Mitch Ocholla IN & Ben Ayimba OUT, Kenya Rugby 7s turns new page

Not entirely suprised by the breaking news and surely not the names bandied around. After a dismal 2010-11 season, the Kenya Rugby 7s team was bound to feel the heat and the first victims are the technical team. Again given the new office in Kenya Rugby Union, something(s) must give and they are turning out to be quite a number.
Mitch Ocholla (coincidentally played in the same 7s team with Ben Ayimba in the early 2000s, see here) has been propped to take over the 'hot seat'. Having played for the national 7s team though leaving prematurely thanks to nagging injuries and previously helping develop a worthy team in the name of Strathmore University Leos; Ocholla in our humble opinion has a lot of going for him to take over.
He also served as coach for Kenya's second string 7s team Shujaa in the last 2 years. A fair performance given the lack of playing time the team is accorded.

Image courtesy of www.nation.co.ke

True the national team has some of the biggest stars whose egos need to be checked , lack of concrete structures such as latest technical skills training regime, ample funding from the Union and corporate sponsors alike along with the campaign slogan of 'professionalising Kenyan 7s rugby'. At a micro-level, Mitch has been able to develop Strathmore rugby to a team worth challenging the big boys and this they should during the Kenya Cup and even went on to win this year's Impala Floodlights hosted by Impala RFC (which he knows all too well having played for the team too).
The resources accorded to him and the level of management might be different but at least he seems to understand the system well. Now the KRU has to give him a free hand in setting up shop with a new outfit and his first call will be to infuse some fresh blood and commit or discard the players who might have monopolised the national team much to the detriment of their performance.
August or thereabouts the national 7s circuit starts and the technical bench must sharpen their pencils and put down on paper what they believe will be a team worthy to take part and finish in a respectable position. The Safaricom 7s will also come up as a good test to give the team a run of challenging top sides in the IRB circuit, if Kenya manages to get some of them to attend.
There is also the issue such as securing proper grounds for the team(s) with Unga Grounds touted to be developed to a world-class facility but that is a longer term project for KRU. Player motivation and lifting their morale will be an urgent call.
Kenyan rugby fans must also tamper their expectations albeit in the short term but remember patience is never a virtue in most sporting disciplines.

Mr. Mitch Ocholla karibu sana and your work starts NOW!

For more on Ben Ayimba's departure read SportsNewsArena's interview with him here

SOYA Awards - SportsKenya Take !

With less than 24hr to go for this year's Sports personality Of the Year Award (SOYA) about to take place at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), we have come up with our list of winners ( nothing scientific there...), let's see how this compares with tomorrow's winners, at least in the top categories.
Starting with
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Benjamin Ayimba - Kenya Rugby 7s coach - without a doubt, this man has managed to put Kenya firmly among the top 6 in the IRB Sevens Circuit and even came within touching distance of the Rugby World Cup 7s in Dubai.Formerly a 7s player, he has led from the front and taken the brunt when the team doesn't perform as witnessed in 2008 when the 2008/9 IRB Circuit started with dismal performances. Sofapaka's Robert Matano would come a close second, playing the Premier League in the first season and winning it, special!

OUTSTANDING SPORTS ASSOCIATION/FEDERATION:
It might be controversial but I go with the Kenya Rugby Football Union. Reasons being, they managed to stage the Junior World Rugby tournament, supported the Olympic bid for having the 7s game included as a Olympics in 2016 in Brazil (which sailed through), securing new (and loaded)sponsorship for the Safari Sevens tournament and 7s team too. The 15-a-side maybe their Achilles heel, but for the 7s, give it to them, they have put a fair show.

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR:
World champion , Linet Masai takes the cake here. She managed to upstage the Ethiopians and ran such a tactical race that we had not given her a chance to win it. ensured that the Kenyan women maintained the tempo and brought the country at least 2 more gold medals just like their male counterparts.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR:
Rugby comes through for the 3rd time and this time it's the star of the year Collins Injera. Finishing as top scorer in the IRB Sevens circuit in the 2008/9 season and losing out narrowly in the IRB Sevens Player of the Year award shows the pedigree this gent has.He was hinted to have gotten prospects of playing professional games in France and South Africa but I guess he's decided to hack it out in the local scene. He has managed to secure endorsement from top mobile firm Nokia and boy do the ladies love this guy, check his Facebook fan-page.



SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR (WOMEN):
It's a tricky one, but I'd put money on the Kenya Commercial Bank women's club at the front. This is after the team lost out to eventual winners Al Ahly of Egypt but upset the form book to displace Kenya Pipeline and Prisons clubs at the pecking order of volleyball in Kenya.

SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR (MEN):
This squarely lays with Sofapaka football team. The 7s team may claim a right as well as the athletics team but Sofapaka beats them all since they ultimately won the Kenya Premier League - football - in their first outing. Given the chaotic football scene, coming up with a team and managing to give established teams with sizeable fan-bases; Sofapaka kept their cool. They play in next year's African Champions League with money in the bank.

Those are but our thoughts. Nominations were handed in and let's see who takes what home, the winners of the Sportsman & Sportswoman of the Year take a prize money tag of KSh. 150,000. Who's in and who's not? See you tomorrow at KICC!

