Try Time!!!
In September 2008, the Kenya Women’s Rugby National Seven a Side team put on a gallant fight in the Womens Rugby World Cup Sevens Qualifiers and came in third. Unfortunately, only the top two made it through to the Rugby World Cup in Dubai in 2009.
Kenya were the only team to score against South Africa, who outplayed all opposition to emerge the champions for the African region.
Find more photos:
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and here
and here
and finally, here.
Photos by mentalacrobatics
LONG VERSUS SHORT: which way for Kenyan Rugby?
It has been argued that fifteens rugby in Kenya is suffering because we have concentrated on the sevens version without thinking through the progression to the fifteens code. Are we right to constantly invest so much time and energy into the more viable sevens rugby or should we now regroup and turn our attention to the fifteens?
Seven’s is a variant of the game of rugby in which only seven players play per side as opposed to the full fifteen. While a normal fifteens match lasts at least eighty minutes, normal rugby sevens matches last fourteen minutes, except the final which lasts twenty minutes. This allows sevens rugby tournaments to be completed in a day or a weekend. Scoring occurs with much greater regularity in sevens, since the defenders are more spaced out than in the fifteens. The game thus demands high levels of skill, speed and fitness. Sevens is a game of continuous action; there are fewer rucks, fewer mauls and fewer scrums and this arguably translates to more rugby over a short span of time. Sevens is uniquely suited to hone all basic rugby skills of an individual athlete. It has been argued that sevens is capable of producing a tremendous international competition throughout a far wider range of nations than fifteens.
It is these attributes that make the sevens version of the game popular. One does not really need to understand the intricacies of the sport to enjoy the game. With a major sponsor on board, the sevens version of the game is able to market itself through international appearances. The Safari Sevens also gives the sevens game mileage. The Kenya sevens team are of course the darlings of the local crowd cheering them on at home as they play against a host of teams from around the world. Beyond this, a sevens rugby crowd is akin to a crowd at a concert where most people came because that was the place to be that weekend and not necessarily because of the artists performing. Simply put, majority of the crowd turns out for booze and the carnival atmosphere and not necessary the action of the pitch. Sevens rugby provides a ‘romantic’ environment that people want to be associated with. Still although slowly, the game is attracting a following that appreciates the game and perhaps in this instance selling the game as more than just on the pitch action is a winning formula.
Having said that, the local sevens circuit is not nearly as popular as the Safari Sevens, which brings to question many things including the brand of rugby played. Crowds flock to the Prinsloo and Driftwood sevens tournaments but it has more to do with the change of scenery. Who does not want to spend a weekend at the coast; sun and sand etcetera etcetera? It does not take much effort to go to Nakuru. Crowds for the Christie and Kabeberi Sevens have been the same bunch of people over the years even with a lot more money being infused into the local circuit this year through sponsorship.
In Kenya, fifteens rugby runs throughout the season from the Impala Floodlights tournament to the Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley Shield leagues to the Rugby Super Series and the Chairman’s Cup tournament. Impala Floodlights attracts a huge crowd probably because it is the first tournament in the year after a few months break in the off-season. Rugby enthusiasts therefore flock over in numbers to scratch that rugby itch. Also, the ambience that night time brings with it serves to attract creatures of the night looking for something to do in the cover of darkness.
The Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley leagues hardly draw an audience. There is a handful of die-hard club fans and perhaps some of the players who did not make the team that weekend. There is also a negligible number of people, not aligned to any club who are just out to watch a good game of rugby. Beyond that, rugby clubs in Kenya do not seem to have any programmes in place to attract crowds. They seem to rely on nostalgia of past players to want to watch them play and perhaps drag a few people along with them. One might liken clubs to tribes that do not go out of their way to welcome strangers but rather tolerate them. There is hardly any conscious effort from the clubs to increase their fan bases. (‘A’ for effort for the clubs that have active Face Book profiles). Often, rugby enthusiasts must make the lone effort to align themselves with clubs of their choice.
The Rugby Super Series 15 aside tournament attracts a sizeable crowd. All the clubs are playing at one venue in their various franchises, which means that their fans all congregate in one area. It is also interesting to see how members of franchises gel. Inclusion of Uganda and Tanzania seems set to catapult this tournament into undoubtedly, Africa’s premier fifteen a side tournament. The Rugby Super Series provides five weekends of East Africa’s top players battling to claim supremacy. The guarantee of top-notch rugby attracts rugby enthusiasts.
It appears then that it really has nothing to do with which version of the game is more popular, but rather, what entertainment value that particular fixture offers. Now, the “Virgin Boys” and the funfair that surrounds them, provide a lot of entertainment. The National Fifteens team provides a considerable amount of entertainment especially with their ongoing rivalry against Uganda.
