School games return good for our raw talent

Pangani Girls Riraq Mohammed (R) is challenged by Huruma Girl's markers during the Nairobi region secondary school games at Mutuini secondary school in Nairobi on August 26, 2022. [Kelly Ayodi, Standard]

School games have resumed across the country after a two-year lull occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a huge sigh of relief to the sporting industry. The opportunity should help us recover raw talents that could have been wasted due to the restrictions.

The games offer a platform to stir latent talents. The games attest to the maxim that Kenya is a sporting nation. We have posted dismal performances in our key sports disciplines in recent past, which demands spirited efforts from stakeholders to put our sporting prowess on track.

Our dominance in athletics at the global stage has been on a downhill partly because school games, the goose that lays the golden egg, were suspended two years ago. Our production chains in training camps stalled.

We have won the highest number of medals in athletics at the global stage. We bask in a talent glut in rugby, volleyball, basketball and football thanks to school co-curricular activities.

That students from St Patrick's High School Iten made the national team to the Olympic Games from 1972 to 2012 is no mean feat. We had twins Kipkoech Cheruiyot (1,500m) and Charles Cheruiyot (5,000m), then Form Three students, competing in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. It was an exciting achievement but no other athlete from the school has graced the games since 2012.

Sing'ore Girls and Kapkenda Girls also produced world-beating athletes while Cardinal Otunga Mosocho (basketball) and Kisumu Girls (hockey) stole the headlines.

Similarly, schools such as Kakamega School and Itiero High School in Kisii served as feeders for Harambee Stars over the years.

Harambee Stars midfielders Eric Ouma, Simon Mulama and Mike Kisaghi are leading lights from Kakamega School while former winger Henry Motego, former striker Mike Okoth and the late Henry Nyandoro studied at Itiero High School.

Former Kenya Sevens captain Humphrey Kayange stirred his rugby skills at Kakamega School. We must take the cue from these stars and build a strong sporting empire from our schools.

Unfortunately, school performances have dropped drastically and rarely feature beyond the fence. The change of school calendar is to blame. Unlike before when school sports programmes were aligned with the international schedule, the trend is now different.

The cross country season gets to its climax in March at either the Africa cross country championships or the world cross country championships. The same case resonates with track events that enter the international stage in June and July.

We hope the incoming government will streamline schools' co-curricular calendar. Let's inspire our young talents from right in school.