as many runs as possible while

the other team bowls and fields trying

to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit

the runs scored by the batting team.

An average Kenyan adult will not un-

derstand the short description above.

The game is mostly played by mem-

bers of the Indian community who live

in the upmarket suburbs west of Nai-

robi. But for many primary school chil-

dren of Huruma in Eastlands, this is a

sport that they understand very well

thanks to one Niconory Abwamba.

25 year old Abwamba is a cricket

pioneer in Eastlands. He founded a

cricket academy in Huruma in Febru-

ary 2011. He has been volunteering to

train children in the estate and also in

schools such as Daima, Huruma and

Ndururumo Primary Schools.

wNick, as he is best known, does all

this out of the passion he has for crick-

et and gets nothing in return. “I am not

paid a salary but am happy because

am giving back to the society. Playing

and coaching cricket has kept me from

alcohol, drugs and other social evils

here in the ghetto,’’ said Nick.

Nick coaches his Huruma Focus U-13

team of both boys and girls. He also

currently plays for the Kenya Kongonis

Cricket Club, who made it to the final of

the 2011 East Africa Premier League.

He aims at developing and nurturing

talent from this low income area. “Huku

ghetto kuna talent sana,’’ (There is a

lot of talent here), he said.

When he started the project with four

players only, Nick was using an arm-

chair as stumps. He had one ball and

one wooden bat. He later obtained

more cricket equipment from the De-

velopment Manager at Railways Club

after completing a coaching course.

Credentials and Successes

He is an International Cricket Council

certified coach. He has completed sev-

eral training courses among them the

Introductory Cricket Coaching course,

ICC Level 1 Cricket Coaching course,

Cricket Scorer Training Course and ICC

Cricket Administrators Programme. He

hopes to have completed the ICC Lev-

el 2 and 3 Coaching Course in the next

one year.

Nick was introduced to cricket at Peter

Kibukosya Primary School in Umoja

at Standard 4. Upon completing his

secondary education, he joined Stray

Lions Cricket Club in 2006, where he

played on and off until 2009. In early

2011, he was recruited by his current

club Kongonis. He hopes to make the

Kenya A team soon.

Abwamba says that he lacked funds to

pursue further studies, a story told by

many young people in Eastlands. He

had a dream of becoming a doctor but

this went up in smoke. He tried his luck

during military recruitment but didn’t

make it due to corruption and com-

petition. He is however satisfied with

cricket although he encounters many

challenges.

Scarcity of Funds

“Our biggest challenge is funding. We

need more equipment and kits and

even a training pitch. We don’t have a

permanent base or office. The children

play without any protectective gear.

This is very risky, most of them come

from poor families and some of them

are orphans. Sometimes they come for

training even without eating.’’ “ I would

like to appeal to any sponsor to come

on board so that this talent doesn’t

waste away,’’ he added.

Nick’s goal is to spread and develop

the game in other parts of the expan-

sive Eastlands area like Dandora, Kari-

obangi, Kayole and Mathare. He also

plans to introduce cricket for the dis-

abled, which is currently not available

in Kenya.

“Even the disabled are talented and

can play cricket. They can bowl, bat,

catch and even run. In Uganda, dis-

abled people play cricket. Am planning

to introduce that here in Huruma.

“My dream is to make this place a small

India, where everybody plays cricket

even in the streets.’’

Several of the girls he has trained

have joined top cricket clubs like Athi

Mambas, Chania Sharks, Yala Whales

and Tana Dolphins. Four of them have

been called up to the Kenya U-19 team

that was scheduled to play against

Tanzania in a World Cup qualifier in

December. One of these girls, Faith

Mwende of Chania Sharks, won the

Most Promising Player Award at the

2011 20 Obuya Tournament played at

Nairobi Jeffreys Club.

Nick has been training more than 60

children on the dusty estate grounds

every weekend for over six months

now and the numbers keep rising.

Whenever he is not availabe, his broth-

er Ishmael Abwamba, who is a trained

cricket umpire, stands in for him.

“I thank God for everything and I pray

that one day, my dream will be fulfilled.

I know God will help me even to get

sponsors,” concluded the unemployed

but determined Nick.

With this initiative, Kenya’s cricketting

future looks promising.

Young pioneer opens

cricket academy. As

children in Huruma

learn and love the game

Eastland’s

Cricket

Pioneer

By Mwangi Gichau

CRICKET

CRICKET

12 KENYANSTAR JAN-MAR 2012

KENYANSTAR JAN-MAR 2012 13

READER’S RESPONSE

LETTERS

1. When did Kenya win gold in the men’s 4 X 400m relay at the Olympics?

2. Who is the current coach of the Kenya U-20 women’s football team?

Send your answers to [email protected] and stand a chance of winning Kenyanstar merchandise including a free copy of the fifth edition.

KENYANSTAR TRIVIA; Answer & WIN!!!!!

Volleyball Volleyball


T he passion for soccer is not something that can be built over night. Playing soccer is some-

thing that a person does from the moment he or she is introduced to the game to the moment one seizes to be part of the game.Age barriers have been a hin-drance to many people but for some, the passion and love of the game grows by age. Travel-ling down to Thika reveals the passion which people have for football. The Thika veterans are an example of people who would give up anything just to make sure that they enjoy playing soc-cer.With fifteen years of existence, the team has come of age to be-coming one of the most respect-ed outfits in Thika town. Most players who play for the veterans have come of age and discipline is what keeps most of them fit.

Using the game to inspire the youthBrigadier Owino who is the pa-tron of the club says that most

of the members are professionals who have decide to keep fit and make sure that they become role models to other members of the society and the youth in Thika.The club which was started fif-teen years ago has progressed to becoming a force to reckon due to its impact in changing people’s lives in the area.‘We have travelled to many places in the country. When we play other teams, we make sure that we help the teams through donation of equipment that can be used in soccer development.’ Says Brigadier Owino.‘This is a social club that meets here every Sunday. We train to-gether every Sunday and this keeps us fit. We have very good structures which are strictly fol-lowed and nobody misses train-ing.’

Only passion can overcome the challenges The passion in the team is time-less and this is seen in the way the veterans play. Most of the team members here are ap-

proaching retirement age but constant practice and commit-ment is what is driving them to-wards achieving what they start-ed a decade and a half ago. ‘“If I wasn’t playing football I’d probably be six fit under,’ says Brigadier OwinoThe Veterans have recruited youth into their program and rewards are slowly coming. Through the youth recruitment program, several big names in the KPL like Yusuf Juma of Gor Mahia, Geoffery Simiyu of Thika United, Stephen Ocholla of Ulinzi Stars and Joseph Mwangi who plies his trade in Rwanda have benefitted from the Thika Veter-ans program.‘We have promoted a lot of youth through our program and we in-tend to do this a notch higher. Currently we are sponsoring a lot of youth teams in Thika and this is bearing fruits.’The Thika veterans train every Sunday to keep fit and make friends and this is what has kept them together for long. The club is registered by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and this makes it possible to attract people aboard in the quest for nurturing more talent and making sure that the veterans keep fit. The team trains every weekend at the BAT grounds in Thika as Sunday since most of the players are busy during the week.

TOO OLD? ALL YOU NEED IS PASSIONBy Peninah Njakwe

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R egardless of the rea-sons to get fired most employers are noble enough to handle

this devastating action in con-fidence. But like politicians who learn of their sacking on press coaches are now facing the same scenarios.Many a coach has lost their job unceremoniously after it was determined that the fans were not satisfied. Such disgruntle-ment of fans is seen through so-cial networks where they can go to the extent of forming groups and petitions to have a coach dismissed.The rate at which the coaches are sacked goes to show that the moment the fans are dis-satisfied (loosing a match) then its time to pack and leave. This lack of patience from fans is

seen across all sports in Kenya and watching any sports bul-letin you will find a disgruntled coach complaining of his unfair dismissal and a new coach over-zealously talking of what plans he has for his or her new team.The channel used to communi-cate their dismissal is also wor-risome. More often than not the coaches learn that they have been sacked through the press and social networks. Take the example of a coach being approached by media to comment on his sacking yet he is not even aware he has been sacked.One such big name is rugby coach Benjamin Ayimba who was sacked via e-mail. However before he even read his e-mail the news was already spreading in the social networks and main stream media.His performance not withstand-ing the coach had to face this humiliation. Coach Ayimba had taken Kenya to the semi-final stage in the world cup and had been ranked as Kenya’s best coach having had an excellent

IS KENYA DOING IT WRONGSPORTS MANAGEMENT;

Loosing a match in Kenya is a sad event for the fans but doom for the coach. As Carry Ombaka & Michael Kwambo writes the fans can liter-ally send the coach home

SOCCER

Hussein Mohammed and Sam Nyamweya shake hands after the Kenya football elections


record in sevens rugby.Rugby giants Impala R.F.C also parted ways with their coach Bill Githinji replacing him with former club captain Innocent Simiyu. The main reason for his sacking was due to poor results posted by the club in the first leg of the Kenya Cup season.The recent sacking of Gor Ma-hia’s Cameroonian Head Coach Anaba Awono. The tactician was literally hounded out of of-fice after barely five months in charge. He took over the coach-ing duties in late 2011 and man-aged to steady the ship, guiding the side to a fourth place fin-ish in that season’s KPL.His side would have a slow start to the 2012 campaign and he would be given his marching orders after just three games. Club legend John “Bobby” Ogolla would take

over for just one game, on what the public would later learn was on an interim basis before Croat Zdravko Logarusic was given the mantle. While the Gor admin-istration were genuinely con-cerned about their league plac-ing, they lacked patience with Awono.

Kenya should learn from es-tablished clubsAlex Ferugson joined Manches-ter United somewhere in England in 1986 but it was not until 1990 that the side claimed its first trophy, the FA Cup. They would win their league the following year, and have not stopped win-ning since. They have grown to rule the English game and com-mand a lot of respect on the Eu-ropean stage. The team’s administration was patient enough, and gave him the requisite support. Sadly, these actions are unheard of locally. Teams go through lean spells, and define themselves through those lean spells. That is where a team’s character and

the planning ability of a coach comes to the fore, it brings out resilience.

The way forwardComing up with performance contracts for our coaches could be a big step towards revers-ing this trend. Having an official way of monitoring who is per-forming and who is not will avoid emotional sacking of coaches. Coaches and teams work hand in hand therefore they need to create a good rapport and have a bond. This bond takes time to achieve and it is only when there is an understanding be-tween the two parties that good results can begin to be seen.As long as a coach is profes-sional and he or she need not work under fear and duress. But with job security and a good working relationship then fans will expect the team to perform. If this does not happen then the authorities can take action based on the contracts and fire professionally.

Interference from the fansThe fans build on the thrill of the game. They motivate the players and push them to greater levels to ensure success of the teams. But should the fans be allowed to interfere with the manage-ment of the teams. Yes and No. Yes through petitions they can challenge coaches and manage-ments that are corrupt; And No when it comes to gauging the professionalism of the coach by one lost match. Dismal performance from the team does not necessarily mean that the coach did not do his job. How many times to big teams loose due to other rea-sons relating to the players and not the coach?

SOCCER

Oserian FC versus Rangers FC in a Kenya Premier League match.

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T his year’s Africa Cup of Nations witnessed tre-mendous strides made in making the tourna-

ment popular to people. Unlike the past events which lacked publicity, this year’s edition has sparked the continent with joy and this is what football needs for quick development. The AF-CON is traditionally fought tooth and nail as regional rivals duke it out to claim continental brag-ging rights. Orange’s sponsorship to year’s competition has had an impact and this is what is needed for soccer development.In 2009, Orange telecom, rela-tively new in the Kenyan mar-

ket, made a mark in the local soccer scene by sponsoring the annual CECAFA senior challenge cup that was held in Nairobi and Mumias. Through this, the com-pany had a vision of having one team from the region participate in the 2014 World Cup finals in Rio de Janeiro.The current African Champions Zambia was represented in the tournament and they got the ex-posure they needed. Out of the 11 players that won the Cup of nations, nine players took part in the CECAFA senior challenge cup. With such and exposure and gesture from one of the world’s leading Telkom companies, the Zambians might thank CECAFA and Orange for the experience.Normally, we underestimate the role of cooperate institutions in the development of football but with the recent soccer tourna-ments and sponsorships, many people in the country have start-ed thinking otherwise.

Soccer Development Projects The projects that have been initi-ated by corporate institutions in recent times have made it possi-ble for people to get the best out of the hundreds of soccer talents in the country. As a matter of fact, the Kenya Premier League and nationwide league cannot tap all the talent in the country. Getting opportunities in any club in the top flight is sometimes very hard and the introduction of talent search tournaments and soccer fetes make it possible for some of the talent to be spotted.

Mabingwa soccer Tounament fires the youthMany corporate companies take the development and support at the grass root level. The Orange Mabingwa soccer Tournament that was held last year set the whole country ablaze as youth teams battled out for the cov-eted trophy that is sponsored by the giant Telkom Company. Com-

ORANGE MABINGWA SOCCER TOURNAMENT

“Corporate institutions have been on the forefront in making sure that the most loved sport in the continent stays alive.”

SOCCER

By Gregory Mulemi

Orange Mabingwa 2011 Champions Baba Dogo primary School.

