Let’s revive the spirit of leisure sports

By Omulo Okoth

All is well that ends well. So goes the old adage. As I wish my esteemed readers a prosperous 2013, I also want to thank our sportsmen and women for a good job in the year ending tomorrow.

Kenya was still on the map of global sports, despite the Olympic Games story that remains on the minds of Kenyans as either half-full or half-empty glass, depending on an individual’s own perception.

London Olympics taught us a lesson that expectations can be painfully elusive. It also taught us that, for the umpteenth time, that championships and Diamond League athletics meetings are different ball games. The year 2012 again exposed our under-belly on the global sports arena, where only track and field and road running remain Kenya’s stronghold. All other sports are riding on the strength of running.

Yet running is the pillar of all sports. It took somebody from behind the Iron Curtain to discover that cycling can do very well in Kenya because of the natural running talent. Nicholas Leong has established a cycling camp in Iten where athletics is the main economic activity and is already sending waves around the region.

Sports importance

But cycling suffered serious damage this year with American Lance Armstrong being confirmed to have cheated. With our athletes under the radar of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), I pray that the upcoming Kenyan cyclists don’t fall prey to the infectious disease of subterfuge.

I would like to remind ourselves that sport is also entertainment and leisure. When I pound 45 minutes on the treadmill and do a few squats and stretches, I feel like a true champion. People should enjoy sport for a healthy living like Brazilians do football and volleyball along the beaches of Copa Cabana of Cape Townians along the wharf overlooking Robben Islands or those young boys who play football near Fort Jesus in Mombasa.

When I was a young man growing up in Kisumu, boat riding in Dunga Beach, near what is now the Yatch Club of Kisumu, was a serious sport, complete with diving and skiing behind a motor boat. It took more than two decades for Kenya to make an impact at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the canoeing sport.

Basketball had a huge fan base around 1970s, thanks to the tour of Harlem Globetrotters from the USA. Joe Squash’ Bakhoya, Sir Alfred Amugune, Ronny Owino, Joshua Okeyo, Dom Omach, the Okutoyi brothers sent shivers down the spines of opponents. The sport was so popular and many Kenyan proceeded to the USA even though none ended in the NBA. I remember with nostalgia the weekly television show ‘I love this Game’ which attracted many young college students, just like Football Made in Germany show inspired many footballers of that generation.

Cecafa tournaments were huge, with names like Omar Mahadhi, Kina Phiri, Owino Kempes, Oluoch Lule, Mahmoud Abbas, John Bobby Ogolla, Bakari Tall, Godfrey Nsereko, Tim Ayieko, among others, being household names. Boxing rings had fire-spitting stylish boxers like David ‘Harish’ Ouma, James ‘Demosh’ Omondi, Harold Obunga, ‘Les Les’, Joseph Akasamba, David Maina, Steve Okumu, Surf Bilali were names every growing child wanted to call themselves.

Do we remember rallying? East African Safari Rally with names like Joginder Singh, Vic Preston Junior, Mike Doughty, Shekkar Mehta, Prem Khoda, Peter Shiyukah and later Patrick Njiru, Ian Duncan, Peter Hughes are still popular names among sports fans to-date.

What happened folks that a country like ours with such multi-disciplinary talent can only have track and field and road running to show for its sporting excellence? More so, let’s use sport as entertainment first to attract many youths, return to the basics to define sport as leisure rather than ‘the winner takes it all’ thing, and there will be less cheating.

And I must congratulate the Kenya Golf Union for introducing many young people into the sport. That is the future of any sport. Have a prosperous 2013

— The writer is The Standard Sports Editor iomulo@standardmedia.co.ke