KPL to be played in Kajiado

Nyamweya SamIt is an opportunity for Rongai residents to watch Kenya Premier League live. This is as the FOOTBALL Kenya Federation president Sam Nyamweya on Sunday installed their branch officials in Kajiado county and said Premier League games will now be played in the region. Nyamweya also urged the local county governor David Nkedianye to help upgrade the playing grounds in the region so as to open up football participation in the county.

this comes after the Kajiado county has been conducting the Kajiado League which has turned out to be successful and much promising. Kajiado League has helped a lot in nurturing talents and help create jobs for the youth in the area.
The FKF boss said football facilities in Kajiado had been overlooked for a long time and he promised to promote sports in the region adding there was great potential in Kitengela, Ngong and Ongata Rongai.
“I will work closely with the local FKF office to bring many provincial league teams to play in Kajiado as a way of promoting the sport here,” Nyamweya said.
He was accompanied by NEC member for Rift Valley, Doris Petra, who urged the Maasai community and other people living in Kajiado to embrace football as a way of life. Petra said football had transformed lives of people in other areas and, therefore, the need to trap the talent in Kajiado.

By Brian Obuchi.

Aside

Diffrent types of sports in Kenya

As a great sporting nation, Kenya is probably best known for her award-winning athletes who scoop several awards at the Olympics and other international meetings worldwide. However, despite athletics being almost synonymous with Kenyan sports, there is a lot more on offer to the sporting enthusiast.

Most world sports – golf, football, rugby and cricket, to name a few – have taken root in Kenya and are fast growing in their popularity and participation. As such, Kenya is now a sports safari destination where one can enjoy:

  • golfing on some of the world’s most beautiful courses;
  • diving in the lovely tropical waters at the coast;
  • rugby action at the Safari Sevens Rugby tournament;
  • high-altitude training camps;
  • and much, much more!

In this section, you will find information on the various sporting activities available in Kenya, which include:

ATHLETICS

hurdlers

Kenya has a rich history of sporting legends, and her prowess at track, field and marathon events lives on with past sporting greats like Kipchoge Keino, Joseph Ngugi, Moses Tanui, and current ones such as Paul Tergat, Tecla Lorupe and Catherine Ndereba, among others.

Track and field events in Kenya are mainly held at the national sports stadiums, including:

  • Moi International Sports Center- Kasarani;
  • Nyayo Stadium;
  • Nairobi City Stadium;
  • Nairobi Gymkhana.
  • GOLF

golf course

One of Kenya’s best-kept secrets is the numerous golf courses. Few places in the world offer such a perfect mix for fantastic golf holidays as Kenya does. The opportunity to play your favourite game, to see wildlife, sometimes on the course!, and to relax on the beautiful white sandy beaches all during the same holiday is unique.

Kenya has 40 golf courses, 12 of which are 18 hole and 10 of which are used for championship events. Six of the courses are within a 20-mile radius of Nairobi. The oldest 18 hole course is the Royal Nairobi Golf Club, founded in 1906, and the newest is the David Jones-designed pay-and-play 9 hole golf course, the Golf Park within the Nairobi race course. There are several new courses under construction, and a number are being upgraded from 9 holes to 18 holes. Kenya’s ideal weather allows for golfing all year round.

For the visiting golfer, Kenya has a broad appeal. There is everything for the fanatic golfer, whilst the avid golfer can fashion his safari to include some wildlife viewing as well. A golfer who prefers to laze on the beach can still fit in a game or two, and the business traveller with an afternoon off can easily play his favourite game right at his doorstep!

RUGBY

rugby game

The game of rugby was introduced in Kenya around the beginning of the century. During the colonial times, rugby was strictly for whites only. With the coming of independence, and schools and clubs becoming multi-racial in the late 50’s and early 60’s, rugby gained a wider appeal. Over the years, rugby has become an established sport on the Kenyan scene. Local teams have played visiting foreign teams and toured other rugby-playing countries around the world. The Kenya Rugby Football Union was formed in 1923 with a role to manage, administer and develop the sport of rugby in the country.

