Government should focus on grassroots sports

Last week was a great one for Kenyan football. Harambee Stars not only beat Ethiopia but the government also promised to make good pledge of Sh50 million boost to the team.

In the same week, the Tanzanian President gave the Taifa Stars US$22,000 (Sh2.2 million) for the team’s preparations for 2019 Afcon qualifier against Lesotho.

While the need to see the national teams win is understandable for both the ordinary citizens and government, investing in teams at the 11th hour will not deliver desired results.

Similarly, investment in world-class Stadiums will not magically earn Kenya medals at the next Olympic Games.

The route to ensuring that Harambee Stars qualify for 2022 World Cup must start at the grassroots.

Do all primary schools have a football pitch and coach who can identify and nurture talent? Does every estate and locality have a field or running track to produce the next Eliud Kipchoge?

I grew up in Nairobi’s Shauri Moyo Estate in the 70s and 80s and we had access to social halls where we tried our hands on table tennis, boxing, karate and badminton.

Shauri Moyo was Kenya’s basketball capital, thanks to the YMCA, Baptist and BAT facilities. Within a 5km radius, we had more than five social halls, (Bahati, Pumwani, Kaloleni, Muthurwa and Jericho, among others)

Kaloleni Social Hall produced legendary bodybuilder Mickey Ragos while Muthurwa produced many boxers who dominated the world, among them Stephen Muchoki and Mohammed Bilali.

The Pangani and Park Road areas produced hockey stars who finished fourth in the 1971 World Cup, and qualified for the Olympic Games from 1956 to 1988.

Kenya still boasts sporting greatness but we have lost competitive edge in all sports other than middle and long distance running. When did the rain start beating us? Lack of sporting facilities and equipment at the grassroots level has contributed to our decline in sports.

In the mid 80s, the government abolished the Sh150 activity fee that was levied to all students at primary school level. This was done to protect parents from head teachers who were misusing the funds, but it was the single blow that killed sports at primary school.

There were no budgets to buy balls or hockey sticks. That, coupled with the shift to academic competition for better schools admission, saw an end to primary school sports and a great opportunity to tap talent.

Secondly, greed at municipal government level in the 1990s led to social halls previously available at no cost being let out to emerging churches. Some were converted into bars and those left fell into disrepair.

Third, until the 1990s, every corporate, parastatal and government department had a sports facility as part of its staff welfare programme.

It is no wonder a majority of our Shujaas can be traced back to the armed forces, Telkom Kenya, Kenya Ports authority, Tusker etc.

They had facilities open to employees at all levels and their families. Other organized teams also benefited. Only a few of these facilities remain today.

Today, a top athlete or team will have no problem raising sponsorship, but no sponsor will fund development.

Government should fund primary school sports, train teachers with basic coaching skills and sponsors will take care of the elite, including building stadiums.