Top Sports Personalities in Kenya -2008

As we look forward to the coming year which will serve as breeding grounds and hard work for all sporting disciplines (since there are not as many major sports events), I have looked at those who made a major impact in the sports scene in 2008;
They are as follows;

1. Pamela Jelimo- Athletics 800m- from obscurity to golden moments- she literally scorched the tracks last year. Starting with the Kenyan championships(cum trials), she went on to register a gold medal in the African Athletics Meet in Ethiopia, won gold in Beijing Olympics and crowned the season by taking the Golden Jackpot by winning 6-out-6 races in the Golden League Athletics Grand Prix. She was accorded State honours having audience the powers-that-be. She’s easily the most talked about sports personality for the year 2008.

2.Francis Kimanzi- Coach/Team Manager (Mathare United & Kenyan football national team)– juggling two demanding jobs is not mean achievement. But he did just that and managed to win the Kenyan Premier last year and also managed to guide Kenya into the 2nd round of 2010 World Cup / Cup of Nations qualifiers. Under him, Kenya is currently ranked 65th in the FIFA world rankings –the highest ever and best for the East & Central African teams. All this at the tender age of 30 years.

3.Jason Dunford- Swimming- he started the year by being crowned SOYA for 2007 after a sterling performance in the All-Africa Games. He put Kenya in the Olympic record books temporarily holding the record for the 100m butterfly stroke for a few minutes. He managed a 5th place finish in the Finals won by swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps. He crowned the year by winning 3 gold medals & 2 silvers in African championships held in South Africa in November.

4.Collins Injera-Rugby- The national 7s team has become any sports enthusiasts’ talking point for the last 2 years. They won the Team of the Year award –SOYA 2007. One emerging player from the season was Collins Injera who had the big teams the likes of England, Fiji shaking in their boots last season. He has been a decisive factor in Kenya’s 7s game and is likely to be a player to watch this season.

5.Samuel Wanjiru- Athletics Marathon- he was the 3rd best marathoner going into the Olympics and his place was confirmed after finishing 2nd to Martin Lel in the London Marathon, as well as a nagging injury to Robert ‘Mwafrika’ Cheruiyot who had been tipped as the favourite. But come the last event of the Beijing Olympics Games, we woke up to watch a lean man tear the rest of the pack apart and win Kenya her first Olympic marathon gold.

6.Francis Ouma- Football-seeing as it is, the Kenyan Premier League last season got off into a good start. With DSTv/SuperSport screening select Kenyan games, our footballer had something to show to the rest of the world. Ochieng found the net 15 times most for his team leading them to a 1st place finish. He has found a place in the national team and is currently leading Kenya’s onslaught in the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup in Uganda.

7.Humphrey Khayange- rugby 7s- he captained the team to the IRB Sevens Series and one of the most influential players in the team. He managed to guide the team to a season high 6th place in the Series before they lost steam and slipped to finish within the top 10 positions. They won the Tusker Safari Sevens in July, giving local fans something to smile at. He is still captain and was instrumental in the team’s season 2nd round of the Series outstanding performance at the Dubai Sevens in December. We’ll how he guides the team for the rest of the season.

8.Ben Ayimba –coach rugby 7s team- he was one of the best players of his days and led Kenya’s 7s team to many an upset. He took up the managerial role of team in 2007 and has since seen the team grow to be one of the best emerging teams in the IRB 7s Series. He takes responsibility for any poor performances a thing that has endeared him to both fans and players. He is also one of the youngest coaches in the Series at 31 years. He is bound to continue this streak in the year.

9.Wilfred Bungei- Athletics 800m- he has been a major feature in Kenya’s international performances and is easily one of the most recognizable athletes on the track. He was a perennial underachiever failing to make the final sprint count and missing on medals. He led Kenya’s contingent as the captain of the Kenya team to the Olympics. Last year he proved us wrong and won his race earning Kenya one of the 5 gold medals in the Beijing Olympics. His trademark eye-glasses he says are not a fashion statement but simply to save his eyes from the gashing winds in the races.

10.Julius Kirwa- he took the unenviable job of head coach athletics at a time when Kenya’s international performances were taking a beating from bitter rivals such as Ethiopia, Eritrea and the North Africans. He almost lost it when Kenya didn’t win any individual race at the World Cross Country championships in ……earlier in 2008. But he managed to recover and come back with a bang helping Kenya secure 5 gold medals at the Olympics courtesy of the athletics team.

11.Nancy Lagat- 1500m –she was the surprise gold medalist for Kenya at the Olympics. She had kept her trend of winning, nondescriptly and she repeated that feat at the 1500m race earning Kenya’s women their 2nd ever gold medal at Olympics Games. Her demeanour hides her ambition to excel and she surely had us fooled!

SPECIAL MENTIONS:
Richard Omwela -Kenya Rugby Football Union- sustained support and professionalism into rugby
Mutwiri Mutuota- CNN/MultiChoice African Journalism of the Year Award nominee and winner in Sports Award section
Hellen Sambili-Minister for Youth and Sports- ensuring sustained Government support to Kenyan sports
www.mafans.com - interactive site with interesting sports news and arguments
EABL, KCB, KCC, Safaricom, Standard Chartered Kenya,Coca-Cola -the top companies supporting sports in Kenya for the season (Virgin Atlantic also deserves a mention albeit a hurried one).

Please add any which I may have forgotten !