Poor travel plans will cost teams in championships

What you need to know:

  • It is one thing to prepare a team and it is completely another one to psyche them to perform.
  • The truth is that you can not psyche a team that is already demoralised owing to sideshows.
  • We must start doing things differently if we are to attain different results.

Greetings from Abidjan!

This past week, two things have kept me thinking. One concerns the way we plan things and the other is about how we treat our teams or rather heroes.

As much as I want to talk about the travel problems faced by Kenya Under-18 and Under-20 athletics teams currently here in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire for the Africa Championships, I realised that one of our top football clubs, Gor Mahia, had similar problems?

So why is it that we have never got it right as Kenyans? What culture are we inculcating in our youth, some of whom are traveling out of the country for the first time?

One thing in I know is that it is cheaper to book flights early, and this could save money for the government rather the club.

We can’t show disorganisation on our part as leaders and expect the youth to deliver. I am still yet to comprehend why our youth team had to travel to Abidjan in four batches, yet the budget was presented to the Sports ministry long time ago.

For Gor Mahia, It was worse because some of the players were arriving in Berkane, Morocco, for the return leg of their Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final fixture just 40 minutes before kick-off.

And yes, the result was there for everyone to see as Gor Mahia lost 5-1 on the night and 7-1 on aggregate to exit the championship. And surely what did we expect?

As a country, we need to put our act together because I foresee these scenarios being repeated in the very near future.

For example, we all know that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are in July next year, yet we are yet to start our preparations.

I don’t see the reasons why we shouldn’t book tickets on the basis of the numbers we had in Rio de Janeiro for 2016 Olympics.

Or rather, we should have a forum of stakeholders to brainstorm on the expectations. What we have been doing here is planning to fail and it is not fair to our youths, who are looking at sports as a career.

It is one thing to prepare a team and it is completely another one to psyche them to perform.

The truth is that you can not psyche a team that is already demoralised owing to sideshows.

We must start doing things differently if we are to attain different results.

Allow me to congratulate the new Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage, Ambassador Amina Mohammed. Her arrival will no doubt change things.