Today was probably the best day yet for Malindi Rugby. I know I’ve been saying this quite a
bit lately, but I suppose this is a sign that things have been progressing at
light speed for us over the last year!
Today, five of our home grown players, Athman Abud, Tyson
Kiema, Taura Emanuel, Kelvin Kithi, and Ian Nyanje were in Nairobi competing
with the best Under 19 age group players in the country for spots on Kenya’s
National team. Many thanks to
Roger Sylvester and the Driftwood Club in Malindi who backed the boys
financially and made the trip possible.
The Driftwood is one of the most beautiful spots on Malindi’s Silversands beach and incidentally, the best and only place you can watch rugby on a big screen with Malindi’s rugger crowd.
The boys apparently did well, although they said that (as
expected) the Kakamega guys were physically superior, but they felt like they
kept up. They also said that the
Kakamega guys knew all the coaches, and that’s precisely why I was happy they
went, our Malindi guys need to be part of the system/community and need to
start networking and knowing the right people. I think knowing people and knowing what to expect can boost
performance at that type of a selection camp.
At any rate, the thing apparently was a bit of a mess at the
beginning, lots of guys didn’t have original birth certificates but photocopies
(as is the custom here). I simply
told the guys to ensure they had their birth certificates (I didn’t apparently
use the word ‘original’ which is key here) and so they brought
photocopies. At first they were
turned away but luckily common sense prevailed and they were allowed to have a
run around with the rest. Thanks
for your understanding KRU!
I’m told it was mostly fitness testing with a bit of
position specific testing, but no contact or scrimmaging/gameplay simulation
apart from scrumaging for forwards.
I already wrote to my contacts at the Union to ask them to give us a bit
more advanced notice next time. I
could have prepared our guys quite well, to be honest, the guys that went
weren’t that fit, but luckily they were playing on and off with the Club
against big guys, so they weren’t completely out of it. But had I known, I would have had them
training hard!
I hope that some of them get called back, realistically, I
think it’s unlikely that one of them makes the team. But as I said earlier, just their presence is a learning
experience and three of them will have a chance to go back again better
prepared next year, and hopefully they will tell their teammates about it and
that will motivate them to be better players. On the other hand, I think there
could be a chance that a)The selectors might want to diversify the national
team away from just Luyas and Nairobi players. I saw a tweet saying that they look forward to the day when
an Abdi gets on the Kenya team… I replied that there was a guy called Athman
Abud trying out for the Under 19 team and he is 210 kilos and can run enough to
play 7s in the nation; and b) that they might look at some of our younger guys
in view of grooming them for next year, perhaps with some of point ‘a’ in mind;
And c) that the sheer size of a couple of the players (Athman ‘Biggie’ Abud and
Ian Nyanje are freakishly wide!)
might make them attractive!
Well, anyway, as mentioned at the start, I’m EXTREMELY
PLEASED!!! Also, can’t wait for
the next twist in the road/development for Malindi Rugby. If we can start having an impact on
Kenyan Rugby, I’ll be pleased. I
think all of us need to push in the same direction to make sure Kenya Rugby
grows in a “resilient” and “sustainable” way. In a way, Kenya Rugby could be looked at as a litmus test
for what the country is going through… Corruption? Destructive Politics? Cronyism? Mismanagement… I
think both Kenya and the KRU can rise above all of that stuff genuinely if
every one of us believes that it is possible and we all roll up our sleeves and
work. Karibuni to the winning team
boys and girls! :) (Ps:
sorry for being so cheesy, my mum and dad showed up for a visit today and we’re
all feeling good after a great day!)
PPS: The following are bios of
Malindi Players I sent to the KRU, in actuall fact, Alphan, Alex and Duncan
were too old to attend the camp:
Tyson Kiema: Played in
two 7s KSSSA National championships, Has been training/playing with Malindi
High for 4 years now, generally played on the wing when he was young but
graduated as the first choice fly half this year until I found how well duncan
kicks. Kiema is by far my first choice Scrum Half at the club level and
has been performing marvellously. He is extremely fit and fast, his major
strength is his passing accuracy and his understanding of the game, what to do
at the breakdown and basic strategy. He's also a clever bugger, one of
the top students at Malindi High which is a provincial school.