Volleyball


corporate institutions that just sit and watch as talent is being wasted. Champions are created from exposure and this is what some corporate societies have done to the improvement of soc-cer in the country.During the Orange Mabingwa soccer tournament, Orange had lined up several activities to drive up public awareness for the tournament and ostensibly to change the public percep-tion about local soccer and this proved successful as many peo-ple had a chance to watch fu-ture football stars play in front of their mentors free of charge. With the improvement of soccer standards being the main tar-get, the corporate institutions like Orange Kenya have gone an extra mile to do that through 100% sponsorship. With the standards set and a new foot-ball administration, it is hoped that many other corporate in-stitutions will come up and sup-port local tournaments and help young footballers aspire to their dreams and become the Messi’s of Kenya.

pany CEO Mikael Ghosein said the league was meant to create a shift from corporate support be-ing mainly aimed at the top levels of the game and to introduce in-novate, fun, interactive and high return on investment projects that captivate the mass public. The league that is played annual-ly involves children under the age of 13years and since its inaugu-ration; the tournament has been the focal point for many with many scouts hoping to tap talent from the participating players. With players from around Nairobi taking part in the tournament, young players got a chance to play in the tournament some-thing which created an avenue for many of the players to be noticed by football scouts from local clubs and international set outs. Residents and schools around Nairobi had a chance of getting a glimpse of the upcoming soc-cer stars. With the tournament being run in a league format, the participating teams had no other-wise but to perform.

So what role do the institu-tions play?Corporate institutions have a big role in the development of soc-cer in the country and sponsor-ships like that of Orange to the Orange Mabingwa soccer league has posed a challenge to other

SOCCER

Angela Mumo Head of Marketing Orange Kenya awards a trophy to tournament winners in the girls category

Phillip Kisia Nairobi town clerk awards a trophy to tournament winners in the boys category

Jack Oguda KPL CEO awarding the best player of the tournament in the boys category Brian Wekesa.

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Michael Kulali

E ver since joining Mako-landas in 1996, he has grown from a player to a coach and he is raring to

go. He is the head coach of Ma-kolandas FC which is participat-ing in the National Girls Premier League and the assistant coach for the Sportsconnect FC which is participating in the Nairobi County League. When we met him train-ing the Girls premier league out-fit at the Shepherds Foundation

grounds in Buruburu, the team was training with the men’s team and Kulali said that this is normal and the girls are used to it.‘I took up the challenge of coach-ing the ladies and this made me withdraw all stereotypes about them. The ladies understand more easily and when you get along with them, you will always have an easier time with them.’Since joining Makolandas men’s team in 1996, Okang’o has never

I CAN HANDLE ANY TEAM MEN OR WOMENDECLARES MICHAEL KULALI

Coaching women is the most difficult thing. This is accord-ing to Harambee Starlets coach, Florence Adhiambo, women are sometimes hard to understand and this makes it hard for them to perform to the expected standards. Despite all those dif-ficulties, Michael Kulali Okang’o has found this a passion.

PROFILE

By Gregory Mulemi

Michael Kulali speaks to players of Kenya Under 20 Womens Team.


looked back. He played for the team under the youth program and through this; he was able to represent the side in various tour-naments in the country.‘I was sure that I had the ability to change someone’s life and af-ter getting through with my play-ing career, I was given the coach-ing role for both the men and the women’s teams.’With coaching the two sides be-ing a challenge, Kulali says that he finds it easier to make the two sides train together especially when he does not have a full house.“The boys train with the ladies comfortably and they have no problem with that. I had to adapt to this method because most of our players go to school and train-ing has to go on. I handle both the men and women teams because most of the time, my head coach (Florence Adhiambo) is away with the Harambee Starlets.’

Still nurturing talent and play-ing big gamesThe Sports Connect men’s soccer team has come of age and it is gradually becoming a stable outfit. Kulali says that the initial project of nurturing talent from Nairobi’s Eastlands region did bear fruits but with the changing times, the insti-tution had to change and partici-pate in the league.‘We have seen progress at Sports Connect and right now I think we are heading in the right direction. We started with a small group of boys aged 8-14 years but steadily the institution grew bigger and up to now, we have 267 beneficiar-ies from Sports Connect and I am proud to be part of that team.’When one looks at Mike, he looks like an 18-year old. He is actually an experienced player and coach and he says that his secret lies in discipline.

‘In everything you do, you must have discipline. I normally tell my players that discipline is key to every success and those who have heeded to this have succeeded.’The soft spoken tactician pays trib-ute to the impact the Sports Con-nect initiative has done to the soci-ety and says that this cannot come any better than it has done.‘We have produced several world class players who have played in the top flight while some have gotten scholarships and are ply-ing their trade in Europe and USA. Some of our players are playing in the Kenya Premier League and this gives the others hope.’

Counting the Successes Among the notable players who have come from Sports Connect include Chris Ojiambo formerly of AFC Leopards, Mike Simiyu of Sony Sugar, Derrick Otieno of Bedjos and Ezekiel Odera of KCB. Apart from the success, Kulali feels that he is yet to achieve what he wants in life. He says that his prior-ity is to let kids learn first then have

the fun later. He trains Makolandas girls’ football team and Sports Con-nect FC from Tuesday to Friday be-fore the weekend engagements. With everybody drawing inspira-tion from somewhere, Kulali ad-mires his boss Florence Adhiambo “Kadwaro” and Harambee Stars coach Francis Kimanzi.‘Kimanzi for me is an example of the kind of coaches we need for Kenya to move forward in soccer. For Kadwaro, she is an inspiration to the girl child and that is why I admire her. The founder of Sports Connect Habil Nanjero is definitely my role model and his exploits in volunteering are very encourag-ing. I would like to emulate him in future. ’As we part ways with Mike, he summons his team and gives them instructions. Through this, a sense of authority is seen and the respect the players have for him sends out a clear picture that he surely has something to give to the talented youth who ply their trade here.

PROFILE

Michael Kulali

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N airobi City Stadium is where I meet her. Florence Adhiambo stands tall and all her instruc-tions to the team are followed

to the letter. Not that she is harsh while at it but it is the care and understand-ing with which she trains the girls that has seen her hit the headlines for all the right reasons.When KenyanStar catches up with her the Kenya U-20 women’s team was pre-paring for a FIFA U-20 World Cup quali-fier match against Tunisia. Popularly known as “Kadwaro”, Adhiambo started playing for Makolandas in 1996 and she has since then progressed to becoming a well known football coach both at club and national team level. She is the assis-tant coach of the Makolandas women’s soccer team which is currently playing in the National Girls premier league. Speaking about her association with the game, Adhiambo says, ‘One day I was watching Eastlander’s girls play in the estate and when the ball went out of play, I juggled it and that is when I got an invitation to play for Eastlander’s and

Kadwaro as she is popularly known is a force to reckon with. Not only does she train her girls to be “men” in the field but she also wants them to be inspired and women of impact in the society.

THE STAROF THE STARLETS

PROFILE

By Gregory Mulemi

Florence Adhiambo

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ences that I got, I was able to find myself coaching.’

Can she handle the older teams?Adhiambo is however not ready to coach the senior women’s team. She says that coaching women is quite tough and when she was given the U-20 role she was hesitant but accepted the chal-lenge later on.‘Girls are always very tough headed and that is why I prefer coaching the boys.’She also doubles up as the Mako-landas assistant coach and she manages this well.‘My motivation comes from my husband Habil Nanjero. He has always been by my side. He keeps motivating me and this is what has made succeed. ‘The tactician plans extend her services to the community by helping women coaches with skills in coaching. With a cabinet full of trophies and medals, the Eastland’s born soccer queen is leaving no stone unturned as she continues climbing the hard rock before she achieves what she wants in the end.

training session at the Railways club before heading to the stadium. The South Africans did not notice who we were as they were being driven to the Nyayo Stadium and they never knew that we were prepared for them. ‘Kenyan girls stunned their hosts 1-0 courtesy of a Rose Anyango goal, a result that surprised the South Africans who knew that they were coming for a walkover.‘Infact they (South Africans) had underrated us and we had to play our hearts out to make sure that we carried the day. I remember giving Anyango the pass and she made no mistake.’Adhiambo draws inspiration from her glittering career and is out to ensure to that the girls achieve the best they possibly can in all that they set out to do. After winding up her playing career, sitting on the sideline was not easy for her and for someone as talented as her, she felt that it was time to give back to society. ‘I always tell my players to have a vision because you cannot succeed if you are not focused. I had a big role when I was playing soccer and I believe through the experi-

that was the starting point of my career.’ Since her introduction to soccer, Adhiambo has made tre-mendous strides in the quest for success and has so far exceeded her expectations.‘I never thought that I would be coaching at national team level. It is through God’s will that I am doing this and I will continue doing this as long as I am capable of doing so.’ She said.The soft-spoken coach has rep-resented Kenya in different levels during her career. She says, ‘I have represented the country in matches in Uganda, Tanzania, and in the USA during the Dallas cup. Through that exposure, I have been able to meet many people and professionals who have impacted positively on my life.’

The Best MemoriesA lifetime of playing soccer is fun in most cases and memo-rable moments must occur. For Adhiambo, the 1999 soccer match against South Africa remains her most memorable moment to date.‘I remember playing South Africa in 1999. Our team was assembled in one day and we had a one hour

PROFILE

Harambee Starlets

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OF SHILLINGS EXCHANGE HANDSAS CLUBS RUSH FOR BEST PLAYERS

MILLIONS

SOCCER

Record signings (Left;Allan Wanga,Right;Erick Masika)

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I nvesting in something wisely always brings good results this has been evi-dent in the KPL as early

premier league pacesetters AFC Leopards and Sofapaka seem to be running away from the pack with eight games played. Any result in football counts and this has been proved in the recent past by the sides which made massive buys during the transfer period.AFC Leopards grabbed the head-lines once again with the big spending sprees. The club did one of the most controversial buys in recent times by signing former Gor Mahia kingpin Eric Masika for a massive Sh450,000 transfer fee. The club also went forth to sign

Victor Ochieng’, Abbas Kiwabye and Armon Muchiri to bolster the squad that was already perfoming well under the stewardship of Jan Koops and Mickey Weche. With the first half of the season gone, many football fans have started judging the club’s perfor-mances from the results each club is posting after the matches. Big spenders AFC Leopards have been on the romp and have gotten good results from the matches they have played so far. Just like AFC Leopards, many pre-mier league sides did some trans-fers to gear up for the season. During this period, a total of Sh2.66, million exchanged hands between clubs. Leopards spent

Sh835,000, Gor Mahia cashed out Sh610,000 on nine players, Tusker Sh260,000, Ulinzi Sh210,000, Sofapaka Sh35,000, Oserian Sh90,000, Muhoroni Sh40,000 with Karuturi and Rangers using only Sh5,000.

The matches so farOn the opening day of the season, Ingwe struggled to beat Chemelil Sugar but the inclusion of Allan Wanga in the next match against Mathare United sparked some flames in attack and they have not dropped points in the match-es played between February and March 2012. Despite the signings made by sev-eral teams, the KPL season has

As football fanatism in Kenya hits peak many local teams have geared up to economi-cally sustain their players and even put finances aside to buy players from other teams. Clubs are spending millions to get the players they want.

SOCCER

By Gregory MulemiJacob Kelly (KCB No.7) moved from Mathare FC to KCB

Volleyball


witnessed a lot of shocks and dis-appointments. 2008 Champions Mathare United have had a season to forget. The Slum boys had to wait for seven matches to regis-ter their first win of the season. Coach Gabriel Kingi Njoroge who succeeded Salim Ali found life dif-ficult and as it is a common trend in Kenya, Kingi got a boot in March for poor results. Just like Kingi, Gor Mahia parted ways with Cam-eroonian Anaba Awono after he managed to win only one game in two months for K’Ogalo. The giants have been on a slump and even after securing the services of former Sofapaka tactician John Bobby Ogolla, Gor could not get out of the woods. The coming of Croat national Dravko Lugorusic seem to have sparked some hope to the side and getting Gor to a respectable position would be his first major assignment. Only Chemelil Sugar and AFC Leopards have conceded goals this season and this is an indica-tion of how tactical the two sides are. With only two goals conced-ed so far, Chemelil seem to be on the upward trend. At the close of last season, the side lost Victor Ochieng’ and Abass Kiwalabye to AFC Leopards but this has not shaked the squad. Muhoroni Youth have shocked everyone with their performance. The side which used to participate in the low profile KFF nationwide league has caused upsets in the league and they seem to be going for nothing but a win in very as-signment they take. A 1-0 victory over Gor Mahia back in February sent a tough warning to oppo-nents and ever since, they have been on the upward trend. They

almost caused another upset later in March when they played AFC Leopards at the Nyayo Stadium but the spirited fight of Jan Koops men did the damage as they came from behind to win 2-1.

League’s ShortcomingsWith so much to talk about in the KPL, the shortcomings in the league cannot be ignored. Perenni-al strugglers City Stars have had a difficult time in the campaign while Rangers seem to be having one of those soap operas than never ends with Daima Milk. Lack of sponsor-ship and poor officiating seem to be denting the image of the now popular league in the region. The incidents that marred the derby match between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards on 18th of March cast a dark shadow to the league and once again the KPL was put on spotlight. The KPL score chat has been inter-esting with Kepher Aswani leading the pack with seven goals. Jacob Kelly took an early stride getting five quick goals for KCB before going on a slump but this has not stopped his side from getting im-pressive results and playing beauti-ful football at the same time. Ulinzi stars have had one of their worst seasons in Premier league history and they have been soaking in goals at will leading to the sack-ing of Coach Bernard Nyangweso.The once dreaded side seems to be heading for tatters and maybe a new coach can change the for-tunes for the 2010 KPL champions. With the league still at the devel-opment stage and with the first leg only halfway, many people will be following keenly the league table after the conclusion of the first leg.

