TEARS FOR A GLORIOUS SPORTS PAST

 

    Kenya touring team at Bulawayo August 1961

Back row: Sil Fernandes, Jagnandan Singh, Hilary Fernandes, Major FA Butcher (joint manager)

Anthony D'Souza (joint manager), S S Deol (Captain), Kirpal Singh, A Q Khan.

Centre row: Anthony Vaz, A S Sohal, Alu Mendonca, Egbert Fernandes, S S Panesar, Edgar Fernandes

Front row: H S Kular (vice-captain), Jack Simonian, H S Grewal, S S Matharu.

THERE was a time when Kenya was once a Top Ten field hockey nation dominated by Goans and Sikhs, taking part in the Olympics since 1956:

Summer Olympics

1956 – 10th place

·        1960 – 7th place

·        1964 – 6th place

·        1968 – 8th place

·        1972 – 13th place

·        1976 – Withdrew

·        1984 – 9th place

·        1988 – 12th place

World Cup[edit]

·        1971 – 4th place

·        1973 – 12th place

Africa Cup of Nations

·        1974 – 

·        1983 – 

·        1989 – 

·        1993 – 

·        1996 – 

·        2013 – 

·        2017 – 4th place

·        2022 – 4th place

African Games

·        1987 – 

·        1991 – 

·        1995 – 

·        1999 – 

·        2023 – Qualified

African Olympic Qualifier

·        2007 – 

·        2011 – 4th place

·        2015 – 

·        2019 – 5th place

Commonwealth Games

·        1998 – 11th place

There were also many wonderful tours to Kenya by the Indian and Pakistan national teams. The MR D’Souza Gold Cup was the equivalent of a Wembley football final (much smaller in numbers) and like the East African Safari, it was one of the major highlights of the sporting calendar.

 

It would seem those glory days are gone forever unless a new generation of young Kenyans can revive the game and return the country to the glory days.

 

Ageing Kenyan Olympians can only watch the slow death of the game, some in tears in memory of once what was a glorious sport.

 

Cricket which flourished after most of the leading non-Kenyan friends had left for foreign parts and enjoyed quite a lot of glory and a Kenyan following also appears to be heading downwards into oblivion but I am sure there is a fightback in the making.

 

Some would argue that virtually all the sports were a hangover from the colonial era but that would be silly. Just look at how Kenyans have dominated (and continue to dominate) world athletics, once a colonial sport. On the other hand, football and boxing were for some unknown reason considered African sports (maybe because they were dominated by Kenyan Africans).

 

We who have seen the glory, those among us who were the making of the glory days, in all sports: hockey, cricket, table tennis, volleyball, badminton, snooker, billiards, tennis, golf, swimming, diving, badminton, darts, and all the others this mzee can’t seem to remember (but they will come back to haunt me, maybe tonight).

 

Similarly, the Kenya rugby sevens teams were stunning and won many thousands of hearts because they beat some of the biggest names in the game: Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and many others.  However, sadly we had to read this report:

 NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The demotion of Kenya 7s from the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Core Status has prompted strong reactions as aggrieved fans expressed their disappointment on social media following the end of a two-decade tenure in the top tier.

The team, affectionately known as Shujaa, Swahili for hero, was relegated from the World Series after suffering a 12-7 defeat to Canada in the London 7s play-off final at Twickenham.

After reading a recent report on the near-death of Kenya hockey one of the all-time greats had this say: Unfortunately, after the demise of the Sikh Organizers and Administers, who have all passed away, so did this sport. All I live with is the memory of yesteryears and the good times we all had.

Any way you look at it ... it is sad and I hope all the sports will flourish again and Kenya will always be juu sana!