The games master’s role involves promoting physical activities and healthy habits that support emotional and social development, while also keeping the school up-to-date with the latest sporting rules.
All schools have talented and skilled teachers. They lead by prescribing the best diet to improve sports performance and providing first aid for injured participants.
Our teachers’ role model for sporting events, both local and international, is the late Samson Kimobwa, who was a game teacher at Kapenguria Boys. He was born in 1955 and died in 2013 after winning many medals worldwide.
In 1978, he broke the world record in 10,000 metres, participated in 5,000 and 3,000 metres, and won many coveted awards.
Our sports teachers can borrow a leaf from his legacy. He asked athletes to uphold the highest standards of discipline and do their best in academic work. He held onto the fact that even if a team’s best player misbehaves, they have to be replaced immediately. According to him, discipline was supposed to go hand in hand with sports.
The late Kimobwa secured a track scholarship by studying at Washington State University.
He used to nurture young talent without interfering with the learners’ academic programmes.
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The discipline he held highly involved learner and teacher discipline. He said that his success was anchored in discipline. He clearly stated that indiscipline can quickly bring down even a top-performing team.
The late Kimobwa appealed to the Government to recognise talent and reward it accordingly. He asked employers to empathise with struggling athletes, stating that even the most talented footballers and athletes had not been accorded deserving onus.
Currently, there is an irksome challenge where unscrupulous game teachers scout for the best players from neighbouring schools. Even further, this sample includes a hybrid of athletes in particular schools. It is imagined that these sports teachers are of superior quality because their schools provide excellent talent.
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Worse still is a scenario where very good players only appear during the competition and disappear when the games are over. The use of class should do scrutiny registers apart from the NEMIS (National Education Information Management Systems) database.
The teachers’ employer must consider encouraging talent among sports teachers by promoting them when they excel and not just cheering them up and discarding them immediately after sports.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) should initiate a progressive promotion structure in honour of the hard work of these teachers.
The Competency Based Curriculum recognises sporting activities as an important area of the three career pathways. Teachers must be encouraged to develop well-rounded, disciplined, and versatile athletes.
And there should be a balance between academic work and sporting activities.
By Hillary Muhalya