SOCCER

Rangers’ Joseph Njuguna aka Pablo

Volleyball


season twice with Karuturi Sports. His vast experience and discipline has made Tass a household name in Naivasha. The defender now in his prime years as a player seem to be maturing with age and his experience has played a major role in making sure that his new side keeps respectable scorelines.

HASSAN “Rio” MOHAMMED-UlinziPrevious club: Congo UnitedFee: Sh5 000With the aging Ulinzi defense, getting new blood is the only solution. The cen-tral defender is slowly growing and will be a big asset to the Soldiers in their bid to getting back to a respectable KPL po-sition and hopefully the league title. His ability to deal with aerial balls and man marking might be one of the reasons for his signing and if he clicks into the squad, he will bring some punch to the squad. RAMA SALIM (Gor Mahia)Previous club: Congo UnitedFee: Sh5 000Like Hassan Mohammed, Rama made it clear that he was not going back to the nationwide. He has quickly estab-lished himself at K’Ogalo and together with Collins Okoth, the two can make a deadly combination in midfield.

JERRY SANTOS (Tusker)Previous club: Simba Sports Club, Tan-zaniaFee: UndisclosedTusker fought off Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards to get his signature ad the former Simba skipper is finding the going well at Tusker especially with the absence of Crispin Olando.his combi-nation with Peter Opiyo and Fredrick Onyago is giving Sammy Pamzo Omollo some good time as he intends to defend his title.

BIG SPENDERS AND THEIREXPENDITUREERIC MASIKA (AFC Leopards)Previous club: Gor MahiaFee: Sh450 000The PPO was a hero at Gor but when he crossed over to the ‘noisy neigbours’ he was called all sorts of names. He has quickly established a good partnership with Jonas Na-himana and together, the two have kept many strikers at bay. His inten-tion to play for Leopards was clear at the end of last season and this seem to have instilled a lot of confidence in him and he seems more com-posed and calm at Leopards as if he was there two seasons ago.

ABBAS KIWALABYE (AFC Leopards)Previous Club: Chemelil SugarFee: Sh380 000He was virtually unheard before his coming to the den. He started the league on a high note but his blister-ing start to the season was cut short by a knee injury. His dangerous crosses and surging runs made him an instant hit at Ingwe but his best is yet to come.

ABDALLA JUMA (Sofapaka)Previous Club: RangersFee: Sh5 000The former Rangers man has scored spectacular goals for Batoto ba Mungu. His goal against his former side Rangers and a beauty of a free kick against Ulinzi stars has made him a household name to all KPL lovers. His accurate passes have made him one of the most estab-lished left backs in the league.

TOM “Tass” ONYANGO (Oserian)Previous club: KaruturiFee: Sh5 000He was voted the defender of the

SOCCER

Leopards’ Victor Ochieng

Gor Mahia’s Ramah Salim


The BasicsTennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent’s court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of soci-ety at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheel-chairs.Tennis is enjoyed by millions of recreational players and is also a hugely popular worldwide specta-tor sport, especially the four Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the “Majors”): the Austral-ian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played

on grass courts, and the US Open played also on hard courts.

EquipmentRacquetsThe components of a tennis rac-quet include a handle, known as the grip, connected to a neck which joins a roughly elliptical frame that holds a matrix of tightly pulled strings.Under modern rules of tennis, the racquet must adhere to the follow-ing guidelines;• The hitting area, composed of

the strings, must be flat and generally uniform.

• The frame of the hitting area may not be more than 29 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width.

• The entire racquet must be of a fixed shape, size, weight,

and weight distribution. There may not be any energy source built into the racquet.

• The racquet must not provide any kind of communication, instruction or advice to the player during the match.

The rules regarding racquets have changed over time, as material and engineering advances have been made. For example, the maximum length of the frame had been 32 inches until 1997, when it was shortened to 29 inches.

Tennis BallsTennis balls are of hollow rubber with a felt coating. Traditionally white, the predominant color was gradually changed to Optic Yellow in the latter part of the 20th cen-tury to allow for improved visibility.

KNOW YOUR GAME- TENNIS

TENNIS

By Peninah Njakwe


CourtTennis is played on a rectangular, flat surface, usually grass, clay, a hardcourt of concrete and/or asphalt and occasionally carpet (indoor). The court is 78 feet (23.77 m) long, and 27 feet (8.23 m) wide for singles matches and 36 ft (10.97 m) for doubles match-es. Additional clear space around the court is required in order for players to reach overrun balls. A net is stretched across the full width of the court, parallel with the baselines, dividing it into two equal ends. The net is 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) high at the posts and 3 feet (91.4 cm) high in the center.

How to ScoreA tennis match is determined through the best of three or five sets. While recreational players may agree to play any number of sets, depending upon time avail-ability or stamina, on the profes-sional circuit, including all four Grand Slam tournaments, Davis Cup, and the final of the Olympic Games, women play three-set matches, while men play five-set matches. For men, the first player to win three sets wins the match, and for women, the first player to win two sets wins the match. A set consists of games, and games, in turn, consist of points.A game consists of a sequence of points played with the same player serving. A game is won by the first player to have won at least four points in total and at least two points more than the opponent. The running score of each game is described in a manner peculiar to tennis: scores from zero to three points are described as “love”, “fif-teen”, “thirty”, and “forty” respec-tively (see Tennis score.) If at least three points have been scored by each player, making the player’s

scores equal at forty apiece, the score is not called out as “forty-forty”, but rather as “deuce”. If at least three points have been scored by each side and a player has one more point than his op-ponent, the score of the game is “advantage” for the player in the lead. During informal games, “ad-vantage” can also be called “ad in” when the serving player is ahead, or “ad out” when the receiving player is ahead.The score of a tennis match during play is always read with the serv-ing player’s score first. In tourna-ment play, the chair umpire calls the point count (e.g., “fifteen-love”) after each point. At the end of a game, the chair umpire also announces the winner of the game and the overall score.A game point occurs in tennis whenever the player who is in the lead in the game needs only one more point to win the game. The terminology is extended to sets (set point), matches (match point), and even championships (championship point). For exam-ple, if the player who is serving

has a score of 40-love, the player has a triple game point (triple set point, etc.) as the player has three consecutive chances to win the game. Game points, set points, and match points are not part of official scoring and are not announced by the chair umpire in tournament play.A break point occurs if the receiv-er, not the server, has a chance to win the game with the next point. Break points are of particular im-portance because serving is gen-erally considered advantageous, with the server being expected to win games in which they are serv-ing. A receiver who has one (score of 30–40), two (score of 15–40) or three (score of love-40) consecu-tive chances to win the game has break point, double break point or triple break point, respectively. A set consists of a sequence of games played with service alter-nating between games, ending when the count of games won meets certain criteria. Typically, a player wins a set by winning at least six games and at least two games more than the opponent.

TENNIS


If one player has won six games and the opponent five, an ad-ditional game is played. If the leading player wins that game, the player wins the set 7–5. If the trailing player wins the game, a tie-break is played. A tie-break, played under a sepa-rate set of rules, allows one player to win one more game and thus the set, to give a final set score of 7–6. In tournament play, the chair umpire announces the end of the match with the well-known phrase “Game, set, match” fol-lowed by the winning person’s

or team’s name. The final score in sets is always read with the winning player’s score first, even if the winning player loses set(s) during the match (e.g., “6–2, 4–6, 6–0, 7–5”).

Rule variationsNo adThe first player or doubles team to win four points wins the game, regardless of whether the player or team is ahead by two points. When the game score reaches three points each, the receiver chooses which side of the court (advan-

tage court or deuce court) the service is to be delivered on the seventh and game-deciding point.

Pro setInstead of playing multiple sets, players may play one “pro set”. A pro set is first to 8 (or 10) games by a margin of two games, instead of first to 6 games. A 12-point tie-break is usually played when the score is 8–8 (or 10–10). These are often played with no-ad scor-ing.

Match tiebreakThis is sometimes played in-stead of a third set. This is played like a regular tiebreak, but the winner must win ten points instead of seven. Match tiebreaks are used in the Hopman Cup for mixed dou-bles, on the ATP and WTA tours for doubles and as a player’s choice in USTA league play.

SurfacesClayExamples are red clay (used at the French Open and many other tournaments, especially in Europe and Latin America) and green clay (an example of which is Har-Tru and used mainly in the U.S.). Clay courts normally have a slower paced ball and a fairly true bounce with more spin.

HardExamples are acrylic (e.g. Plexi-cushion used at the Australian Open, DecoTurf used at the US Open), asphalt, and concrete. Hardcourts typically have a faster-paced ball with a very true bounce.

TENNIS


GrassUsed at Wimbledon. Grass courts usually have a faster-paced ball, and a more erratic bounce. Wimbledon has slowed its courts over the years.

OfficialsIn most professional play and some amateur competition, there is an officiating head judge or chair umpire (usually referred to as the umpire), who sits in a raised chair to one side of the court. The umpire has absolute authority to make fac-tual determinations. The umpire may be assisted by line judges, who determine whether the ball has landed within the required part of the court and who also call foot faults. There also may be a net judge who determines whether the ball has touched the net during serviceThe referee, who is usually lo-cated off the court, is the final authority about tennis rules. When called to the court by a player or team captain, the referee may overrule the um-pire’s decision if the tennis rules were violated (question

of law) but may not change the umpire’s decision on a ques-tion of fact. If, however, the referee is on the court during play, the referee may overrule the umpire’s decision (This would ONLY happen in Davis Cup or Fed Cup matches, not at the World Group level, when a chair umpire from a non-neutral country is in the chair).

TournamentsTournaments are often organ-ized by gender and number of players. Common tournament configurations include men’s singles, women’s singles, and doubles, where two players play on each side of the net.

TENNIS


COVER STORY

Jonathan Nissan Meshami(Left) Francis Tepele Ole Naimado(Right)


CRICKET WINGSIN KENYA

She crossed boundaries to come to Kenya and change lives. A South African with a strong penchant for the sport of Cricket, Aliya Bauer is the brainchild behind the now famous Maasai Cricket Warriors (MCW). According to her, their endeavours have born fruits since inception; Maasai warriors are embracing the sport like no one’s business. She spoke to our writer FRANCIS ONTOMWA.

COVER STORY

Jonathan Nissan Meshami batting


youth groups spread across Lai-kipia North, Laikipia East and the Nanyuki area of Laikipia County in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. I have had the support of a UK based organization, Cricket With-out Boundaries (CWB) who have already visited our area twice, the first time was in November 2011 and later they came in the month of February this year. During the visits, we held successful cricket

I started off from humble beginnings by introducing cricket at a primary school, Il Polei Primary School in

Laikipia North in May 2007 while I was in the area managing a pri-mate research field project. With meagre resources at the time of conception of the idea, things started to change with time, today we have managed to intro-duce the sport in 25 schools and

coaching clinics for children in var-ious schools as well as coaching seminars for teachers and youths. In November last year, over 700 children from Laikipia joined the coaching clinic. We managed to conduct also both an Introduc-tory Cricket Coaching Course and a Level I Cricket Coaching Course and as things stand today, there are 58 teachers and youth who have passed and have since been confirmed as coaches.

Challenges and how to beat themOur biggest challenge now lies in providing and supplying all these schools with the necessary and required equipment to ensure the continuity of the game in the area and finding a way of helping those children and youth that we’ve identified with great potential to progress to the next level and to ensure that cricket continues to grow in the area.A programme called “’Cricket Kit for Africa” was launched in the UK in October 2011 with a mission to collect used cricket equipment that are still in usable condition, specifically for this programme. They have done a remarkable job and now the buck again stops with us. It has proved an uphill task for us to get the equipment to Kenya despite the encouraging gesture from the programme’s coordina-tors. However, I have recently managed to liaise with the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) and the equipment is due to be transported to Kenya with the next troop of soldiers due to travel to Kenya.Although things have been very challenging for the Maasai Cricket Programme, there are still hopes that we are destined to go far if we can get support and funding for this project.

COVER STORY


et be incorporated in school sports curriculum.Away from the sporting field, we are also involved in other human in-terest projects. We currently have one Children’s Home (Tumaini Chil-dren’s Home) in Nanyuki that takes care of orphaned children that are infected with HIV/Aids who are also part of our cricket programme. The home has 3 caretakers who have participated in our coaching courses and who have passed the Level one cricket coaching course and 2 of the older girls in second-ary school have passed the Intro-ductory cricket coaching course. We also have another Children’s Home and Rehabilitation Centre that takes care of former street children and provides them with schooling, shelter and a home that has also been introduced to cricket and is also part of our programme. The HIV/Aids message is of partic-ular importance to these children

The programme is being used as a vehicle to target social issues in-cluding Creating HIV/AIDS aware-ness through cricket, curbing alco-hol and substance abuse through cricket and Empowering Girls and Women through cricket. Our other missions are to preach peace amongst rival communities through cricket in addition to spreading messages about conservation and engaging children and youth in conservation activities.Through cricket development amongst schools and youth within Maasai communities a platform is built to promote education and as a means of encouraging sustaina-ble social change. This is achieved by focusing on developing per-sonalities, improving life skills and reducing at-risk behaviour by encouraging good sportsman-ship, broadening youths’ horizons, bridging social divides, increasing health-related awareness and pro-viding participants with the tools to help them make the right choices when facing social challenges.The entire project and develop-ment has been run on a purely vol-untary basis and sadly as yet with-out the support of Cricket Kenya.

