@Home portal

As Kenyatta University walked away supreme from the second ever Kenya Inter University Games, held from 17th to 22nd December, the debate over who reigns supreme in university sports was more or less settled. In five days of challenges at the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenyatta ran riot with 119 medals, with UoN coming a distant second with 69 medals.
The Kenyan University Championship was first conceived and held in 1989 to develop and strengthen sports in Universities through competition. Since then, the East Africa Inter-Universities Sports Federation Championship has been where the sports battle has been fought for East African Universities. Held bi-annually, the games attract teams from different universities across the region.

In kenya's own championships, the 20 participating institutions fielded teams in basketball, football, rugby, table tennis, tennis, swimming, badminton, scrabble, chess, hockey, volleyball, Karate, tae Kwando, netball and handball. For KU, the win did not come as a surprise to the 270-strong team representing the university, according to Walter Onyango, a staff member and tutor at KU.

“In fact, we would have done better if we took the full strength team. Some participants had to stay behind because of exams,” says Mr. Onyango, a tutor and a member of the sports department at the University.

While KU may have run away with the overall crown, the real battle was seen in the immensely competitive and popular soccer, basketball and rugby fields. The main rivals; UoN, Strathmore and KU fought for supremacy in these disciplines, with each University trying to stamp its authority.

The finals of the soccer match between Strathmore and UoN was marred by controversy when the referee had to stop the match mid-way the second half after UoN fans stomped the field to protest against Strathmore’s goal. But UoN did get their payback, mauling Strathmore in the finals of men’s basketball. In the rugby finals, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) pulled a surprise win over the favorites, Strathmore, to take home the gold medal.

UoN enjoyed home ground support, as their fans drowned others by catchy war-like songs and colourful t-shirts. But KU and Strathmore fans were not to be left behind, as they cheered their teams on.

Mr. Onyango credits the good performance by KU to discipline and commitment to sports. With a team of dedicated staff, who double up as coaches and team leaders, the team is ably and professionally trained. The sports department at the University is arguably one of the best staffed and equipped sports departments in the country. KU is one of the few universities in the region that offers sports and recreational science up to the PhD level.

“We take sports very seriously. Trainings are held every day after classes and the staff is always ready to help,” says Mr. Onyango.

The governing regulations of the sports championship require that all participants be bona fide undergraduate students of the institution they represent. The maximum allowed age is 28 years.

Though KU may dominate the Kenyan sport scene, it fades in comparison to our Ugandan counterparts. Uganda University teams have virtually taken over the bi-annual East Africa Inter-universities Sports Federation Championship for the past 10 years.

Apparently, financing plays a big part in the participation and winning of the games.

“Taking a team to one of these games costs anything between Sh million 4 – 5 for a week’s event,” quips Mr. Onyango.

The Makerere team was sponsored to a tune of approximately Sh 3 million by MTN at the last regional championship held in Tanzania last year.

“The more participants a team enters, the better its chances of winning more medals,” adds Mr. Onyango.