In a bold reshaping of gender roles in school sports, two ladies are not only coaching boys’ basketball teams but also leading them to victory at the Rift Valley secondary school games which gets underway in Uasin Gishu County.
Seela Kuluo, coach and the Principal of Enkare Ngiro Secondary School in Narok county, and Norah Chebet, a Kiswahili teacher at Kimulot Boys High School in Bomet, are rewriting the narrative that boys can not only be coached by men.
Against all odds and stereotypes, they’ve broken into the elite circle of male coaches and proven they have what it takes to lead, inspire, and win.
For Seela Kuluo, it started as a love for the game but turned into a mission to prove that women can not only participate but thrive in spaces where they’ve long been excluded.
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“There’s always been this assumption that coaching boys requires a male voice. But coaching is about knowledge, discipline, and emotional intelligence,” says Seela, who is also a certified coach and referee.
Her impact has been felt beyond the scoreboard. Enkare Ngiro’s surprise win over Narok Boys and former champs Kilgoris marked a new chapter not just for the school but for girls and women across the county and country watching from the sidelines, dreaming bigger.
Norah Chebet, too, has turned her coaching role into a leadership platform. After steering Kimulot Boys past perennial giants Tenwek High School, her boys now believe and so does the entire Bomet basketball community.
“My job is to teach, guide, and believe in them even when they don’t believe in themselves. When I started, some doubted if boys would listen to a woman. Now they hang onto every word.” She says.
Chebet sees coaching as mentorship in action where discipline, respect, and focus off the court matter just as much as skills on it.
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“These boys aren’t just becoming better players. They’re becoming better people,” she adds.
Their presence has challenged traditional thinking in Kenyan school sports, where women are often seen in support roles but rarely on the front lines of coaching boys’ teams.
One of Chebet’s players, Jesse Bett, the best scoring players in the county with basketball lauded her coach for being a team leader.
“Coach Chebet doesn’t just teach basketball. She teaches us how to think, to lead, and to believe in our power—even when it’s hard.” He said
As these women blaze a trail through the regional games, their real victory may be in the ripple effect they leave behind a generation of girls inspired to lead, and a generation of boys learning to respect female leadership.
“We’re not just coaching games we’re changing culture. If even one girl decides to lead because she saw us do it, then we’ve already won,” says Seela Kuluo.
By Our reporter
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