Ever heard of slum initiatives that champion the wellness and fitness of young budding sportsmen and women?
Well, Omar Kasongo Sports Academy (OKSA) in one such institution, where boxers “slug it out” to make the difference in their lives.
Situated in the sprawling and dreaded Kibra slum, the academy strives to divert a group of young boxers from criminal activities to sports.
The brains behind the academy is none other former Kenya boxing international Omar Kasongo, who in his heyday, also played football for Kenya Football Federation Division One League side, Al-Watania FC.
Kasongo boxed for the Kenya national team, famously known as the Hit Squad at several high profile international events alongside the likes of David Anyim and Denmark-based Evans Ashira Oure “The African Warrior” just to name but a few.
He also played for Kibera Olympics as a junior, Kenya cooperative Creameries (KCC), Kimbo, then sponsored by East African industries and Posta.
After six years of existence, Omar Kasongo Sports Academy prides itself as one of the teams that operate at high level in as far as Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) League is concerned. OKSA’s dogged campaign started in 2014 when they won Nairobi Intermediates.
“Winning the Intermediates was such a great feeling and a way to announce our arrival. The games took place at Saint Teresa’s Hall in Eastleigh in 2014. Another great moment for us was during the National League first leg in Mombasa in 2017, where we came second behind Police. It was again a great achievement for a small team like OKSA to be ranked just a few points adrift the longstanding league champions,” Kasongo narrated.
But OKSA boxers have had to cool their heels at their homes as a result of the current coronavirus situation. “We are all praying for this Covid-19 pandemic to end so that the boxers can get back to their daily grind.”
Oksa have a burning desire to diversify their programs by venturing into other sports. “It’s boxing for the time being but if all goes well, we will also do football and others. We’ve introduced girls into our boxing team but they are very young and only one can get into the ring,” he explained.
So how did his sporting journey begin?
Besides being a “Hit Squad” boxer of international repute, soft-spoken Kasongo started playing football at the age of 10; turning out for the Blue Stars which comprised of his brothers Saidi Rajab, Abdul-Majid Ahmed, uncle-Kassim Ahmed and cousins Omar Mohammed and AbdulAziz Rajab. At one point in his formative years, he was spoilt for choice and couldn’t know which way to go between football and boxing.
“I used to see my uncle Hussein Ahmed go for boxing training at Prisons with his friend Napunyi Oduori, the legend. I would accompany them sometimes and just watch them around. But my boxing dream all started at Makina—a part of Kibra. That was around 1981-82. I started going there because there were opportunities for junior boxers to training.That’s where I started my boxing journey but while still playing football and juggling it with school.”
Kasongo also drew his Inspiration from watching legendary Muhammad Ali those days fighting on live TV.
“Ali’s slogan of ‘flying like a butterfly and stinging like a bee’ prepared his fans of what to expect on the canvas. I was playing football in Division 1 those days for Al-watania but was still mixing it up with boxing, where I featured as a junior in both 42kg category paper-weight and 45kg pin-weight.”
He added: “I was then forced to join the seniors ranks for the simple reason that the juniors couldn’t fight me any more. In the senior weights I started as a featherweight.”
Kasongo has represented the country in several events including Brunner Urafiki in 89, the Commonwealth Games in Auckland 90, King’s Cup in Bangkok 91, the All-African Games in Cairo 91. Others were Scandinavian Tour of 93 in Denmark, Commonwealth Games of Victoria 94, the Fescaaba event in Windhoek 94, King’s Cup 95, All-African Games, J’burg 95, Atlanta Olympics 96 and African Boxing championships down south in 96. During his national team days he won six golds and one silver medal.
He then relocated to Denmark in early 1997 for a six-month semi-professional stint and won all his bouts while in the Scandinavian world.
Asked why boxing superseded football , Kasongo went on: “I didn’t drop football. I still continued playing it and I still do it for wazee teams. It’s just that boxing had opportunities to offer me a job and I was able to trot the world. My coach Alias Gabiraari used to take me whenever KCC were featuring in league matches during school holidays and would find me a special boxing contest in every town we toured.”
Kasongo hanged up his gloves in 2000 after waiting for a work permit in Canada for three years before turning to coaching.
“When I moved back home, I decided to give back to my community so that other kids could realise their potential in sport and make Kenya proud. This is why I started the Academy.”
With six years down the line, OKSA is laden with good boxers like Washington Wandera and Crispin Murimi who are now with KDF, Mohammed Hussein, who is the number two flyweight, Denzel Onyango the 2019 Kenya Open champion in 2019 and heavyweight Joshua Wasike. It’s coaching staff has Kasongo who is assisted by Hassan Salim and Nick Ombati.
Being a slum-based self-sponsored team, situations call for inevitable challenges as the team sometimes doesn’t get enough funding to bring in all its boxers for the BFK league match-days outside town.
Before SportPesa closed shop in Kenya, OKSA was one of the sporting teams who savoured a share of the betting sponsorship thus uplifting the standards of sport in the country to desirable levels.
“We are thankful to the SportPesa sponsorship. But after they closed shop in the country, things got rough and tough for us. But again, I would say that we have learnt to take things in our strides. If there’s someone out there who can support the team, for a good cause, we’ll really appreciate. But from our shoestring budget, we meet our obligations through well-wishers. Our challenges are immense but that doesn’t deter us from giving it our best shot. I would say three years is a bit ambitious but five years is indeed realistic, of course, with a few boxers representing the country.”
OKSA train at Woodley in the evening but when the league draws closer, Kasongo shifts the core team to Hill Park Hotel Gym for high performance training.
His parting shot when asked what authorities should do to bolster the fortunes of the sport in the country, he avers in finality: “The Sport shouldn’t only grow in the slums as has been the case over the years. It should develop more at the juniors level and even be introduced in schools if possible. That’s where you can get the future champions. Boxing authorities should partner with the primary and secondary schools sports bodies.”
OMAR KASONGO’S LOWDOWN
Date of Birth: 29-12-1970
Occupation: Fitness Trainer/Boxing Coach
Stance in boxing: Orthodox
Boxing Status: Retired in 2000
Marital Status: Married with 6 children
Clubs:
Early 80s: Started at Kibera Olympics as a junior boxer
1985/86: KCC
1987/88: Kimbo (then East African industries)
1989-97: KP&TC (Posta)
Achievements in boxing;
Six gold medals
-All African Games
-East & Central African Boxing Championships
-Kings Cup
-Commonwealth Games
-Commonwealth Boxing Championships
One silver medal
Kings Cup in Bangkok 89