Safari Sevens Rugby Tournament

For the rugby enthusiast, an event not to be missed is the Safari Sevens Rugby tournament. Rugby fans from all over the globe flock to Kenya for the annual Tusker Safari Sevens. This classic annual event is held at the R.F.U.E.A grounds in Nairobi. The Tusker Safari Sevens is now a world recognized tournament in the annual Safari Sevens Rugby tournament in the global sevens rugby series.

MOTOR SPORTS

Motor sporting is well loved in Kenya, and includes motorcross for the younger generation, motor rallying, off-road racing and go-karting. The links below have more detailed information on the sport in Kenya.

Safari Rally

safary rally

This world-famous rally is the only African event on the World Rally circuit, and is without doubt the toughest of the 14 international rally courses. The first rally was held in 1953 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and the race has since then become an annual event. The promise of the world’s most grueling race brings many international drivers to Kenya, and the race is broadcast to a television audience of millions.

Rhino Charge

The annual Rhino Charge is a local event that is aimed at raising money for conservation. It is a 4WD-rally through the wilderness of the Laikipia region of Kenya. The race involves 4WD-vehicles following a course through extremely rough terrain to reach a series of pre-arranged points in the fastest possible time. The course is designed with challenge in mind, and each year these off-road vehicles are pushed to their absolute limits.

WATER SPORTS

white-water rafting

Water sports of all types are available in Kenya. The warm seawater is ideal for swimming, with none of the health risks that inland waters have. Windsurfing, parasailing, water-skiing and jet-skiing are available at many coastal resorts and clubs. Also available is yachting, sailing, boating, kayaking and white-water rafting. The thrills of white-water rafting are possible on three main rivers: Tana, Athi, and Ewaso.

scuba diving

For nature lovers, Kenya’s crystal waters in the marine parks offer excellent opportunity for snorkelling, scuba diving and the unique possibility to swim with dolphins.

CRICKET

Another sport that has grown in popularity in Kenya is cricket and, with the success of the national team on the international circuit, it is poised to gain even more fame. The website below will give you more information on the sport in the country, in addition to the fixtures and upcoming events.

FOOTBALL

The most loved sport throughout Kenya is football. With the establishment of several football clubs, it is possible to catch some local soccer action over the weekend at the numerous sports stadiums. Kenya’s national team is the Harambee Stars, and the Kenya Football Federation regulates and controls the sport in the country.

HIKING/MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

mountain climbers in the snow

If you enjoy hiking, Kenya has a lot to offer. The most favourable areas for hiking are the Aberdare Mountains, the Chyulu Hills, Hell’s Gate, Mt. Suswa, Mt. Longonot, the Menengai Crater in the Rift Valley, the Ngong Hills, the Cherangani Hills, Mt. Elgon and Mt Kenya.

TRAINING

As an athletics giant, Kenya now offers training facilities for local and international athletes. The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Regional Development Centre in Nairobi provides training opportunities for both coaches and athletes. The most notable training camp is the High Altitude Training Centre, which is located near Eldoret in Western Kenya.

Julie Chebet

Diffrent types of sports in kenya.

Why EPL and not KPL?

Imagevs Image

Any football lover in Kenya would tell you that the English (EPL) is more famous in Kenya than Kenya premier league (KPL). In fact if they were to choose EPL and KPL they will definitely choose EPL without second thoughts.

Football in Kenya has had its own share of challenges from bad management to lack of enough funds plus many more other problems. One would tell that football in Kenya is more or less dead.

Though people have really tried to promote and support our own football some clubs in Kenya do not have fans and if they have they can barely fill half of the stadium. It’s a paradox because if there is any time that club and bar owners make more money then it must be the time when there is a an English premier match. People come in large numbers in large numbers and fill the whole place forcing the club and bar owners to send some of them away.

Why is it difficult to rally the same kind of support to our players? Football lovers say it’s because the kind of football played here in Kenya cannot march the kind of football that is played in the EPL.

What then does EPL do so well that Kenya doesn’t do? Many international players are nurtured when they are still young. In that stage they are given good coaches who then impact good skills in the players. As they grow up they perfect their game more and more and they become the best. In Kenya there is a problem when it comes to nurturing the young spirited blood, normally we concentrate on the players who have already made it in football and forget those who are still fresh and have the potential.

EPL also provides good and quality facilities for their players. In Kenya clubs are still struggling when it comes to facilities some of the clubs do not have training grounds and are forced to train in places where the conditions are pathetic.

