Tuesday 22 May 2007

Strathmore –Sure to Conquer !


It’s been an interesting observation in the last few years as I peruse and cover sports events. I have come across this name at least 4 or 5 times and in different disciplines if I may say.
Strathmore University-one of the latest kids on the blocks in provision of higher education in Kenya! It is a private institution run under the strict tutorship of Catholic-ties Opus Dei. It’s emerged as one of the leading institutions to produce players in rugby, basketball, football, hockey to name but a few. In fact, the hockey men’s team recently won the East Africa Club championships held in Tanzania a few days ago. The men’s basketball last year qualified for the Kenya Basketball Federation Premier League.
I’m encouraged when I read such stories. It shows a couple of things to note;
a)Capacity- given the number of students that such an institution attracts, it is reasonable to say that there loads of reservoirs to draw players from. Being attractive to high schools or institutions such as Maseno, Mangu, St. Mary’s, Rift Valley Academy etc it ought to have capacity to have players in all disciplines possible
b)Publicity- through sport, the institution is able to sensitize the public on not just the name of the institution but also the avenues that exist for those willing to pursue not just a professional career such as Commerce and IT but also engage in sports.
c) Multi-faceted- as I stated above, it is important to have well-rounded people working for your organization. What better way than to recruit from such an institution where they are tutored in academics but also molded into to disciplined sports people.
d)Competitiveness- this will be on one side for the individuals participating in sports and also for the institutions that have existed before. The individuals will engage in sports making it highly competitive amongst them. The existing institutions will also try to outdo this Johnny-come-lately and hope to upstage it in any discipline they may send representatives.

In future I believe institutions in Kenya should look forward to developing fully fledged departments and faculties that will draw people interested not just in participating in sports, but also be professionals running sports in managerial or other capacities. This can be in either sport marketing, sports law, sports management or related fields…… (Think of Strathmore Sports Management School…possible!).Have a check at their website and get a sneak preview of what they are all about ! www.strathmore.edu
We can have our own University College of Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Illinois, Pittsburgh University. These institutions provide talent for fields in sports such as NBA, American Football and baseball. It is important to note that college basketball is such a huge attraction in the US that they even screen it on ESPN……competitive and lucrative! Can somebody hear me?

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