Again, the length of the games means that sevens provides a display of more rugby over a shorter span of time so sevens will likely be more popular for a long time to come, or until the national fifteens team makes it to the Rugby World Cup. Ideally, sevens should be used as a training ground for players to prove themselves before moving on to fifteens; develop an individual skill and then learn to use it so that it complements the skills of the fourteen other people on the pitch. The trick is in transforming these one-man operations into different parts of a team; learning how to share the ball and rely on your teammates. However, the situation in Kenya suggests that making it to the sevens team is the epitome of any players rugby career ambitions; and why not? The sevens team get a lot of media coverage and have a worldwide following not to mention a major sponsor.
The issue that must be addressed by rugby administration is how to market the game in the country. How do we make Kenyan’s appreciate rugby as much or even more than they appreciate football? How do we get to where we do not have to entice people with the promises of lots of alcohol and entertainment to get them to come and watch a game? How do we fill the RFUEA grounds during the National Sevens Circuit, the Supremacy Cup, or the Enterprise Cup?
We must realise that fifteens rugby is a harder game to sell. For the 15’s national team to attract a sponsor there must be seen to be interest in the game at club level, then at a national level. How do we expect to attract a sponsor to a national team if we cannot attract a modest crowd to a league game. Once we discover the formula to selling the game to rugby fans who would rather watch football at home than come to a league game, then we will have discovered the formula to winning over sponsors and giving the “Virgin Boys” a run for their money; literally. The Union and its constituent clubs must work to promote the fifteens game as a viable investment for sponsors and rugby enthusiasts.
Kenya will host the Junior World Rugby Trophy in 2009. This will be the biggest fifteen a side tournament ever held in Kenya. It will be interesting to see how the Union sells this event to Kenyans and what crowds it attracts. Will it be the usual suspects who attend local fifteens fixtures, will it be schools out to watch their school mates on an international stage, or will an entire country rally behind the Kenyan Under 20 team in a show of support for fifteens rugby at whatever level? This could very likely be the launching pad that fifteens rugby has been waiting for. An international tournament like this one is bound to catch the eye of corporate bodies looking to use sports for marketing purposes. Can this interest be diverted to the local fifteens rugby scene?
I AM MY HAIR
I had been growing my hair since 1995. I finally got it to where it was shoulder length, nice and thick, gave me a nice long bouncy ponytail and fell over my face when I needed it to. Any “pure breed” black African will appreciate what an accomplishment this is.
After a lot soul searching, I finally found the guts to cut my long dark, bone straight, relaxed hair in the front to give me movie-star-like bangs. My hair fell over my eyes giving me just enough room to see my way and I felt so sexy and mysterious.
My long hair framed my face so well that it covered my dark sports from all the pimples I have burst throughout my years. It felt like a mask that shielded my trueidentity and allowed me to be anyone else I wished to be. It shielded me from my insecurities; my uneven skin, my huge forehead, my not so clear eyes.
My long, dark relaxed hair got me compliments every single day. Who does not like to be the envy of everyone around them? My hairdresser was always excited to see me since it meant at least two hours of playing around with new ideas he had been formulating since the last time I saw him. My nieces wanted their hair to be just like mine. My hair was often a topic of conversation during bonding sessions with women in the loo when I went out to clubs.
I soon began to feel overwhelmed though. It was like the proverbial tail wagging the dog. My hair determined my weekend schedule since I needed at least two hours with the hairdresser on Saturdays. It determine whether I felt like I could take on the world.
So that was that. I braided my hair long enough to get a sizable amount of growth. Then I went to my hairdresser and ordered him to chop off all my processed hair. I texturised it just so I would not spend too much money replacing broken combs daily. Now I wake up in the morning, give it a quick wash, pat it dry, run some moisturizing gel through it and I am good to go.
It felt great. It was like chasing away years of self-deception. I literally felt like I was finally unearthing the real me and putting myself out there for everyone to see, to love, to hate, to ridicule, to judge. But it felt great.
It’s been around three months now and I still enjoy being able to wash my hair every morning. My afro is now about three inches long and wouldn’t you know it, all the grease I had in my long hair before was what irritated my skin and gave me all the rashes I had been trying to hide for so long. My skin feels much better now. Some friends think I look weird. My nieces think that I look like a boy. Old women look at me and wonder what the world is coming to when young women no longer comb their hair. But I feel good about myself. I’m now used to my large forehead it’s not that bad after all!! I feel beautiful and confident and now, every day is a good hair day.
