Kenyan hockey looks like the biggest loser to the coronavirus pandemic considering for the second season in a row—since March 2020— City Park Stadium has remained dormant.
It has been a rocky road for stakeholders and every effort to have leagues and major tournaments return have been met by restrictive bottlenecks.
This has forced the Kenya Hockey Union to stutter at the drawing board with none of their scribbling delivering any executable solution.
The key to a return to action was to have players taking part in the various hockey leagues including the Premier League (both genders), Super League (both genders) and National League (men only) vaccinated, but KHU could only manage to have 200 jabbed.
The next step was to have players take PCR Tests now and then.
This never took off since individuals in the semi-professional leagues could not afford the tests that cost between Sh5,000 and Sh9,300.
KHU secretary general, Wycliffe Ongori, says having just 200 players vaccinated was considered insufficient to have the action back.
There are about 600 players featuring in the three leagues as well as umpires and officials, who also needed to follow the script.
Ongori said: “We did everything possible for hockey to return but it became impossible. Apart from the jab, the players were required to have Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests, which were too expensive.”
Most hockey players are students and mostly unemployed, thus dependent on their parents — who were at the same time feeling the heat of the pandemic.
But even though it proved impossible to have the structured leagues back, KHU organised a five-a-side tournament in October featuring several of the top teams.
Among them were two teams each from Police, Wazalendo and Strathmore and one from Western Jaguars in the men’s tournament. The women’s category featured two teams from each of Blazers and Strathmore camps as well as Sliders.
Police ‘A’ and Strathmore ‘B’ won the men and women’s title respectively. A month later, Wazalendo made their maiden appearance at the African Cup for Club Championships in Ghana.
Unfortunately, Butali Warriors, Blazers and USIU-A ‘Spartans’, despite being eligible, pulled out due to lack of funds, putting weighty expectations on Wazalendo’s shoulders.
While their appearance was considered an achievement, their performance wasn’t encouraging.
Wazalendo lost all their Pool ‘B’ matches against Zamalek, Ghana Revenue Authority and Tairat Club during the November 24-30 tournament.
Back home and under the prevailing tough conditions, the annual Mombasa tournament returned on Mashujaa Day. Kenya Women XV and Kenya Police were crowned champions in their respective categories.
Kenya Women XV prevailed 2-1 in a post-match shootout after a 1-1 regulation time draw against Blazers.
Police also won by the same post-match shootout scoreline after a drab 0-0 draw against Western Jaguars.
During the same Mashujaa Day celebrations, former Kenya international Sardar Avtar Singh Sohal was honoured with the Order of The Grand Warrior Award by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Sohal brought glory and honour to the country as an athlete as he exhibited exemplary performances at the global arenas.
The multiple Olympian had in 2005 been conferred with the Head of State of Commendation by the then President, Mwai Kibaki.
Sohal took Kenya to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games aged 46. He was an FIH judge in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and served as FIH technical judge at the 1994 World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
Sohal coached Zimbabwe at the 1996 African Cup of Nations in South Africa. After that, he has continued to remain an active role model, coach and mentor for Kenya’s budding players.
On the continental front, the Africa Hockey Federation cancelled both the North East Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and the Under-21 World Cup qualifiers in March and August respectively.
Kenya were to host the regional qualifiers.
Despite the torrid circumstances, Kenya saw five players turn pro. Dunston Barasa (Wazalendo), Willis Okeyo (Police) and Gilly Okumu (Strathmore) all moved to Germany. Okeyo returned to Germany for a fourth time while Okumu had her third stint.
Sandra Vodoti and Samwel Webo headed to Uganda.
2021 also saw umpire Peter Obalo officiate at the Junior World Cup in India, the first time a Kenyan has taken charge in a competition of such magnitude.
It was another international feather on his cap, adding on to the honours of officiating at the Youth Olympics Games in Buenos, Argentina, three years ago.
He was also part of the umpires who did duty at the African Olympic Qualifiers in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 2019.
Ongori observed that Obalo, 36, has proven himself at the top and has, alongside Esther Adolwa, been earmarked for future assignments by the Federation of International Hockey.
“The duo have been listed by FIH for future activities. This is the kind of growth that we hope to cultivate going forward. The future looks bright,” said Ongori.
Away from the field, coaches and umpires underwent various training and development programs.
Sadly, the hockey fraternity also saw the promotion to glory of several active and former protagonists.
Legendary former international, Olympian Parminder ‘Kake’ Saini died at a Kisumu hospital on May 31, aged 66 — after a short illness.
Kake represented Kenya at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, during a time when Kenya dominated the world of hockey.
“We lost Kake under unclear circumstances while Davinder Sigh also left us to be with the Lord. They donned the Kenyan colours with distinction and brought fame to our country,” Ongori said.
“We hope their five-star performances will inspire future generations keen to leave a mark at the grandest stage. May their souls rest in peace.”
Also counting their losses are Nakuru Hockey Club, who lost Allan Kipkemboi on October 31 through a road accident when traveling to his home in Litein.
And after all the gloom of the last two seasons, it is hoped KHU action will restart in February next year. Before then, both the men and women national teams are expected to feature at the Africa Cup of Nations set for between January 17 and 23 in Ghana.
The women’s team are in Pool ‘B’ alongside the hosts Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria while their men counterparts will have to navigate their way past South Africa and Namibia in a three-team Pool ‘A’.
The federation is also expected to conduct its national elections next year.