Cricket Kenya urged to get in-volvedCricket Kenya can most definitely help out and needs to get involved with the cricket development that is taking place in Laikipia. For the development and sustainability of cricket in the area it is important for Cricket Kenya to get involved in the area and also if possible, crick-

due to their vulnerability and back-grounds.The Maasai Cricket Warriors are acting as role models and ambas-sadors in their communities where they are actively campaigning against retrogressive and harmful cultural practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early childhood marriages and also fight-ing discrimination against women in Maasai communities. Through sports participation they are also promoting healthier lifestyles and spreading awareness about HIV/aids Awareness amongst youth.The future looks bright for the sport of Cricket in this country. If we can get all stakeholders getting involved, we can accomplish much. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, nothing is impossible for a willing heart! We are going to put shoul-ders to the wheel and ensure Crick-et grows not only in Maasai region but in the entire nation!

COVER STORY


Volleyball

N ational Oil Corporation of Kenya in February renewed its sponsor-ship for rally ace Ian

Duncan for the next three years. The leading oil company has sponsored the 2011 rally cham-pion since 2008.The new sponsorship deal worth Sh5.2 million per year is an im-provement from the previous Sh4.7 million sponsorship deal which elapsed in December 2011.Speaking at the new sponsor-ship signing ceremony, National Oil Managing Director Ms. Su-mayya Hassan-Athmani said that

the corporation has gained im-mense brand recognition from the sponsorship.“We are excited that Ian Duncan has agreed to this renewed sponsorship which has given our brand unmatched pub-licity in the last four years. The National Oil rally team led by Ian has done exceptionally well dur-ing the last sponsorship period and we look forward to more suc-cess,” said Ms. Sumayya.On his part, Ian thanked Nation-al Oil for its continued support. “I am extremely grateful to Na-tional Oil for giving me another chance to lead the National Oil

IAN DUNCAN RALLY SPONSORSHIPrally team. With this sponsorship, we will continue working hard to ensure that we keep winning,” said Duncan.Ian Duncan co-driv-en by Amar Slatch in a National Oil branded Mitsubishi Evolution 9 won the 2011 Kenya National Rally Championship and has started the 2012 season on a good footing by coming second in the first rally of the year held in Nyeri recently.Ian Duncan has been the undis-puted Motor Rally champion for over one decade and his exploits in the discipline has seen him ex-ploit every moment and attracting a lot of sponsors.

NATIONAL OIL RENEWS

National Oil Managing Director Ms. Sumayya Hassan-Athmani (Left) and Ian Duncan (Right)


R ugby as a game is an en-joyable sport, which has several rules and termi-nologies. These rules ap-

ply to all versions of the game be it seven aside, ten aside or the fifteen aside version. A normal game of Rugby consists of fifteen players. Al-though there are other shorter ver-sions of the game such as the sev-en aside version and the ten aside version, the fifteen aside version is what is given the most preference when you are talking about rugby in general. A rugby team is divided into two segments. The first segment are the first eight people who are com-monly reffered to as forwards while the last seven are referred to as backs making a total of fifteen play-ers. The forwards are further divided into front- rows, second rows and

RUGBY POSITIONINGEXPAND YOUR VOCABULARY:

back-rows and during a scrum down they form in that order respectively. The last seven are divided into half-backs, centres and the back three. While the half-backs and back three are expected to be kickers, the cent-ers are not necessarily required to kick the ball. PROPThe props “prop up” the hooker in the scrum.They bear the jersey’s 1 and 3 while the hooker takes jersey number 2. The first prop is the tight head prop while the other prop is the loose head prop. They form part of the front row of the scrum and push against the oppositions props. The loosehead prop is positioned to the right of the hooker and their head will be on the outside of the scrum when it engages.

The tighthead is to the left of the hooker with their head positioned between the hooker and the opposi-tion’s loosehead. The prop’s main role is to provide stability at the scrum and support the hooker in quickly winning the ball. At the lineout the prop’s role is to support the jumper as they com-pete for the ball. They are usually positioned at the front of the lineout with a jumper in between them. They are also often involved in lift-ing jumpers when receiving kick-offs.While scrummaging is still seen as their main responsibility, modern props are also expected to contrib-ute in attack and defence. Props have to take in pressure from the locks and loose forwards push-ing from behind and the opposition pushing against them, so they are

Part I

RUGBY

By Carray Ombaka

Collins Injera beats his marker during the recent Hong kong Sevens


often among the strongest players in a team. Some scrummages are uncontested, meaning no pushing is allowed and the team putting the ball into the scrum wins it. On their own scrum the loose-head’s role is to provide the hooker with a clear view to strike the ball while the tighthead tries to keep the scrum stable. When the opposition is putting the ball in, the tighthead attempts to disrupt the opposing hooker or loosehead, making it dif-ficult for them to win the ball.

HOOKERPlaced in between the Props, they literally “hook” the ball toward the back of the scrum, so the Scrum Half can get it. A hooker completes the front row.The hooker is positioned between

the two props in the scrum and generally throws the ball into the lineout. After the scrumhalf has put the ball into the scrum they use their feet to “hook” the ball back and win pos-session for their team. When the opposition is putting the ball into the scrum, the hooker will either at-tempt to win the ball or try and dis-rupt the scrum. Hookers are usually more mobile than the props and are often used to carry the ball up during open play.

LOCKSThe locks bear jersey 4 and 5 re-spectively. They are also referred to as second rows. These players liter-ally “lock” the scrum together. They are usually the tallest players on the team and they do a large part

in pushing the scrum. They bind to-gether and put their heads at each side of the Hooker. The locks form the second row and push against the front row during the scrum providing much of the power. They are almost always the tallest players on the team and are the primary targets when the ball is thrown in at line-outs. Locks must also have good catching ability. At the lineout the locks are support-ed by team mates allowing them to compete for the ball, either tapping it to the scrumhalf or setting up a drive to form a maul. In scrums the two locks bind tightly together and slide their heads be-tween a prop and the hooker. Locks tend to compete for the kick offs and are involved in securing the ball in rucks and mauls.

RUGBY

Victoria Cup action between Uganda and Zimbabwe in Kampala


FLANKERSThey wear jerseys 6 and 7. Together with the Eighth man they are also known as back-rows. These two are on the outsides of the Locks. They bind in by grabbing onto the Locks and “sit” next to where the Number 8 is. Their job is usually to get to the other team’s scrum half and fly-half and kill the ball before it reaches the wings. The flanker’s role is to tackle the opposition and try to steal the ball. The openside flanker binds to the side of the scrum that covers the greatest area, while the blindside covers the side nearest the side-line. They bind loosely to the side of the scrum, but still play an impor-tant role in keeping the props tight by pushing at an angle. They should be the first forwards to a breakdown from a scrum or lineout and are ex-pected to link with the backline or secure the ball at the tackle. Both

positions have a high workrate, meaning the players need to be fit as well as good at reading the op-positions attacking plays. During open play if they have not made the tackle they usually stand in the loose next to the ruck or maul. This allows them time to ar-rive quickly at the next tackle. The blindside is generally the larger of the two and usually acts as a third jumping option at the lineout. The openside flanker is usually faster than the blindside with good open-sides excellent at turning over the ball at the tackle. Teams often use their openside Flankers to ‘charge’ the oppositions Fly Half, putting pressure on him and forcing him to rush his decision making, kicking or passing. Blind-side flankers also have the task of stopping any attempt by the opposi-tion eighth-man to run with the ball around the blindside of a scrum.

Victoria Cup action between Uganda and Zimbabwe in Kampala

Kenya’s Sydney Ashioya

Volleyball


RUGBY


K enya’s fifteens national side were crowned Af-rican champions after beating Tunisia 16-7 in

the final in Nairobi on 12 Novem-ber 2011. They would later tour the UAE where they took part in the Emirates Airlines Cup of Nations, beating higher ranked Brazil 27-25, losing 12-44 to Hong Kong before beating hosts UAE 55-17 to finish second. The EACN was good exposure for many especially for those who had never played outside African con-tinent. Even in their loss to Hong Kong, Kenya were no pushovers, only let down by lapses in con-centration as they had matched the victors during the match, even leading 12-10 at half time. With lessons learned from this tour, one hopes the KRU will expose the national fifteens side to more high profile matches as it pursue its dream to have Kenya feature at the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in 2015.

Kenya CupThe curtains rose on the 2011/2012 Kenyan league season and what a season it turned out to be! The opening fixtures on 26 November 2011 boycotted by clubs opposed to the expansion of the Kenya Cup by current Kenya Rugby Union office which had allocated slots to Kisumu and Kakamega. That weekend saw Strathmore and Mwamba the only teams engage in a contest. An amicable resolution saw the rebel clubs, (KCB, Quins, Impala, Nakuru, Nondies) enter the fray on 3 December 2011.

What has happened since then?Defending champions Lunch Bar Quins had a torrid start to the season, winning their opening fix-ture, a 17-0 result over Mean Ma-chine, before losing 5-12 to newly promoted Homeboyz a week later but since recovered to move to the top of the table after winning 10 matches in a row. Former champi-

ons Impala, with whom they share a great rivalry and dominance of the Kenya Cup league over the past decade and a half, are in mid table oblivion, facing their worst season since 1997.As we look critically at the league, it is interesting to note that Me-nengai Oil Nakuru and Strathmore are in the top three alongside de-fending champions Quins, it looks as if the Kenya Cup top three will have a different complexion for the first time since 2002. Remember, Quins, Impala and KCB have been in the top three every season since 2002 and the task is upon the likes of Strathmore, Mwamba, Menengai Oil Nakuru, Machine and Nondies to sustain the challenge they have mounted thus far in the campaign.

What can be done to improve the gameThere needs to be an investment in the technical development of the players too, it is imperative that sides set up structures that see them enjoy depth in their talent pools. Lunch Bar Quins have for example gone the extra mile, hiring conditioning coach Geof-frey Kimani and the fruits of their investment are plain for all to see. It is upon all other teams to stand up and be counted, investing in their players, make Kenyan fifteens rugby competitive, thus raising the quality of the game. This will in turn most probably have the effect of attracting sponsorships and in-vestments that will put the fifteens version of the game on the same footing as the sevens. Until our rugby clubs change the old way of doing things, and unless they change their approach to the game, they will be unable to mount a serious challenge for the Kenya Cup title which will remain the pre-serve of a select few.

2011/2012 FIFTEENS SEASON IN KENYA KENYA FIFTEENS

By Michael Kwambo

Kenya vs Zimbabwe during Victoria Cup.

Volleyball


RUGBY

the two brothers Myke and John Ra-bar due to the euphoria associated with rugby in Kenya. At that moment in time, the Kenya sevens national team were doing good and had been ranked sixth in the IRB circuit and had also reached the semifinals of the sevens rugby world cup in Dubai. Due to this success, rugby was seen as a growing sport in Kenya gain-ing popularity among the youth and also countrywide. Hence Homeboyz rugby was started as an initiative to give new and upcoming players a platform to showcasing their skills. The team began their adventure in competitive rugby in 2009 with the National Sevens Circuit before form-ing a team for the ESS league in Feb-ruary 2010. The team’s coach-cum-player Paul “Pau” Murunga said the youngsters were driven by an acute hunger for glory. This is the detailed account of a rugby club which started as a joke but ended up playing in the top flight league of the country. This success is historic in Kenyan rugby. Although Homeboyz are currently struggling in the Kenya Cup league, the journey of

Not even a fortune teller could have predicted this. It’s the kind of mentality that every amateur player

dreams of. When athletes overcome the toughest of odds in pursuit of their dream. Homeboyz - a house-hold name in the entertainment cir-cles - joined the rugby pack as the underdogs, but they finished as the bulldogs. Homeboyz had virtu-ally been written off by bookmakers in Kenya’s second tier competition (ESS) but came out with guns blaz-ing to claim the trophy and join the elite Kenya Cup League. Previous teams that called the shots such as Kenya Harlequin, Impala and Kenya Commercial Bank had to lay back for the new kids on the block. Other teams were left chasing shad-ows as Homeboyz carried the cov-eted trophy.

Tracing their stepsHomeboyz RFC was established in late 2009 with a stint in the National Sevens circuit playing in three of the five tournaments of the circuit. The club initially started as an idea by

FROM UNDERDOGS TO BULLDOGSBy Carray Ombaka

their pursuit to glory cannot go un-mentioned. Due to the Kenya team’s success and the talent that was witnessed, this encouraged Homeboyz group of companies to start a fully-fledged rugby unit.

Successes and SetbacksHomeboyz RFC officially held their trials for the team on the 31st of Jan-uary 2010 under the supervision of the coaches Eric Situma (now head coach at Menengai Oil Nakuru RFC) and Paul Murunga and the chairman Myke Rabar. A team of 25 players was selected which has now grown to over 70 players. The team went ahead and competed in the Eric Shirley Shield trophy and won on their debut season in the 2010 sea-son. The team suffered some minor set-back in not being allowed to play in the Main Kenya Cup league due to some technicalities. However this did not last long as the team went ahead and won the Eric Shirley Shield tro-phy in 2011 to secure a chance to play in the Kenya cup league.

HOMEBOYZRUGBY CLUB:


ZOOM INIn this issue we zoom into the personal and professional lives of two of the best of rugby players

Meet and Know your Star

RUGBY

By Carray Ombaka


AGE: 25HEIGHT: 6 ‘0WEIGHT: 94 kgCLUB: Homeboyz RFCPOSITION: Flanker

Dan started playing rugby in 2005 at Im-ani School Thika, now known as Braeburn Imani. He was used as a utility player but later on settled in well at the back row when he joined Impala R.F.C late in 2007. He then made his move to Homeboyz Rugby in 2010 to make the starting line-up for the 15’s side for the club.