(This post by Akin took me back to good old days)
DRIVING THE MACHINE
While in residential camp, the 1976 University of Nairobi rugby squad for the East Africa University games watched the 1974 Hollywood blockbuster “The Longest Yard”. Starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, the movie was about a convicted American Football player who despite having been asked by the wardens to throw the game in return for an early release, trained and led his fellow convicts towards becoming a formidable side called Mean Machine. Having come from a controlled background themselves, playing for teams of the old order that prevented them from fully exerting themselves, the story of this football team resonated well with the university lads. And so, that year, the rugby team took to the pitch, winning the intervarsity games rugby gold medal as University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine. Read more here
SHEEBEEN
Just as we are about to slither back to our miserable existence, bitter at the reality that we have been deposed from our throne-like bar stools, we stumble upon a haven; Sheebeen. Read more here.
WOMEN AT WAR
The 1985 Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women defines Peace as not only the absence of war, violence and hostilities at national and international levels, but also, the enjoyment of economic and social justice, equality and the entire range of human rights and fundamental freedoms within society.
Respect for the fundamental rights of all people is an essential feature of any democracy. But many women and girls in Kenya are born into war; a war in which they are subjected to physical as well as psychological abuse. As the paper says, the fact that abuse is generally condoned as social custom rather than crime is in itself a grim indication of its high incidence.
Women are at war against inhuman treatment. Many times, social customs are social injustices against women and girls. Female genital mutilation for example is a social custom which although declared illegal in Kenya is still rampant in some parts of the country. The physical deformation that females are subjected to following female genital mutilation and the psychological torture that they endure where they refuse to undergo the cut is a manifestation of the hostility of a society against women and girls. Similarly, societal practice to disregard the needs of women and girls in inheritance cases amounts to blatant discrimination against us.
Constant abuse means that we are constantly looking over our backs, spending countless hours trying to succeed in a world that seems intent on watching us fail. It does not seem to help that human rights bodies have created awareness and challenged impunity for women’s human rights violations.
A woman is raped in Kenya every half hour. Rape is an end result of other crimes. Where women are in public vehicles that get hijacked, women get raped. Where communities fight, women get raped. Where houses are burgled, women get raped. And so women bear the brunt of insecurity in Kenya. Sometimes they are raped and killed. Other times they survive death but are left with psychological scars; long term side effects of their ordeals- social withdrawal, anger, hostility, loss of self esteem as well as physical scars. Women are also at war with a society that discriminates against rape victims. Why were we dressed in a certain manner, what did we do to encourage the rapist, what diseases have we caught from the deal and more importantly, are they contagious?
For years women have been at war with a justice system that is lax in its enforcement of the law. Rape suspects are freed on technicalities. Inheritance cases drag on for years as do maintenance cases. Women have on some occasions allegedly been assaulted by the very people charged with their protection. Incidences of groping during arrests have been alleged.
Women in parts of Kenya still fight to have their household contributions recognised as productive activities of the society. Baring and caring for children, cleaning and cooking are all part of the great economic role women contribute. It is as though the fact that women do not derive a salary from these activities creates a screen of invisibility that shields society from appreciating the role that women play so that even where women bring as much as men or sometimes even more to the table at the end of the day, no monetary value is attached to it and therefore no value at all.
Entry of women into the paid labour force has resulted in new found respect for us and our capabilities but with it has come a challenge; to constantly prove our worth. As the old cliché goes, a woman must work twice as hard to be considered half as good.
So every day we put together our fighting gear, we never forget our body armour because our society can be dangerous and heart wrenching. You never know when a ‘stray bullet’ will hit you or whether your country will be there to protect you. We shuffle along, some of us complacent and others at the front lines because Kenya’s ratification of the human rights conventions appears to have had little practical or even formal significance. Only time will tell if we finally fall in step with the free and peaceful world before it’s too late.
RED TOUCH RUGBY
It was smooth sailing for the MOB until they met Avandu Chinkororo Strong RFC, the MOB chairman’s team of choice. Confident that her boys would make it to the finals without her, the Chairman had opted to turn out for her family. The MOB would have to beat Avandu Chinkororo Strong RFC to earn a place in the quarter finals. Read more here
EMMANUEL LUBEMBE
After five rings Emman picks up his phone and sounds truly happy to hear my voice. He engages me in a discussion on the recently concluded Safari Sevens tournament and for a moment I forget my reason for calling. Such is the character of Emmanuel Lubembe; engaging and friendly. Read more here
NEKESA-BLOOD DONOR
On Saturday, 14th June, 2008, I donated blood for the first time in my life. The thought of someone sticking a needle into me and sucking out my blood scared me.
I got to the venue which was a tent pitched right next to the August 7th Memorial park also known as the Bomb Blast Memorial Park or simply “Bomb Blast” to the common mwananchi. I was ushered to the weighing scale. I weighed in at five kilos above the minimum required weight of fifty kilograms, thank you very much! I was then given a form to fill in, which was basically to determine if I had been involved in risky behaviour like commercial sex or drug use or what Kenyan law might consider an unnatural act, and to confirm that I was in good health, over 16 years old, not expectant or breast feeding, and that I hadn’t had a blood transfusion in the last 6 months.