EPL pays the players so well this keeps them motivated and they struggle to maintain and upgrade their game. In Kenya the situation is so different because the one major challenge the clubs are facing is lack of funds. The players in KPL are paid so little that they cannot even afford a decent life with what they get. This is a demoralizing factor because football needs ones time and effort. Sometimes players are forced to join other businesses to substitute the little they get.

Though KPL is facing a lot of criticisms it has the capacity to produce players who can fit into world teams. It’s only a matter of looking for more funds through sponsorship that will help them train good players and uplift the status of KPL.

By paskalia

Chess

ChessStartingPositionchess  Chess is a game that needs a lot of thinking and time.Chess is played on a square board of eight rows and eight columns of squares. The colors of the 64 squares alternate and are referred to as “light” and “dark” squares. The chessboard is placed with a light square at the right-hand end of the rank nearest to each player, and the pieces are set out as shown in the diagram and photo, with each queen on a square of its own color. In this game players must take into account numerous factors such as the value of the pieces on the board, control of the center and centralization, the pawn structure, king safety, and the control of key squares or groups of squares (for example, diagonals, open files, and dark or light squares).

This sport needs general mental and physical discipline strong self-confidence, mental toughness, strong self-confidence, and endurance, that can help you succeed as a chess player. Chess was started in Kenya in 1980 through Olympiad and people are slowly accepting it as a sport. Chess is called ‘the royal game’, a game historically associated with the powerful and awesome, Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Vladimir Lenin. Schools are also introducing it as a sport since they say that the sport improves someones mental ability. By Jepkemoi Chemjor

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfMxeA

Chris Froome the kenyan born cyclist

ImageMeet Chris Froome the Kenyan cyclist who worn the tour de frrance cycling race. He was born on 20th may 1985 in capital city of Kenya Nairobi. He finished his primary school education in Banda school and moved to south Africa to attend st. John College in Johannesburg. he later studied economics at the university of Johannesburg.

he started his profession in 2007 at the age of 22 with team Konika Minolta and later moved to Europe to further his career where he joined British-based team Barloworld. he later moved to team sky in 2010 where he was the key cyclist of the team.

he was once represented Kenya in the 2006 road world championship in the under 23 category in salazburg, Austria. Froome crushed together with two hours and finished in the 36th place.

he has since competed in many races including the Olympic games where he won bronze and team Wiggins scooped the Gold.

2013 has been a good year for him.he won his first stage win of 27seconds early this year. in march he lead team sky to to Tirreno-Adritico where he won the fourth stage. in late April he won 7.5km prologue of the tour Romandie in Switzerland. The month of July was his climax as he won the championship in Tour de France

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2013/jul/22/chris-froome-wins-tour-de-france-video

by paskalia

what needs to change for harambee stars

The last few years have not been easy for Kenya football  team “harambee stars”. Looking at the team performance over the lastImage few years there is nothing to smile about.what went wrong where and when is what we should ask ourselves.

since the year 2000 football changed for the worst in Kenya. The regime of corrupt club officials who drained the clubs account saw the performance of 1990’s disappear in thin air. One is left wonder where the problem lies.

we have players in Kenya who are talented are ready to show their skills to the world, but then why is it that we always loose to other teams? This might be to poor selection of players, we have ever since used the same old players who at the end disappoint us. it is a high time that we changed the way we think and take a risk by trying the young blood.

coaches are there with a lot of experience but we really make good use of them. the football culture in Kenya is that of impatience and whenever the players don’t do well its blamed on the coach before looking into real issue why the players are not performing well.

lack of motivation for the players is another factor that has really pushed down the players perfomance. many times the players are not well paid or they are played late.

The resources are also not put into good use when it comes to preparing the players for matches. the just ended COSAFA cup is one of the evidence of poor planning and lack of using the resources well.

initially there was no plan of the team to join COSAFA but the KFF body forced it on to the clubs to release their players. with the Little time they had to prepare the expected happened and they were thrown out of the competition.

change must happen to scale us to the greater heights we have the capacity to beat the likes of Botswana and be on the same level as other African national teams that are doing well like South Africa and Cameroon.