Experience as a FlankerAs a flanker, I am basically part of the team’s defensive component, providing cover defense when the opposing team breaches our defense. I also protect my own fly-half in scenarios of relieving pres-sure from the 22, and 5 yard lines. My work is also to break explosively on of-fence, creating platforms for our team to attack, gain ground and eventually score points. I do this together with the blind-side flank and eighth-man

AchievementsWinning the Eric Shirley Shield twice with Homeboyz during the 2010/2011 season with 51unbeaten games and only one loss, winning the Chairmans Cup as well as the Mwamba cup.

What has been the greatest chal-lenge so far?Balancing rugby and daily life can be diffi-cult. Also adapting to the high demands of Kenya Cup and proving most importantly to yourself that you deserve it when the

world wants to watch you fall.

What’s your drive or motivation? I am driven by passion, by God, by the people around me. I always have this will to survive where many have fallen because I am different.

To whom do you owe the greatest gratitude?Joseph Osunga (High school coach) Ben-jamin Ayimba,( former Kenya sevens tacti-cian) Philip Mwenesi ( Former player Im-pala R.F.C) Mitch Ocholla( current Kenya sevens coach),Malik Ndemi, (Impala R.F.C player) Bill Githinji,( Technical Director, Homeboyz RFC) Paul Murunga( Homeboyz coach) Eric Situma(Nakuru coach) and most of all, my mum. All these people have believed in me and shown me that I am capable of being great, and I can be pushed beyond limit. They’ve shown me what it takes to be a champion.Now all I have left is to be that champion that they believe I am.

Which is your dream team?All Blacks, done deal.

Name your mentors and role models Shane Williams (small man, huge heart), Richie McCaw, Henry Tuilagi and my broth-er Kichwa.

What plans do you have for the fu-ture?To play at the highest levels for the club and country. I also aspire to be as good a coach as the ones I have had.

DANIEL OTIENO

RUGBY


ZOOM INRUGBY


AGE: 23 YEARSHEIGHT: 5’8WEIGHT: 87kgCLUB: HOMEBOYZ RUGBYPOSITION: CENTRE/WING

Zen started having an interest in rugby while at Chavakali High School as a form one student. He quickly developed a passion for the game and from Chavakali; he transferred to Kakamega, a school which prides itself in eating, breathing and sleeping rugby. Upon completion of his high school education, Zen joined Na-kuru R.F.C before finally settling down at Homeboyz R.F.C.

Which experiences have you had in this position?I am expected to act as a finisher. I am usually the last man in possession when my team is on the attack. I use my posi-tion to either score tries or create oppor-tunities for my support players to utilize. I can play either open or blind wing de-pending on the game plan. My speed is above average and I can outdo any slow players.

What is your greatest achieve-ments? Earning a Kenya U-19 call and playing franchise rugby for the Buffaloes during the Bamburi Rugby Super Series in 2009 when they lost in the final to eventual winners Rhinos.

Winning the National Schools Sevens title with Kakamega High School in 2008.

What is the greatest challenge you face? Juggling schoolwork and rugby

What is you motivation and drive? The desire to succeed on and off the pitch.

To whom do you owe the greatest gratitude? I thank my mother for believing in my abilities as a rugby player. I also thank Paul Murunga, the Homeboyz coach for believ-ing in me as a player and Eric Situma for nurturing my skills.

Which is your dream team? All Blacks New Zealand and Canterbury Crusaders

Name your mentors and role modelsManu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers and Eng-land) Bryan Habana (Blue Bulls and South Africa).

What are your future plans?Playing professional rugby in South Africa, Most probably Western province or Kwa- Zulu Natal where many South African rug-by legends hail from.

ZEN MIDAMBO

RUGBY

Volleyball


Kerugoya Girls High School,

located in Gichugu divi-

sion of Kirinyaga District is

home of the reigning East

African Schools hockey champions.

Coach P.J. Maina nurtured the girls

from ordinary students to champion

hockey players. He took on to coach-

ing the team way back in 2003, and it

would take two years before their star

began to rise. 2005 was a big year for

the girls, finishing second in Central

Province and fourth at the National

Schools games.

This would be followed by two more

second place finishes at the 2006

and 2007 provincial championships.

Failing is not an option here

A second place finish at the 2008

National Schools games behind

Pangani Girl’s High School saw them

qualify to represent the country at

the East Africa Schools games which

were held in Rwanda. They would

avenge their loss to Pangani at the

National Schools games, beating

their rivals 4-0 en route to clinching

their first East African title.

They would finish third at the 2009

at the National Schools games and

HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS;

again at the East Africa Schools

games. They bounced back to

dominate the National and East Af-

rican Schools games two years in a

row,(2010 and 2011) and even had

six players named to the provision-

al national women’s team squad

for the 2012 Olympic games hock-

ey qualifiers held in South Africa.

Their performances would attract

the attention of UNICEF who se-

lected the school to be a center

of excellence for girls’ hockey. The

school also received the School

Team of the Year Award at the

2010 Sports Personality of the Year

Award (SOYA) and the best girls’

school award at the 2011 Chaguo

la Teeniez Awards.

Throughout the school year, schools battle it out on the sporting fields for supremacy in various disciplines. Kenyanstar talks to schools that have shown resilience in their quest for the trophies

KERUGOYA GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL

By Stephanie Hann

Volleyball



PICTORIAL

‘Im winning this Title’ -Jan Koops Haha! Now they can think and run!

The babies won’t sleep, who has some Tuzo? Hallo, huyu Matasi iko wapi? I’ll kill him.

Where is it????? The crowd- The joy of a footballer


PICTORIAL

Tunapiga saluti!

HOT! But do we say?We aint prisoners. Its Just a CSR!

Grrrrrr!

Running mate! Nyamweya Tosha!The beautiful game of football


THE BARCLAYSKENYA OPEN 2012- Hard Luck for the Kenyan Contingent

GOLF

By Michael Kwambo


T he Barclays Kenya Open recently took place at the Muthaiga Golf Course in Nairobi between Thursday

29 March and Sunday 1 April and which saw Englishman Seve Benson emerge victorious, taking home the winners prize of 30,400 Euros after beating Denmark’s Lasse Jensen in a play-off.Kenya entered 56 players in this tournament which serves as a leg of the European Challenge Tour; a second tier event whose best f if teen performers earn qualif ication to the top tier European Tour, where they get an opportunity to rub shoulders with leading players like Ireland’s Rory McIlleroy and American Tiger Woods among others.The best placed Kenyan perform-ers were Dismas Indiza and Brian Njoroge who f inished joint 22nd with a two under par score of 282, while Ganeev Giddie, Stefan Andersen, Nicholas Rokoine and Anil Shah were the other Kenyans who completed all four rounds of play after surviving the cut on Friday evening. Indiza and Njoroge were within

17th overall.Exposure will do these golfers a great deal of good, improved perfor-mances in the coming days. As one golf ing pundit put it, “You get lit tle by competing in many low intensity competitions and expecting to win at a high intensity tournament such as the Kenya Open. Exposing players to high intensity scenarios will give them a sense of what to do, and how to do it. This must be however be matched by sup-port in terms of sponsorships from well-wishers and coverage from the media. Until then, we will see our local golf-ers crumble at the f inish line while their more composed opponents hold their nerve, earn more money and rise up the rankings.”After all is said and done, the writ-ing is on the wall, Kenyan golfers will require support and exposure if they are to win their home tournament, the Kenya Open and eventually break into the mainstream professional golf tours and have a stab at the world rankings.

touching distance of the leaders on the f irst two days of the tournament but falling off the pace at the most crucial time. It was evident that the pressure brought about by the expectations from many Kenyan fans got to them as they dropped out of the top ten, f inishing in the positions that they did.

Are Kenya’s golfers getting enough exposure?Speaking separately upon comple-tion of their rounds on the f inal day of the competition, the two golfers seemed to speak in unison, stressing the need for more exposure in similar tournaments around the world. Their argument was that this would give them the mental edge, owing to the fact that they would be playing in front of large audiences and they can learn how to hold their own in pres-sure situations. And they do have a point, Jacob Okello was on the verge of winning the 1998 Kenya Open but lost in the sudden open. Ali Kimani led for two days in 2010 before fading to f inish

GOLF

Action at the Barclays Kenya Open at the Muthaiga Golf Course


Nairobi School, formerly known as Prince of Wales School is an institution with a rich rugby tradition. The school’s rugby team is popularly known as “Patch Machine”, a cor-ruption of the popular University of Nairobi rugby team Mean Machine. Patch is recog-nized with distinction for having produced popular and great rugby players such as Edward Rombo, the pioneering Kenyan professional player who plied his trade in England, Innocent Simiyu among others. Below is a list of Old Cambrians who have excelled in rugby over the years.

The 1990’s1. Edward Rombo- Mean Machine/ Mwam ba, the first Kenya Pro Player.2. George Kariuki- Former Chairman KRFU.3. Paul “Pablo” Murunga- Mean machine/ Nondies, Kenya 7’s and 15’s4. Steve “ Seniormost” Obondi- Impala RFU/ Kenya 15’s5. The Onyango brothers; Allan and Pat rick- Harlequins/ Kenya 7’s and 15’s6. Erick Situma- Impala/ Kenya 15’s/, coach Nakuru RFC7. Felix Ochieng’- Harlequins/ Kenya 7’s and 15’s, Asst. coach Kenya 7’s8. Edward Kinyany- Harlequins/ Kenya 7’s and 15’s, Asst. coach Kenya 15’s

NURTURING RUGBY TALENT OVER THE YEARS

2000 to date1. Nick Olewe- Impala/ Kenya 7’s2. Michael Kimani- Nondies/ Kenya 15’s3. Fred Nzui- Mean Machine/ Kenya 15’s4. Innocent “Namcos” Simiyu- Harlequins/ Impala, Kenya 7’s and 15’s former cap5. Nato Simiyu- Impala/ Kenya 7’s(Shujaa) and 15’s, now in Kenya 7’s6. David Gitau “Madilu”- Nondies/ Quins, Kenya 7’s (Shujaa), Kenya 15’s7. Teddy Salano- Strathmore/ Nondies, Kenya15’s8. Ken Moseti- Homeboyz/ Nondies, Ken ya 7’s9. Ken Andola- Strathmore/ Kenya 15’s10. Ken Isindu “Salamba”- KCB/ Home boyz/ Kenya Shujaa 7’s11. Phillip Wamae- KCB/ Kenya 7’s

Upcoming TalentThere is a crop of budding players in the school determined to break out into main-stream rugby. Below are some of the most promising players on the 2012 school team.

Name: Ng’etich Towett Date of Birth: 26/06/1995Position: FlankerFavorite club: Homeboyz RFCCareer aspiration: To play pro rugby in Kenya 7’s teamRole model: Nato Simiyu, Sydney AshioyaAbout patch rugby: Nairobi School’s rugby team a.k.a Patch Machine is about going all in and all out, putting your life on the line for the pride we hold, for the name we know. It is showing solidarity and loyalty for Patch Machine.

Name: Odiyo Allan Date of Birth: 09/08/1994Position: Fly half/ Scrum half/ FullbackFavorite club: Nakuru RFCCareer Aspirations: playing for the Kenya 15’s teamRole model: Nato Simiyu, Peter AbuogaAbout Patch rugby: Machine kipenzi changu we give our all because we get our all

NAIROBI SCHOOL-

SPOTLIGHT


Name: Ikambili Phillip Date of Birth: 4/01/1995Position: Center, wingerFavorite rugby club: Kenya HarlequinRole Model: Victor SudiCareer Aspirations: To play for Kenya 7’s and 15’sAbout patch rugby: This is the place to be.

Name: Mongare Alvin (Captain)Date of Birth: 29/08/1994Position: 8th man/ flanker.Favorite club: Kenya HarlequinsRole Model: Collins InjeraCareer Aspirations: To play for the Kenya 7’s team

Name: Oduor Moses Date of Birth: 25/08/1994Position: 8th Man/ 2nd rowFavorite club: HarlequinsAspirations: to play in 7’s and 15’sRole model: Horace OtienoAbout patch: Where else can I be, what else can I give if not excellence?

Name: Kenneth Githinji Date of Birth: 09/06/1993Position: 2nd row/ flankerFavorite club: MwambaCareer aspirations: to win 7’s and 15’s school nationals and play for national 15’s team.

Name: Ian OnealDate of Birth: 07/03/1996Position: Scrum half/ fly halfFavorite club: Kenya HarlequinsAspiration: To win secondary school nationals 7’s and 15’sRole Model: Biko Adema

Name: Steve Muthui Date of Birth: 06/05/1995Position: center/ fly halfFavorite club: Kenya HarlequinCareer Aspirations: to build a name in school rugby, to help Kenya win a sevens leg.Role model: Allan OmukaAbout Patch Rugby: A team of disci-plined players who respect their coach and keep priorities in everything they do. The Principal, Mr. Cleophas Tirop is sup-portive and has recognized the Rugby team as a flagship for the school. He en-courages us to excel not only in Rugby, but also in our academics.