When I was done filling in the form, I handed it over to one of the staff members, a friendly looking woman, who asked about my health history and then checked my blood pressure. She then pricked my finger. I cannot tell a lie. That bit hurt like hell! But she needed to do this to check my haemoglobin level. This is the oxygen carrying component of your blood. If your haemoglobin concentration is normal, then the little drop of your blood that goes into the haemoglobin detector liquid should plummet to the bottom of the jar within seconds. Sort of like a rock. If it dilly-dallies on the way down, you may have a problem.. I passed the test.
My name was added to a register with a number that corresponded to the number on the bag that I was given for my blood. I was then ushered to a bed where I lay down. A staff member placed one of those pressure cuffs around my upper arm and began to search for a vein. When she finally found one, she cleaned the skin on the inside of my elbow and inserted a needle that was attached to a plastic tube that was attached to the bag that I had been given. She gave me a little ball to squeeze, I suppose to help with blood flow.
I watched as the blood flowed from my arm through the tube and into the bag. Suddenly it wasn’t scary anymore. I was over the worst of it and the thought that my blood might just help save someone’s life, maybe even my own one day, made me feel pretty good about myself. A little over half a litre of blood later, a bandage was placed over the needle site and I was done. The whole thing can’t have taken me more than half an hour and at the end of it, I scored a four pack of biscuits and lucozade baby!
A TRIBUTE TO THE ROCK OF KENYAN RUGBY
Thirty years since its inception, Mwamba Rugby Football Club continues to prove its commitment to creating milestones in Kenyan rugby and has surmounted great odds to emerge as one of the top clubs in the local league.
The word “mwamba” is Kiswahili for “rock”, which signifies stability, firmness and dependability; the precise words that describe Mwamba R.F.C today; stability in its great performance in the local leagues, firmness in its desire to nurture local talent, dependability to the dreams of its founding fathers, its fans and its future. Indeed, the members of this club exhibit a strong spirit to play the game of rugby and while at it, an unyielding desire to outclass every other club in the league.
Mwamba R.F.C. has its home at the Railways Club on Uhuru Highway which lies adjacent to Uhuru Park. Sitting at the stands, one has a breath-taking view of the city centre, which for a few moments takes your attention away from the dilapidated rugby pitch. The pitch at the Railway Club doubles as a football pitch for other clubs and as such, the playing surface leaves a lot to be desired. The try posts lean over and have for several years now, and the few spectator stands are slowly falling apart. Players train under harsh conditions that they have no control over. The place they call home is not really theirs and they struggle to pay their rent. The facilities are not much to speak of.
This is what makes the story of Mwamba R.F.C that more remarkable. Thirty years ago, in 1978, its founding fathers formed the club with an aim to embed indigenous Africans into the game of rugby. Their black shirts were a testament to the introduction of the game to the Africans and their name, Mwamba, a declaration of their intention to stand steadfast in the face of any adversary. Today, although the face of the adversary has changed from clubs of the old order to difficult economic times, the vision of Mwamba is the same-to create a solid foundation for players to prove their worth and to play a game that they love.
It could successfully be argued that Mwamba R.F.C players form the backbone of the national rugby teams. They are a force to reckon with in the local leagues and have a tendency to cause upsets in both the fifteens and sevens versions of the game. They tackle each game with the same intensity, never underestimating an opponent and treating each game situation as an opportunity to prove their significance. And at the end of each match day, win or lose, they stamp their authority on Kenyan rugby.
Having set new standards in men’s rugby, Mwamba R.F.C went a step further and formed a women’s side, the 
first competitive women’s club in the country, and aptly called them the Mwamba Invaders. Whether it meant playing their male counter parts, or playing amongst themselves, the women were keen on invading the rugby scene with a new brand of rugby; Kenyan women’s rugby. They have beaten all odds and grown from strength to strength, and from a handful of women who trained at the Railway Club grounds when they could get time away from other sports like hockey and basket ball, Mwamba Invaders now boasts close to forty active and committed players. The women are a class above other women’s rugby teams in the country. They naturally form the bulk of the women’s national rugby team in both the fifteens and the sevens versions of the game and recently won the women’s tournament at the 2008 Safari Sevens.
It is beyond anyone’s wildest imagination what leaps and bounds this team will make in the coming years. They have already made it clear that there is no turning back. After all, now that they have found the winning formula; resilience and dedication from leaders and focus from players, all there is to look forward to is even more success. Truly, if there exist rugby players in Kenya who still play this game at club level for the sheer love of the game and not for image association or club perks, then it is the men and women at Mwamba. It is the heart of these players that keeps Mwamba Rugby Football Club as solid as a rock.
