Son and mum put best stick forward: Terry and her son are the first sportspersons from the same family to represent Kenya in an international outing

Telkom Hockey player Terry Juma at City Park. ON 22/09/2018(Jenipher Wachie, Standard)

In Kenyan athletics, it’s not uncommon for pioneers to pass the baton to their children.

From the legendary Kipchoge Keino to Martin Keino, Olympian Elkana Nyang’au to Walter Moenga, Daniel Rudisha to David Rudisha; and many more. It is a simple story of generational change in a competitive sport.

It seems that a similar script is now being written for hockey. Terry Juma Masibo and Robert Masibo are a unique pair of mother and son, that thrill hockey enthusiasts in Nairobi’s City Park.

Terry plays for Telkom, while her son Robert turns out for Kenya Police. The family has made history as the first mother-son duo to represent the country in an international assignment.

Last year, Terry and Robert played in the Hockey Africa Cup of Nations-cum-2018 World Cup qualifiers in Ismailia, Egypt.  But that’s not all. They propelled their teams –Telkom (women) and Kenya Police (men) - into winning the 2017 Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League titles.  

Robert, 24, is a police constable and son to former Kenyan international and national team coach Fredrick Masibo. He was influenced into hockey by his mother at an early age when she started taking him to Barclays Sports Club where she used to train.   

Terry is an alumnus of Nairobi’s Ngara Girls High School and was a great sports fan, always cheering her school teams on during netball matches and athletics championships. She also loved music and drama. “I hated it when we lost a match. Unfortunately, our hockey team was always run over by other schools in competitions. I preferred cheering on the sidelines because I could not bear losing on the pitch. I never imagined that I would one day hold a hockey stick and be actively involved in the game on the pitch,” Terry said.

Even after completing Form Four, Terry had  little interest in hockey. But she would accompany her friends, among them former teammate at Telkom Jacky Ogot, Jacky Nduko and Sliders goalkeeper Catherine Opicha, to the Barclays Sports Club where they trained. It was not until 1993 when the Barclays Bank women’s hockey team coach Martin Milla approached and encouraged her to take a swing at the sport.

“I did not like idlers. Here was a young girl who religiously came to the club daily with her friends, but remained on the sidelines as everyone else trained. I could not just watch her waste an opportunity. So, one day, I told her to make herself useful and start training. I convinced her to consider playing hockey and taught her the basics,” said Milla.

That was the beginning of greatness and Terry has never looked back since. She has featured in many tournaments for the Barclays Bank team. “I developed interest in the game and learnt fast. Soon, I was playing in tournaments because there was no women’s league then.”

She also met her husband Fredrick Masibo, a former Kenya Police player and currently coach and in August 1994. They were blessed with their firstborn Robert. Terry acknowledges her husband’s role in sporting their success, saying he has contributed immensely to their growth. “My husband has played and still plays a big role in our growth and development. After every match, we get together with him (Masibo) and Robert and we analyse our performance. He points out the areas we need to improve on and it helps us get better. We help one another - even Robert evaluates my performance, praises and criticizes me and I take it positively,” Terry said.

“He is hard on us during training and does not encourage laziness. Even when our clubs are on a break, he takes us for morning runs. Above all, he is our fan and coach who is always pushing us to become better,” she added.

Through hard work and commitment, Terry caught the eye of the late Tobias Oduor, a pioneer of women’s hockey in the country, who was then the Inter Capital Club and national team coach. “The late Oduor saw potential in me and invited me to the national team for training. He helped me gain confidence and made sure that I kept track of my growth - he gave me a notebook and pen to write down everything I did in training and at the end of every session, we would evaluate my progress,” she said.

Kenya Police Robert Masibo when they played National Men League at City Park. ON 22/04/15 PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE

In 1996, Terry got her first cap when Kenya played India at City Park. Since then, she has been a regular in the national team. At club level, she played for Barclays Bank, Sliders and the defunct Blue Eaglets Club that comprised Barclays’ players after the bank terminated their sponsorship. “It was hard to run a self-supporting club and I was also looking for growth. Then  Telkom gave me the opportunity to fulfill my dreams.

In 2012, she featured for Telkom as a guest player in the Africa Cup of Club Championships in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where the team won. She was later confirmed as a player for the club upon returning from Bulawayo. She has won the continental trophy four times with the club in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In January this year, Telkom finished second behind arch-rivals Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

However, despite her success locally and internationally, she says the best moment of her playing career was last year when together with her son, they donned the national colours for Kenya. “It was a special moment, one that many parents wish but rarely realise. My son and I were on national duty representing Kenya. It was simply awesome. I savoured every minute of it and kept encouraging him to remain focused. The memories of the tournament bring tears of joy to my eyes date,” Terry added.

Robert is full of praise for his mother and says she inspires him to work harder. “No matter how many international matches I play in future, the Ismailia Africa Cup of Nations will remain the best and most special. My mother’s presence and support was special. She has been my pillar of strength, together with dad. I’m humbled to have made history playing alongside her in a continental championship,” Robert said.

The mother of three takes pride in the children she has raised and refers to herself as a mother of many.  There’s no doubt that Terry is her son’s number one fan and never misses his matches.  She frequently calls out his name as she cheers him on from the stands. “Roba, Roba, Roba!” has become a common shout of encouragement whenever Kenya Police is playing.

Though he was introduced to hockey at an early age, Robert had to first play football in primary school, because hockey is only played in secondary schools. He later joined secondary school hockey powerhouse St Anthony’s Boys Kitale, but his mother still bought him football boots because she had vowed to support him in whatever sport he wanted to play.

But as fate would have it, one day on his way from football training, he passed by the hockey pitch and was pulled in by the sport. He soon earned his place in the team. His school coach Kelvin Lugalia, said that it was easy to improve his playing skills because he had mastered the basics. “He had a hockey background and it was not hard to polish him into a top-class player,” Lugalia said. At St Anthony’s, Robert won the national and East Africa titles in 2011 and 2012, and was also the team captain in 2013.

Terry is encouraging the current crop of players to seize opportunities that present themselves. “Today, talent can earn you education. In my time, there were no scholarships or even chances of playing professional. Be the best you can be, position yourself strategically to be noticed through dedication, discipline and hard work. It is by the grace of God and through discipline that I have achieved this feat. It is not every day that you see a mother and her child playing in an international competition for their country.”

Apart from playing hockey, Terry is a businesswoman. She has also trained in coaching and umpiring.

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