Name: Boaz WaweruDate of birth: 11/09/1994Position: Fly half Favorite club: ImpalaCareer Aspiration: Represent Kenya in the 7’s rugbyRole model: Nato Simiyu, Biko Adema

Team Achievement so far:This team comprising young talent has the following achievements to their name for the last one year:

1. Provincials 15’s runners up 20112. Prescottt cup, Damu Changa runners- up 20113. Floodlight Tournament 2011, 3rd place4. Runners-up Upper Hill 7’s 20115. Winners Thika High 7’s 20126. 3rd place Lenana Founder’s Day 20127. Winners Moi Forces Academy 15’s Trophy 20128. Alliance High School 7’s Open, Plate winners 2012

Name: Martin Thairu Date of Birth: 06/07/1995Position: Full Back/ WingerRole Model: Victor SudiFavorite club: Impala RFCCareer aspirations: Play for Impala Rugby Club, attain 10 caps for the Kenya 7’s teamAbout patch rugby: I thank the school for supporting rugby in every way, we have good quality coaches who guide us and give us the game plans. There is brotherly love among the players which develops on and off the pitch.

SPOTLIGHT


COACHINGNairobi School values rugby as sport that has stood the test of time over the years. The coaches have built teamwork, discipline, hard work, understanding, co-operation and respect among the players. After the exit of Felix Ojal to perennial rivals Lenana School early this year, former Kenya 15’s scrum half David Gitau took over the coaching duties. To this end, we have separated the 15’s and 7’s players who are undergoing different training regimes as the two versions of the game dictate. The 15’s team comprises mainly of the Form Three and Two students with a reserve of only 5 Form Fours who play as forwards. An U-15 team that comprises of Form 1 and 2 students has also been es-tablished. This team won the R.V.A U-15 tournament in November last year. The juniors train separately under trainers from the Physical Education Department.

Training;• We train daily at 4.00pm- 6.00pm

during games time.• The players take a morning run within

the school compound and sometimes along Waiyaki Way

• We also take the players through en-durance and fitness tests at Ngong

Hills and Nairobi Arboretum. This is important because rugby is an inten-sive sport that requires proper condi-tioning of players.

• The players also get an opportunity to watch various Kenya Cup matches as well as video sessions in school.

SPOTLIGHT

The Patch Machine

Line out


If stars are bornAnd stars grow oldThen stars are fedStars must be trainedThey need to be encouraged

If stars are brightDuring the dark nightThen stars are litStars take the leadThen stars will emit light

The stars of tomorrowAre stars identified todayNurtured and shown the wayTo realise their potentialThat’s the way to go

Milk for their bonesWater for their tissuesFood for their bodiesTournaments and competitionsThey need these and more

We are the stars of tomorrowWe are what you see at the end of this tunnelNow we play for our school teamsIf future we will feature for big clubsAnd we will twinkle and shine for our country

STARS OF TOMORROW

POEM

By Mwangi Gichau


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ars.

JOU

RN

EY 1

956-

2008

A cl

ean

swee

p fo

r Ken

ya


THE

BR

EAK

OU

T O

LYM

PIC

SM

ELB

OU

RN

E, A

US

TRA

LIA

195

6Co

mpe

ting

as a

col

ony

of G

reat

Brit

ain,

Ke

nya

wou

ld m

ake

thei

r O

lym

pic

Gam

es

debu

t in

Mel

bour

ne, r

epre

sent

ed in

ath

let-

ics,

hoc

key,

sw

imm

ing

and

shoo

ting

by a

co

ntin

gent

of

25.

The

re w

ere

no m

edal

s fo

r th

e te

am b

ut n

otab

le r

esul

ts i

nclu

ded

Nya

ndik

a M

aiyo

ro’s

se

vent

h po

sitio

n in

th

e m

en’s

500

0m fi

nal,

Arap

Sum

Kan

uti’s

th

irty

first

pos

ition

in t

he m

en’s

mar

atho

n an

d Le

reas

e Jo

seph

’s e

ight

eent

h pl

ace

in

the

men

’s h

igh

jum

p co

mpe

titio

n.

RO

ME,

ITA

LY 1

960

Keny

a se

nt a

twen

ty s

even

man

con

tinge

nt

to t

hese

gam

es,

repr

esen

ted

in a

thle

tics,

ho

ckey

, sho

otin

g an

d sa

iling

. Not

hing

muc

h to

writ

e ho

me

abou

t fr

om t

hese

gam

es a

s th

e te

am’s

mos

t no

tabl

e pe

rfor

man

ce w

as

by

Nya

ndik

a M

aiyo

ro’s

six

th p

laci

ng in

the

m

en’s

500

0m.

THE

BR

EAK

THR

OU

GH

OLY

MP

ICS

TOK

YO

, JA

PAN

196

4Ke

nya

wer

e ba

ck a

t the

Oly

mpi

cs fo

r a th

ird

succ

essi

ve g

ames

, th

is t

ime

taki

ng p

art

in

five

disc

iplin

es n

amel

y, a

thle

tics,

box

ing,

sa

iling

, sh

ootin

g an

d ho

ckey

. Fu

ture

sta

rs

Kipc

hoge

Kei

no,

Naf

tali

Tem

u an

d Ph

ilip

War

uing

e w

ere

part

of

the

trav

ellin

g pa

rty

to t

he F

ar E

ast

as K

enya

com

pete

d fo

r th

e fir

st ti

me

as a

n in

depe

nden

t nat

ion,

hav

ing

gain

ed fr

eedo

m fr

om G

reat

Brit

ain

in 1

963.

800m

run

ner

Wils

on K

ipru

gut’s

thi

rd p

lace

in

the

final

rac

e in

Tok

yo s

aw h

im b

ag K

en-

ya’s

firs

t ev

er m

edal

at

an O

lym

pic

Gam

es.

Keny

a’s

hock

ey t

eam

put

in

a st

rong

dis

-pl

ay,

clai

min

g a

sixt

h ov

eral

l po

sitio

n in

th

eir

disc

iplin

e, a

feat

tha

t w

ould

see

the

m

rank

ed s

ixth

glo

bally

.

THE

BIG

BA

NG

GA

MES

MEX

ICO

CIT

Y, M

EXIC

O 1

968

Keny

a’s

four

th a

ppea

ranc

e at

an

Oly

mpi

ad

wou

ld b

e a

spec

ial o

ne fo

r var

ious

reas

ons.

Th

is w

as t

he fi

rst

Oly

mpi

cs t

o be

hel

d in

a

deve

lopi

ng c

ount

ry.

Taki

ng p

art

in a

thle

t-ic

s, b

oxin

g, h

ocke

y an

d sh

ootin

g, t

he K

en-

yan

Oly

mpi

c te

am w

ere

out

to b

uild

on

the

sole

bro

nze

med

al w

on in

Tok

yo fo

ur y

ears

ea

rlier

. Ki

pcho

ge K

eino

, by

now

a h

ouse

hold

nam

e w

orld

wid

e du

e to

his

dis

tanc

e ru

nnin

g ex

-pl

oits

bea

t th

e fa

ncie

d Am

eric

an w

orld

re-

cord

hol

der

over

150

0m,

Jim

Ryu

n, c

laim

-in

g O

lym

pic

Gol

d ov

er t

he d

ista

nce.

N

afta

li Te

mu

had

earli

er

clai

med

Ke

n-ya

’s fi

rst

ever

Gol

d m

edal

at

an O

lym

pic

Gam

es,

beat

ing

a st

rong

fiel

d to

win

the

1000

0m w

hile

Am

os B

iwot

t, w

ith h

is t

hen

unor

thod

ox h

urdl

ing

styl

e th

at s

aw h

im g

o ov

er t

he w

ater

jum

p in

the

300

0m/s

tee-

plec

hase

and

em

erge

dry

, w

on t

he fi

rst

of

man

y Ke

nya

med

als

over

the

dis

tanc

e.

Kein

o (5

000m

), B

en K

ogo

(300

0m/s

tee-

plec

hase

),

Wils

on

Kipr

ugut

(8

00m

) an

d 4x

400m

m

en’s

te

am

( D

anie

l Ru

dish

a,

Char

les

Asat

i,Naf

tali

Bon

and

Mun

yoro

Ny-

amau

) w

ould

be

Keny

a’s

silv

er m

edal

lists

w

hile

box

er P

hilip

War

uing

e an

d N

afta

li Te

mu

(500

0m)

wer

e Ke

nya’

s br

onze

med

-al

lists

at

a ga

mes

whe

re K

enya

had

an-

noun

ced

her

pres

ence

to

the

wor

ld w

ith

a bi

g ba

ng.

The

Keny

an

hock

ey

team

w

ould

pl

ace

eigh

th in

the

ir di

scip

line.

MU

NIC

H, W

EST

GER

MA

NY

197

2H

avin

g ex

plod

ed o

n to

the

wor

ld s

cene

w

ith a

ban

g, K

enya

wou

ld b

e ke

en t

o re

pli-

cate

, if

not

eclip

se t

heir

1968

sho

w.

Kipc

hoge

Kei

no, c

ompe

ting

in h

is t

hird

O

lym

piad

, en

sure

d th

at K

enya

wou

ld s

uc-

cess

fully

def

end

the

3000

m/s

teep

lech

ase

as h

e cl

aim

ed g

old

in t

his

race

. Ke

nya’

s se

cond

gol

d ca

me

from

the

ir 16

00m

rel

ay

quar

tet

of D

anie

l Ru

dish

a (c

urre

nt 8

00m

w

orld

reco

rd h

olde

r Dav

id’s

fath

er),

Cha

rles

Asat

i, M

unyo

ro N

yam

au,

Juliu

s Sa

ng’

and

Robe

rt O

uko.

Silv

er m

edal

s fr

om B

en J

ip-

cho

in th

e st

eepl

echa

se, K

eino

’s 1

500m

sil-

ver

and

Phili

p W

arui

nge

in b

oxin

g co

uple

d w

ith b

ronz

e m

edal

s fr

om J

uliu

s Sa

ng’ o

ver

400m

, M

ike

Boit

in t

he 8

00m

as

wel

l as

Sa

mm

y M

bugu

a an

d D

ick

“Tig

er”

Mur

ungu

in

box

ing

saw

Ken

ya c

ontin

ue t

heir

med

al

haul

tha

t st

arte

d w

ay b

ack

in 1

964.

THE

BO

YC

OT

TSM

ON

TREA

L, C

AN

AD

A 1

976

Polit

ics

wou

ld c

ome

in t

he w

ay o

f Ke

nya’

s co

ntin

ued

part

icip

atio

n in

the

gam

es,

as

they

mis

sed

out

on t

he 1

976

gam

es,

boy-

cott

ing

with

sev

eral

oth

er A

fric

an c

ount

ries

in p

rote

st a

gain

st t

he f

ailu

re b

y th

e In

ter-

natio

nal

Oly

mpi

c Co

mm

ittee

to

susp

end

New

Zea

land

fro

m t

he g

ames

aft

er i

t’s

rugb

y te

am,

the

All

Blac

ks,

visi

ted

Sout

h Af

rica,

whi

ch w

as th

en g

over

ned

unde

r th

e ap

arth

eid

(seg

rega

tion)

sys

tem

of

gove

rn-

men

t.

MO

SC

OW

, US

SR

198

0Th

is w

ould

be

follo

wed

by

anot

her

boyc

ott

in 1

980,

thi

s tim

e ag

ains

t th

e U

SSR’

s de

ci-

sion

to

inva

de A

fgha

nist

an in

197

9.Em

ergi

ng t

alen

t su

ch a

s M

ike

Boit

and

Hen

ry R

ono

wou

ld b

e un

luck

y to

mis

s ou

t on

bot

h ga

mes

, es

peci

ally

whe

n yo

u re

al-

ize

that

the

y w

ere

in t

he p

rime

of t

heir

ca-

reer

s at

thi

s po

int

in t

ime.

THE

RET

UR

NLO

S A

NG

ELES

, US

A 1

984

Keny

a ha

d be

en a

way

fro

m t

he O

lym

pics

fo

r tw

elve

yea

rs,

mis

sing

out

as

a re

sult

of p

oliti

cally

ins

tigat

ed b

oyco

tts.

Ret

urn-

ing

to t

he L

os A

ngel

es g

ames

in 1

984,

the

co

untr

y se

t ou

t on

a m

issi

on t

o co

ntin

ue

from

whe

re t

hey

left

off

in

1972

. Ju

lius

Korir

re

clai

med

th

e 30

00m

/ste

eple

chas

e tit

le, f

ollo

win

g in

the

ste

ps o

f Am

os B

iwot

t an

d Ki

p Ke

ino

befo

re h

im.

Bron

ze m

edal

s fr

om b

oxer

Ibr

ahim

Bila

l and

ath

lete

Mik

e M

usyo

ka in

the

100

00m

saw

Ken

ya m

ain-

tain

the

ir m

edal

win

ning

tre

nd t

hat

star

ted

in

1964

w

ith

Wils

on

Kipr

ugut

’s

solit

ary

bron

ze o

ver

800m

in T

okyo

.


eba

beca

me

the

third

and

fou

rth

Keny

an

Oly

mpi

c m

edal

lists

.

THE

SEC

ON

D G

OLD

RU

SH

BEI

JIN

G, C

HIN

A 2

00

8Ke

nya

com

pete

d in

th

e 20

08

Sum

mer

O

lym

pics

hel

d in

Bei

jing,

Peo

ple’

s Re

publ

ic

of C

hina

from

Aug

ust 8

to A

ugus

t 24

, 200

8 w

inni

ng a

tot

al o

f 14

med

als,

6 o

f the

gol

d,

its b

est

ever

per

form

ance

at

the

Oly

mpi

cs.

