New court brings joy to basketball fans

By Erick Ochieng’

Hundreds of basketball players attended the unveiling of a newly refurbished court and the presentation of new basketball kits at the World Wide Mukuru Centre, Nairobi recently.

US former All-Star and National Basketball Association (NBA) power forward Juwan Antonio Howard was the guest of honour.

Howard, who plays for Charlotte Bobcats, also trained young basketballers.

Clinton Mukua (left) and Dancun Kengere show off their skills on the new court. Photo: Jonah Onyango/Standard

"I love basketball but I had no court to play on," Duncan told Generation Next.

Before the centre was refurbished, the two used to play the game on a dilapidated pitch.

"It is not easy to practise perfect shots on rundown ground and one gets dirty very easily," says Clinton.

The boys have vowed to train hard and hope that one day they will be picked for Basketball Without Borders, where the top seven basketball players in Kenya go and compete in South Africa against players from all over the world.

Clinton is in Standard Three at Gatoto Primary School in the heart of Mukuru Kwa Njenga. Maths and Kiswahili are his favourite subjects.

Although basketball is his favourite sport, Clinton wants to be an academician since he likes reading.

As for role models, both boys say they look up to their parents because they struggle to make ends meet in the slum.

Duncan is in Standard Four in the same school, loves fried rice and social studies and English are the subjects he loves most.

He wants to be a football team manager besides excelling in basketball.