Kelvin Kithi: Also played in
two 7s KSSSA National championships. Has been training/playing with Malindi
high for 3 years (he is a form 3). His two older brothers also played at
Malindi High on Provincial Champion 15s and 7s teams and both play for Malindi
RFC at present. He's lanky and fast, has been playing in the second row
because of his size and toughness (I don't have many big guys here!), but
aspires to play back row and might this year although would be an extremely
good back at any position (especially outside centre I reckon). Decent rugby
knowledge, and willing to listen and learn.
Athman Abud: Played in three
KSSSA NAtional Championships (two 7s and one 15s). Has played for three
years at Malindi High always on the first team by nature of his size, at 110
kilos probably the biggest coastarian in school rugby. He plays both prop
positions well, but can move enough to play on my sevens team. Strong
tackler and decent ball carrier and passer (although I'd like him to pass less!).
Built to last.
Taura Emanuel: I think only
played this year, is a form three, but made it on the first team as a flanker
this year and will probably be captain next year. Bright, sharp, hard,
strong, fast, loyal, excellent tackler, perhaps my favourite player at the
moment. Played back row at school but I have tried him at scrum half for
Malindi RFC when Kiema wasn't available and he did extremely well. He
could probably play anywhere on the pitch, he's hard an you'll love his
tackling and bravery. The kind of player that can carry a team on his
shoulders.
Alphan Mwinyikombo: Big fellow and
team leader. Extremely fit, good tackler and quite big. Took over
some games. Perhaps not the sharpest tool in my tool box but he makes up
for it in pure effort and strength and is always on any team of mine if he is
fit which is almost always. Also a good guy for rallying the troops,
often speaks up for the team. He also could do well in the backs and has
an unbelievable distance on his kicks, great drop kick as well as place kick
for goal!
Alex Karissa (Gaza): Another team
leader, transferred to the school this year after learning the game in fertile
rugby breeding ground of Taita. Put him at flanker as he has the highest
fitness levels but prefers to play in the backs. Quite lanky, very fast
and quick, magnificent 7s player but not as disciplined as I'd like in 15s as
he makes up his own script often as he goes along, often with great results
(Quade Cooper style). Also a team leader, very Charismatic, I think his
mum is on the county government… A big reason for our success this year.
Ian Nyanje: Another fellow who
has a great frame for rugby. His fitness is not what I'd like it to be
but he makes up for it with his size and body awareness. He is an excellent
ball carrier and adds a great deal of mass to the pack. He's a form two,
so lots of room to grow, still lots of maturing to do. He was the other
first choice prop on the 15s team but did not make the team consistently
playing sevens because of speed/fitness issues.
Duncan Maghanga: Was a winger at
the start of the season and then when I realized how well he kicked, moved him
to fly half. His kicks for touch were pure magic, and he is accurate when going
for goal from distance. He is also pretty good at organizing the backs
although his game knowledge is not magnificent as he only joined us I think
consistently at the beginning of this year. He was a leader of the 7s
team that went to nationals this year, but hasn't been training with the team recently.
Also one of the lead academic performers at the school (which is why I
don't fault him for missing training), which is his reason for not
participating in Malindi RFC matches this year.
Please contact me if you'd like any further info. I think
we're sorted, but would love it if the boys could be billeted with nairobi
based players… Otherwise do you have any suggestions for cheap (circa 500 ksh)
accommodation near the pitch? As suggested I gave them Wasike's number, but I
do have an assistant coach up there collecting them from the bus and bringing
them to the accommodation. In the future, it would be great to know about this
type of selection camp ahead of time, I would have pushed the players more
physically and picked on them to perform at a higher level. I sort of
took the foot off the accelerator recently in view of having them concentrate
more on their exams, I would say that most of them are at about 70% of their
normal fitness levels, although that's already pretty good.
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