The

Keny

an’s

sen

t a

tota

l of

28

men

and

18

wom

en t

o th

e 20

08 s

umm

er O

lym

pics

. Fo

ur o

f th

e Ke

nyan

men

wer

e cr

edite

d fo

r th

e si

x go

ld m

edal

s an

d tw

o w

ent

to t

he

wom

en.

The

othe

r ei

ght

med

als

wer

e sp

lit d

own

the

mid

dle

with

four

silv

er a

nd fo

ur b

ronz

e.

Amon

g th

e go

ld m

edal

ists

in B

eijin

g fo

r the

O

lym

pics

was

Brim

in K

ipru

to.

He

brou

ght

hom

e th

e se

vent

h st

raig

ht

med

al in

the

3,0

00 m

eter

ste

eple

chas

e fo

r th

e Ke

nyan

s. T

his

reco

rd d

ates

bac

k to

the

1984

Los

Ang

eles

Oly

mpi

cs.

Com

ing

in a

t a

clos

e th

ird w

as R

icha

rd M

atee

long

who

co

uldn

’t qu

ite c

atch

the

Fre

nchm

an M

a-hi

edne

Mek

hiss

i-Ben

abba

d.Th

e 20

08 B

eijin

g O

lym

pics

was

the

firs

t tim

e th

e Ke

nyan

s ha

d pa

rtic

ipat

ed i

n th

e w

omen

’s 8

00 m

eter

eve

nt fi

nal.

Shor

tly

afte

r th

e 3,

000

met

er s

teep

lech

ase,

the

w

omen

ca

ptur

ed

a go

ld

med

al

agai

nst

man

y od

ds.

Alon

g w

ith t

he g

old,

the

y al

so t

ook

hom

e th

e si

lver

as

wel

l. Pa

mel

a Je

limo

led

her

fello

w K

enya

n Ja

neth

Jep

kosg

ei B

usie

nei

to a

one

-tw

o fin

ish.

Sam

uel

Wan

jiru

(now

de

ceas

ed),

w

as

only

21

-yea

rs-o

ld a

t th

e tim

e. H

e tim

ed

his

mar

atho

n at

2 h

ours

, 6

min

utes

, an

d 32

sec

onds

. Th

is n

ot o

nly

brou

ght

hom

e th

e go

ld m

edal

for

the

Ken

yans

, bu

t al

so

brok

e th

e 24

yea

r-ol

d O

lym

pic

reco

rd s

et

by C

arlo

s Lo

pes.

The

Keny

ans

finis

hed

the

Oly

mpi

cs b

eing

th

e m

ost

succ

essf

ul A

fric

an c

ount

ry in

the

Be

ijing

Oly

mpi

cs,

and

15th

pla

ce i

n th

e ov

eral

l cou

ntry

sta

ndin

gs.

Nex

t P

age

for

Ken

yaLo

ndo

n O

lym

pics

201

2Ke

nyan

Star

will

be

on t

he l

ooko

ut a

s th

e co

untr

y pr

epar

es i

ts b

est

athl

etes

to

go

shin

e. O

peni

ng c

erem

ony

July

27,

201

2.

ATLA

NTA

, US

A 1

996

A fu

rthe

r di

p fo

r Ke

nya

in t

erm

s of

med

als,

Jo

seph

Ket

er s

parin

g th

e co

untr

y’s

blus

hes

by w

inni

ng g

old

in t

he 3

000m

/ st

eepl

ech

ase,

be

com

ing

the

seve

nth

diff

eren

t Ke

nyan

to

win

thi

s ra

ce.

Paul

Bito

k (5

000m

), P

aul T

erga

t (1

0000

m),

M

oses

Kip

tanu

i (30

00m

/ste

eple

chas

e) a

nd

Paul

ine

Kong

a (w

omen

’s

5000

m)

wer

e Ke

nya’

s si

lver

med

allis

ts.

Bron

ze m

edal

s ca

me

from

Fre

d O

nyan

cha

(800

m),

Ste

ve K

ipko

rir (

1500

m)

and

Eric

W

aina

ina

in t

he m

en’s

mar

atho

n.Ko

nga’

s m

edal

was

par

ticul

arly

rem

arka

ble

as s

he h

ad b

ecom

e th

e fir

st K

enya

n w

om

an t

o w

in a

n O

lym

pic

med

al o

f an

y ki

nd.

SY

DN

EY, A

US

TRA

LIA

20

00

Noa

h N

g’en

y in

the

150

0m a

nd R

eube

n Ko

sgei

in

the

3000

m s

teep

lech

ase

wer

e Ke

nya’

s go

ld

med

allis

ts.

Ng’

eny

win

ning

Ke

nya’

s fir

st 1

500m

Oly

mpi

c tit

le s

ince

Kip

Ke

ino

thirt

y tw

o ye

ars

earli

er w

hile

Kos

gei

ensu

red

Keny

a’s

dom

inan

ce o

f the

ste

eple

-ch

ase

cont

inue

d.Pa

ul T

erga

t w

as b

eate

n to

sec

ond

plac

e in

an

epic

100

00m

fina

l by

Hai

le G

ebre

-se

lais

e, s

ettli

ng f

or s

ilver

alo

ngsi

de W

ilson

Bo

it Ki

pket

er in

the

ste

eple

chas

e an

d Er

ic

Wai

nain

a in

the

mar

atho

n.Jo

yce

Chep

chum

ba

beca

me

the

seco

nd

ever

Ken

yan

wom

an t

o w

in a

n O

lym

pic

med

al,

clai

min

g br

onze

in

th

e w

omen

’s

mar

atho

n. B

erna

rd L

agat

cla

imed

the

oth

-er

bro

nze

in t

he 1

500m

.

ATH

ENS

, GR

EEC

E 2

00

4Ke

nya

wou

ld w

in o

ne g

old

med

al i

n At

h-en

s, t

he s

pirit

ual h

ome

of t

he g

ames

. Th

e go

ld in

evita

bly

cam

e fr

om th

e 30

00m

ste

e-pl

echa

se w

here

Eze

kiel

Kem

boi

beco

me

the

eigh

th d

iffer

ent

Oly

mpi

c go

ld m

edal

list

for

Keny

a in

thi

s ra

ce.

Four

silv

ers

from

Ber

nard

Lag

at (

1500

m),

Br

imin

Kip

ruto

(30

00m

ste

eple

chas

e),

Isa-

bella

Och

ichi

(w

omen

’s 5

000m

) an

d Ca

th-

erin

e N

dere

ba (

wom

en’s

mar

atho

n) a

dded

to

the

Ken

yan

tally

. Pa

ul K

ipsi

ele

Koec

h (3

000m

ste

eple

chas

e) a

nd E

liud

Kipc

hoge

(5

000m

) w

ere

Keny

a’s

bron

ze m

edal

lists

.Ke

nya’

s m

en c

laim

ed t

he fi

rst

ever

cle

an

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P rior to passage of the new constitution, Kenya has had to lose some of its biggest sporting tal-

ent to more developed and sports-appreciating countries. A cursory look at most sporting disciplines would tell you the country’s been poorer of such wealth of talent and exposure. Look at these few names; Achieng-Ajulu Bushnell, Bernard Lagat, Lorna Kiplagat and the list continues.Some may argue that we have an abundance of talent and can af-ford to overlook the few who have changed nationalities. But looking at it retrospectively, Kenyan sport-ing authorities and Government

officials would have saved the country a long time ago by eas-ing the citizenship burden of both budding and outstanding citizens.Putting socio-economic and politi-cal issues on the table, the coun-try’s has never been that bad that anyone would want to change their citizenship that much, but neither have our authorities tried to keep a hold for the few athletes who have changed their countries’ residence.Except for the thorny issue that was Kenyan runners changing citizenship in the middle East and sports body managing athletics disowning the runners, most of the other sports bodies have pret-

ty much let go of talent easily.

What does citizenship entitle one too anyway?In our case, it means the right to “freedom of expression, free-dom of conscience and belief, the right to equal opportunities for men and women, freedom of the media, the rights of arrested per-sons, and the right of an accused person to get a fair trial”.Expanding further to sports this would mean fair competition and ability to compete and represent the country on equal footing af-ter attainment of qualifying times/standards, as well as relevant support from the sports body/as-

DUAL CITIZENSHIP; A CURSE OR A BLESSING FOR KENYA’S SPORTS?By Richard Wanjohi

OPINION


Abel Kirui defending MarathonWorld Champion

sociation and sports discipline that manages that sport.Well the new constitution spells out that dual citizenship is a pos-sibility and this is a big boon to the world of sport in Kenya.Apart from giving sports people born in the country as chance of representing the country, it also offers them a wider net for which they can engage those in sports and its development during and after their professional life.A good case in point is the devel-opment of youth training centres. For most sports disciplines these are the grooming grounds for fresh talent where retired inter-national players can engage their services both having had the ex-pertise and using their networks internationally to raise funds and secure sponsorships for such ini-tiatives.Dual citizenship would also make it possible to have players in non-traditional sports. Like for the longest time since the late 1980s, the Kenyan hockey fraternity has lost much of its shine and not been able to represent the country in that sport. Imagine what would happen if there were a few Ken-yan-born players from the Asian sub-continent or hockey gurus in the Dutch republic!A perfect example is Equatorial Guinea in the recently held Africa Cup of Nations which they co-hosted. Owing to their lack of local talent, the national team heavily recruited from players with roots from the country or naturalised for the sake of playing this tourna-ment. The ‘project’ was not such a big success but at least they man-aged to rally a nation in the game and were knocked out at the quar-ter-final stage of the tournament.

The Blessings of it allDual citizens have also used their different status to either escape or

find lenient tax regimes for their career earnings and endorse-ments. This has made some of Europe’s famous countries not so attractive but on the other hand Scandina-vian ones more accommodating. This happens especially in the en-tertainment scene.In Kenya, no clear policy is there on what happens to winnings and endorsements but with the im-pending Sports Bill said to be at an advanced stage, some differ-ence will be seen on how sports personalities earn and make their keep.Others have attained this status once it is clear that if for exam-ple they came from country A and changing citizenship to country C, they shall easily qualify to repre-sent their newly found states and enjoy greater windfalls from ensu-ing honours.Countries such as Nigeria, Congo DR (formerly Zaire), Sudan to name but a few have seen how dual citizenry can change the face of their sporting world. Look at what Dikembe Mutombo, Hakeem Olajuwon and Manute Bol did for the game of basketball?Others sports like football have had hundreds of players opting to identify with either one or the oth-er state whichever they deem will see them have playing chances. This is especially so for national team appearances. So the next time Taiwo Atieno dons the Har-ambee Stars shirt, let Kenyans cheer him like one of our won.With the major meets such the Olympic Games, Africa Cup of Na-tions, World Cup and Common-wealth, many a sports person has changed or attained dual citizen-ship to be able to represent their country or ‘new country’. This is a trend that is likely to continue. Shall Kenya reap any benefit or shall we remain stuck in the past?

OPINION


I picked a gold nugget from Liza Mundy’s book Michelle on USA first lady Michelle Obama. Michelle’s brother

Craig Robinson who is a basketball coach can deduce the character of a person from the way he plays basketball. It got me thinking, that life is just a ball game that brings out who we are. Inducing this to the beautiful game- I can confidently ask you, if life is a ball game, how do you approach it? It is who we are that determines the position we play on the pitch. If you got a chance to enter the pitch, which position will you ask for?

GoalkeepersGoalkeepers are courageous, quick to response instincts, intelligent and good leaders. Are you the kind of person who anticipates situa-tions and plans people around it?

LIFE IS A BALL GAME; HOW DO YOU PLAY IT?

This also means you are not afraid to jump into any situation and re-store calmness and order. Imag-ine how you always feel when the goalkeeper grabs the shot from a lethal striker. These are people with great judg-ment abilities, with a presence in their (penalty) area of influence. Stoppers are committed people who must remain committed and focused even when the team is be-ing whipped. If you can elicit such response at home and at work, then you always stand between the posts in the ball game of life.The flamboyance and recklessness of Jose Luis Chilavert or Fabien Barthez is not necessary to be outstanding, it is about position-ing- being at the right place at the right time.

DefensiveLet me watch my words lest I

come under attack from the defen-sive types. These are the people who believe every nail needs to be hammered. The main attribute is dependability and good recov-ery after a slip. Do you know a person who knows how to tackle challenges with clinical precision? That must be a defender in the ball game of life.They know how to tackle threat-ening situations, keeping tabs on a situation and jumping in at the right time to quell any dangers. The worse side is the person never sees a fight he did not want to get involved. The positive is compo-sure, confidence in the face of at-tack and good clearance.Just watch out what you do under pressure. Especially in a relation-ship or how you spend your mon-ey. Defenders never get involved so much in the play, they wait to come in when need be. There is no

OPINION

By Kenyatta Otieno


need for flowery football here, just doing what you got to do.

Defensive midfieldersThey play dirty, cutting the oppo-nents play and slowing them down. They support the defense and al-ways seem anonymous in a match but they are very important. These are the type of people who turn the wheel but will never get the lime-light. Look at Ghana, Asamoah Gyan and Dede Ayew are favorites yet Antony Annan (do you even know him) - the diminutive lad was so good in front of the defense he did not miss a match in the 2010 World Cup. They are very supportive of the previous and next step of the sys-tem. They cover easily when some-one moves out of position. For all this great work, they are the ones who get the flogging when things get bad. To slow down the oppo-nents attack, defensive or holding midfielders play dirty and they of-ten get booked or sent off for it.Musa Mudde of Sofapaka, Collins Okoth of Gor and Chrispine Olando of Tusker exemplify this position. They know how to get the ball from opponents, or from defenders and send it to the attack department. Theirs is more of a mundane spade work type of play, tackle, posses and pass.

