When the young girl clinched the national primary schools’ long jump title in Kisumu two years ago, many curious questions arose: Who was she, and which school did she represent? Most notably, people wondered which part of the Rift Valley she came from—given the region’s long-standing dominance in school sports.
It indeed was a onerous achievement. Reaching that level in sports was significant in itself, but winning the event was nothing short of a national feat. This was more so if the achiever was a small girl in a skimpy sports uniform, running and jumping barefoot.
That was Edna Apiyo, then a pupil at Emagombe Primary and Junior Secondary School.
The school not being in Rift Valley or Kisii was the icing on the cake. It is found deep in Butula Sub-county, Busia County. Edna Apiyo’s achievement was remarkable, given that the school had no prior sporting history to speak of, as affirmed by the game teacher, Edmond Okiya Ouma.
“As you can see, we don’t have good playing grounds,” he says, pointing out the small compound as he takes me around. The learning area takes up most of the school compound. The football field is almost half the size of the required standard. That leaves little for anything else. The popular joke here during Edna’s time was that she could easily jump across the compound, and still have lots of energy to spare!”
But as our laughter subsides, I ask about Edna Apiyo’s sporting situation as of now. The teacher suddenly becomes serious, almost sad, downcast. I take it this has something to do with Edna, the former national long jump champion.
“What sporting situation?” he answers, sadly. “The girl could not raise the fees to join high school. After languishing at home for some time, she was rescued and taken to a local day school, St. Austin’s Kingandole Secondary. Alas, she is no longer as active in sports as she was when she was here. Sadly, her sporting career has been nipped in the bud.”
His sadness is understandable. That girl could have made a living out of her unique talent. Elsewhere, she could have got a scholarship to join a school specialising in athletics. Under the best coaches, she could have jumped her way into stardom and probably world fame. But here…?
I am recalled to the present.
READ ALSO:
Over 200 chess players trained, Trans-Nzoia gears up for the upcoming tournament
“Luckily, our sports exploits did not end with Apiyo,” Okiya points out. “True, the girl was an inspiration. We saw possibilities and did not look back. We currently excel in two main disciplines: handball and volleyball. Circumstances have pushed athletics to the periphery.”
The record for these two sporting disciplines is there to see. They have become very competitive at all school levels, including primary and junior secondary.
“The competition is very stiff in both disciplines,” Okiya avers. “It starts all the way from the zonal level to the nationals. Needless to say, competition becomes increasingly fierce as one proceeds. The hurdles get higher, as it were. To jump over them all the way to the national level is an onerous task. But we have made it. Last year, we reached nationals in both handball and volleyball. This was a superb show. We are very proud of it.”
They had mixed luck. In volleyball, they were eliminated at the semi-final stage, whereas in handball, the boys were eliminated in the finals.
“We lost very narrowly. I could ascribe it to bad luck, because the winners were a team we had beaten during the preliminaries. Talk about a bit of stage fright!”
The coach, who has previously excelled with other teams, says he is looking forward to better performance this year.
“I have coached Mukumu Boys from 2018 to 2023. Their record is available and enviable. We won several senior tournaments there. I want to inculcate the same spirit here at Emagombe. Already, my team has won a number of tournaments this year.”
The teacher decries a lack of facilities as their main undoing. They improvise a lot to stay in the game and to ensure the players are not discouraged. Nevertheless, there are some things they cannot improvise.
“How do you improvise balls, for example?” he wonders. “One needs a ball of a standard size, with a definite air pressure. Anything other than that is unacceptable.”
The money availed to schools for these sporting activities is barely enough, he observes. This affects the standards.
“For the love of the sport, some of us have had to sacrifice personal resources to buy a ball or two. A few kind people also step in to add to what the school can do. For special mention is the area MCA, Hon. Shadrack Masinde, who has donated uniforms and other requirements. I must also laud the efforts of the school administration for ensuring we keep playing.”
Are there any special requirements the school feels can better their chances? To answer this question, the coach leads me to the playing field. There, we encounter boys and girls practising, but many of them are in school uniform. They also have no shoes. The goal posts are wooden, with improvised nets. The ground is dusty, probably due to overuse.
But one thing stands out: the fiercely contagious spirit of determination, so fierce that one can almost feel it.
At the coach’s urging, the team captain, Master Alex Odhiambo, walks over and offers a firm handshake. I ask him about their training routine.
“We begin with a word of prayer,” he explains. “Then we warm up for about twenty minutes, followed by tactical drills, and finally, we play a full game.”
Curious, I ask, “Why handball? Why not football, for instance?”
“One needs to experience the special thrill of this game to know its goodness,” the tall, shy boy says. “We are very grateful to our coach for letting us discover it. Just as some people enjoy playing football, we also enjoy playing handball. And see where it has taken us!”
The excited boy talks about the team’s various trips, including to Nairobi, Maseno School, Kisumu, and many other places.
“Many of us hope to join schools like Maseno for senior secondary. Maseno School has even visited our school and played against us. Their coaches are keen on helping us further our sporting career.”
As we watch the boys and girls practise, the thrill the boy talked of is played out. Sheer determination is seen in the faces of the players: a picture of sportsmen immensely enjoying the game. Though the dust rises high as the players are at it, no one seems to care. The teams want to get that ball into the net, and equally, to prevent their opponents from scoring!
One can only wish them success this year. Opponents of Emagombe, you are put on notice!
By Okoth O. Charles
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
>>> Click here to stay ahead with the latest national news.