Safari Rally

safari rall Kenya is still lagging behind when it comes to participation in motor sports although Kenyans have taken interest in the  sport. This sport brings multi-ethnic groups fro far and wide all over the country. Kenya’s rally route is most demanding due to rough terrains which makes the race difficult. Often  many drivers do not complete the race. A photojournalist was once said: “When you talk about the Safari without cars having mud, nobody will believe you”. Nevertheless, this is an understatement: The Safari Rally is unpredictable, mostly wet but some times very dry. Sections of the route demand very high speeds, in fact higher than it is the case in similar races.

The legendary Kenyan driver, Joginder Singh, won the event several times (1965, 1974, and 1976), becoming the first person to win the Safari three times. However, in 1972 Finland’s Hannu Mikola emerged the victor, becoming the first foreign driver to win the event.Another Kenyan, Shekhar Mehta, won in 1973. The following year, and for the first time, the event was held only in Kenya. Nevertheless, the Safari Rally maintained its status.Shekhar Mehta later made history by becoming the only person yet to win the event four times in a row – 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. This drivers were legends during their times but after them Kenyan drivers do not participate so much in the post except in 1990 when for the first time an African, Patrick Njiru, broke the jinx over Group ‘N’ cars and finished the event in 8th position driving a maiden Subaru Legacy thats when history was made.

Another driver Ian Duncan has been on the limelight after winning five times and also he achieved outright victory in a World Rally Championship round when he won the Trustbank Safari Rally in 1994. Carl Tundo is another rally driver who has won four times are among the few Kenyan rally drivers. This sport should be commercialized so that many African drivers can participate in the sport despite being a tough sport.

By Jepkemoi Chemjor

https://www.google.com/search?q=history+of+safari+rally+in+kenya&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb#

http://www.motorsportkenya.com, http://www.trucktrend.com, http://www.safariweb.com, http://www.race4change.org

The potential in bullfight

Bull fighting as one of the ancient sports in Kenya has attracted tourists therefore generating income into the country. The bull fight takes place annually in the western region of Kenya and it attracts large crowds of people who pay to watch the fight.

unlike the Spanish bull fights where the bulls challenge matadors here the bulls fight themselves. One party writes a request to another party to engage in a fight with them. if the party agrees they then look for a location where they meet for the fight. the two animals lock horns and square it out for five or thirty minutes.Image

Men dance and sing with sticks encouraging the bulls to keep on fighting. A lot of beer is served at the venue as this sport is mostly famous with the males. The winning team is then awarded money or other valuables depending on the agreement.

The sport which people have termed as primitive and unpopular has turned out to be a source of entertainment and revenue. The government has since seen the potential in this sport and has decided to build a stadium in Shinyalu.

the stadium will not only be a bullfight ground but it will also host other sports like football, rugby and many others. The stadium is also expected to host other activities like traditional music festivals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19-Xy4PI9s0

by Paskalia Awour

the great vision

its obvious that athletics is one of the most highly paying games in Kenya. young athletics have come together to make dreams come true for Kenya as they look forward to safe our country from the pain of loosing what has always been theirs.this will only work with the help of retired, current and other talented athletes in this Imagefield. we therefore hope that for the coming Olympic competitions ahead, Kenya will gladly come back to where it used to be.this will only be achieved by mentoring these young champions and motivating them in whatever possible ways we can.

AN EXTREMIST’S SPORT

ImageImage

I must admit that i have always been a “sucker” for extreme sport. and by “sucker” i mean watching but not actually doing. am just not that adventurous and also because they were not showcased that much in Kenya. but all that is about to change. apparently some extreme spots have been here for a while and new ones are just coming up. I think now i can finally go and try paintball but rock climbing i still have to check on that. to me heights aren’t my thing at all. Gravity was made for Erick and Erick really loves gravity. back to extreme sports. examples of extreme sports are: Rock climbing, scuba diving, Motocross and paintball. those are the few that i know right now that are in Kenya. if you any more please go ahead and comment down there? tell me new ones so that i can finally come out of the Egg and stop being such an extreme sport chicken?! HEY DONT YOU DARE CALL ME CHICKEN!

And for the organization which do team building excercise, this round spice things up by trying some extreme sports such as paintball

some paintball places are: Service Area
Parklands 3rd avenue, opposite Aga khan hospital inside City Park.

paintball fury in Langata