Attacking midfieldersTalk of flamboyance and the dar-ling of the crowds. Humphrey Mieno, Bob Mugalia and George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo are good examples of players in this role. Jay Jay Okocha was the darling of Bol-ton Wanderers fans while Ronald-inho smiled his way into the hearts of Barcelona fans.

You know them, at home and in the office, they are the life of the moment. They know their way around and have a rapport with everybody. They are flashy and play to the gallery; they enjoy the attention of just being involved. They are al-ways en-vogue and the life of the party. In an attempt to please the crowds, they stretch the truth and what they do for a while.They support the main strikers (finishers) and can also finish the job when need be. They are good dribblers and can get around a few obstacles. Look around you, there are people who can sell anything and any idea, yes- you got it.

Strikers They have the clinical precision of assassins and snipers. They are not the best dribblers or ball players, they just know where and when to be there. Baldwin Ngwa of Gor Mahia, Mike Baraza at Leop-ards and John Baraza of Sofapaka. The Drogba’s of this world are only as good as the number of goals they score. These are the people who know how to seal the deal after some-one else has done the spade work. They know how to position them-selves for the final powerful shot that wins the deal. They cover little space in terms of running around but will analyze the final document with tooth combs and get you the best deal. They tend to be on demand and most likely poached by rival companies.

Utility PlayersThese are the most gifted ones in the ball game of life. Michael Es-sien of Chelsea, Musa Mudde of

Sofapaka, and Andres Iniesta of Barcelona are good examples. They can be deployed in any de-partment as per the need and still perform. Essien has played in de-fense, holding and central midfield. They are an asset a coach will let go only if he has to because they are rare.They can juggle many roles in a team and home and have a knack for solving problems. They may get lost as well and become jacks of all trades and masters of none. Never the less, these rare talents are de-pendable and every managers Mr (s) Fix it. When redundancy calls, rest as-sured they will be the last to go. They learn quickly and adapt to the new environment fast as well. Due to their high work rate and con-stant motion, they could be prone to mistakes and injuries (like Es-sien) more easily.Players do not end up in a position because that is where they like. Their physical and mental attrib-utes must match their role on the pitch. The no nonsense defender, the work horse defensive mid-fielder, flamboyant play maker and efficient striker. This is why we op-erate as social beings (teams) and employers need people with good inter-personal skills.You can tell where you fall, though I believe most of us have more than one of the above attributes. It is good to know your strong points and build on them then explore ways of working on your weak-nesses. The best option is to build social teams around us of people with the attributes we lack. Life is a tough match, before the final whistle is blown; you have to give it your best shot.

OPINION


F ailing to plan may not be planning to fail after all. Everyone wants to win- I cannot imagine a foot-

ball player going into the pitch to lose a match. I believe everyone will not venture into anything in life with loosing as an option. At the end of the day, some win and some lose, yet they both planned.I am not trashing the hard work and thought that goes into plan-ning. I love to see a product of thought out processes. It takes more than just planning to win

a match or any engagement in life. A football team coach will prepare his team to the T. He will bring video recordings of the op-posing team’s matches and all. There will even be a strategy to lock out of play influential play-ers. That is the ideal, imagined scenario.When the kickoff whistle goes, the rubber begins to meet the road. This also happens in real life, away from training grounds and the strategic planning se-rene retreat centers. What each player will do and the team does

will determine if a match is won or lost. It does not matter how meticulously you prepared for the match, it is won within the 90 minutes.

A winning mentality is good enoughPatrick Viera- the former Gun-ner now at Manchester City back room was a special kind of player. Roberto Mancini who coached him at Juventus/Inter said the player has a winning mentality. Viera would charge like an injured bull for Arsenal whenever things

DO NOT PLAN TO WIN, DEVELOP A WINNING CHARACTER

OPINION

By Kenyatta Otieno


were not working. Tackling, win-ning balls and delivering the pass-es. The match had to be won and Viera took not prisoners This is where an intelligent player will find a balance between the coach’s instructions and the real-ity on the ground. He will adapt accordingly and rally his team mates into the new approach. The reality will always be different and so the team that adapts first wins the match.It will apply in any project you are involved in. The budget is bound to change, and the weather is out of your control. Your team is com-posed of people with personal in-terests under the collective goal. All these are factors beyond your control, so the ability to adapt and change is the key to success.What has made FC Barcelona the best team in the world in the past few years is their distinct charac-ter. It is a character that is de-fined by the clubs ‘trinity’ of fair play, creativity and winning. Take note that winning comes last and should come after the other two have been achieved. This makes it hard to beat them- especially with multiple creative hubs.Jose’ Mourinho never bothers on the means- the end justifies eve-rything. This clearly tells you why there has been a high turnover at Stamford Bridge technical bench since he left. Mourinho’s mantra is winning at all costs and when he loses he does it at no cost as well. The same has followed Inter Milan in their post Mourinho reign and Real Madrid should prepare for a rough spell when he calls it a day.

Smart strategy People and organization spend huge amounts of money and time on strategic planning. The same way football teams spend resourc-

es planning for a match. Business Schools have formulated graduate programmes on strategic planning. This shows just how much it is val-ued in the world, from corporate to political parties. Many organi-zations will book their managers in serene lodges and conference facilities just to provide the right environment for planning. Foot-ball teams will also go to camp to stem distractions ahead of a cru-cial match. The difference in these secluded environments to the real world is like night and day.Execution separates boys from men, counterfeit from original stuff. It is managers who go away to plan then lower cadres must put that vision into reality. The differ-ence in football is you have to take every player through is part in the plan. The employee who said is a team player must prove it. The manager who leads an efficient team will maneuver the reality in the market.There are no certainties in this world, what looks good today may be far from good tomorrow. It takes a wrong decision or forces beyond our control like terrorism and post election violence to up-set the cart. On the football pitch is an injury or change in the op-posing teams game plan, it could be going physical or applying anti-football tactics. You never have control of the competition even if the playing field is leveled.

Where does this leave us- drop strategic planning all together or spend less time on it? I don’t believe that is the way to go, failing to plan will remain plan-ning to fail. Strategic planning is good, but more effort should be spent in the organization’s ability to adapt to change. Change is a constant, the ball will keep moving

on the pitch and you can’t predict its next stop. Loosing concentra-tion of your industry environment is the beginning of the end of your team.Schools and Colleges should put character formulation as part of extra curriculum programme. Learning skills is easy, but strength of character is the differentiat-ing factor. It is vital that children are brought up with the charac-ter traits I call the ‘Cs’ to enable them perform in adulthood. Cour-age, Commitment, Concentration, Competence and Chemistry (peo-ple skills) will help a child navigate this unpredictable world. Others are honesty, patience, focus and emotional fortitude.Back to football and to FC Barce-lona in particular. People ask if the numerous passes they make on the pitch are necessary. By keep-ing procession, means they take control of the game. They will slow down the opponent and decide when to attack. It is this unique way of play that is built in play-ers from as early as eight years old that makes the club special. They have won 12 trophies out of thirteen they have competed for in the past three years.I will conclude with Patrick Viera, a player who has won a trophy with every team he played for. From Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan and recently Manchester City. Roberto Mancini says he decided to keep him in his backroom team because he has a winning mentality. He is a player with the courage to go be-yond the coach’s instructions if it will help the team win. It is hard work, building individual character and managing team dy-namics. When the chickens come home to roost, you realize that it takes more than the systematic steps put down on paper.

OPINION

Volleyball


SPORTS AND

liaison with local Olympic com-mittees has stressed the need of athletes staying healthy and this is exactly what is needed to make sports a professional discipline. In the last edition we focused on some athletes from the country who had their ca-reers ruined due to the use of banned substances. Most sports federations in the country are trying to make sure that all those taking part in every tournament or event pass both fitness and health tests.

Doping is a global concernWhen we look at the general sit-uation globally, we know of ath-letes who have had their reputa-tions ruined by the use of drugs. If we take a glimpse at some of

T he World Anti Doping Agency, WADA, has over the years tried to ensure that all sport-

spersons are well informed of the causes of doping and so far some of the campaigns that the agency has done have borne fruits. Through the help of the International Olympic Commit-tee (IOC) the quest to have drug free competitions is almost be-ing achieved. Athletes are taken through random tests prior to major competitions and this is bringing sanity into the sporting scene. Going by the statistics, many athletes who did not want to have their blood and urine sam-ples tested ended up being flops in later stages in life. WADA in

DRUGSIn Part I of this story Gregory Mulemi explored the issue of doping in sports. Facts discussed were how Kenyan sports person-alities were succumbing to pres-sure to take drugs to enhance performance. In this final part of the story the writer has explored how this vice can be curbed.

Continued from last issue…

SPORTS & DRUGS

Volleyball


the stars who have had their ca-reers ruined by bad use of drugs we will realize that true suc-cess comes from hard work not forcing out results. In 1994, Ar-gentina soccer wizard Diego Ar-mando Maradona was involved in perhaps one of the most famous World Cup controversies of all time. The best player of modern times was alleged to have used a non-performance enhancing drug and was kicked out of the 1994 world cup in USA. Marado-na had overshadowed all other players of his generation with his dazzling runs but after this scan-dal, he could not salvage his glit-tering career. The long running addiction to cocaine affected his play. Mara-dona tried to resurrect his career later on but that could not save him from the mystery and when he collapsed from heart prob-lems in the year 2000, the world almost came to a standstill. He might have reformed but the ugly picture still paints his wall. Just like many other athletes who have seen a steady rise in their careers turn into a steady downfall; Maradona is still try-ing to smart himself so is Andre Agassi and Marion Jones.

What is being done about the situation?The need to control use of drugs

might have been heightened in the recent past but is it enough? Many health experts try distrib-uting leaflets to clubs and sports organizations in a bid to sensitize athletes on the effects of doping but this has not been successful.

There is need to prohibit doping at all costs. If all federations come up with a clear objective and campaign to wheel out doping cases in sports, the country will witness a turnaround in performances. Good results are usually appre-ciated by people if they see the level of effort and commitment that a person puts in training and competition.The WADC has stressed the need of having self belief among participants and everybody tak-ing part in any competition. The agency always mentions char-acter and values like the “spirit for sports” as a special factor towards making one succeed at any level of competition.If someone is an athlete then it is important for the person to have a good image in the public and this must be protected at all costs. Many people in the public do-main will tend to look into the finest details if sports person-alities and only good reputations carry the day. As a matter of fact,

the public becomes resigned to places where it is suspected that everything is scandalous. Many sporting events have lost public-ity among fans because of the bad picture painted on them by scandals. If an athlete does get involved in scandals, there are many things that the athlete is likely to loose and damage his or her reputation. The public normally has no apol-ogy to their actions and this makes it hard for an athlete to ever think of doping. Knowing the drugs that have been prohib-ited by the WADC and IOC helps in ensuring sanity in sports. The 2 organizations have come up with a list of drugs that have been banned and all federations need to have the list.Most of the prohibited drugs are anabolic agents that are com-monly used for body building, Beta-2 agonists that are normal-ly used in treating respiratory problems and stimulants. If an athlete wants to know the drug list then visiting the web-site on www.wadc.org will pro-vide for the best information on this. Some of the drugs put on the list can be controversial but it is the decision of the athlete to either win smart or get involved in a scandal.

SPORTS & DRUGS


K enyanstar team has al-ways called on corpo-rates and other bodies to take sports seriously

and tap talents. In fact in our vir-gin issue we focused on nurtur-ing talent as a way of improving performance in sports. It is with this in mind that the team is very keen on giving back to the society. At the end of end of every year the team is dedi-cated to touch someone or some teams’ life in one way or another.Last year on December 21, the staff visited the Joseph Kang’ethe Rehabilitation Centre. The home is located at Adams Arcade. As

is the norm the team must par-ticipate in match with the hosts before any other programme commences. Luckily for us the centre is built adjacent to a football pitch and there was room to show case our “talents” or lack thereof.The home houses about fifty boys who are all former street children and undergoing rehabili-tation after which they are sent to school. With KS on one team and the youngstars on the other the match kicked off. At the end of the match one team emerged victorious but due to prior mem-orandum of understanding we will not disclose the winner. The boys are talented and the ages of our staff and years with-out exercise could not match up to the boys swiftness and agility.The score was 3-2. The match apart from giving the boys an

opportunity to showcase their talent was also a good chance for our team to stretch their muscles and a challenge for them to get fit.The KenyanStar team offered refreshments to all who were present and had an opportunity to interact with the boys. Afterwards we wanted to see whether they are just talented in the pitch or also at the dance floor. The answer yes they are. The boys-so quick and robust, out did the staff on the dance floor. They displayed dance moves that Kenyan Star employ-ees couldn’t match and had no choice but to sit and watch.After a day full of activities gifts were presented and received by KS and Principal in charge of the centre respectively followed by a vote of thanks by KS, Manag-ing Director Mr. Booker Ngesa.

KENYANSTAR…LET IT SHINEReporting on sports matters is our main businessBut if we can make an impactThen we put our best feet forwardThis is KenyanStar touching Lives

CSR

By Peninah Njakwe

Kenyanstar Team in CSR

Volleyball


Kenyanstar Magazine Volume 1, Issue 4

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Transcript of Kenyanstar Magazine Volume 1, Issue 4