•He, nevertheless, thinks the current Sports CS Ababu Namwamba is already doing a good job with Talanta Hela Centres that will help rediscover the future of Kenyan football.
•Dr Masiga’s greatest moment in sports was perhaps when coach Marshall Mulwa led Harambee Stars in winning the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup for three years in a row between 1981-1983.
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Dr. Joseph Jesse Masiga aka ‘JJ Masiga’ is a man of many hats. The revered Harambee Stars and AFC Leopards first-choice striker back in the day has spent his entire lifetime working to achieve a myriad of goals at the same time, and he has succeeded in many of his endeavours, by and large.
As his rugby and football contemporaries would put it, he has all along developed a penchant for ‘burning his candle at both ends’ for the longest time, hence his success story both in the sports field and academically.
Today, Dr Masiga hardly frequents football stadiums to watch the game which made him a demigod in his heyday.
Surprisingly, he is more inclined to the “greens, tee boxes and fairways”, a trend he adopted in 2016 but started playing golf in 2017.
Dr. Masiga who is enjoying a marriage of 40 years with Professor Mary Atieno Masiga, told The Star Sports, how he has had to jump through so many hoops to be the man of many hats that he is today.
Speaking at the Par 72 Royal Nairobi Golf Club (RNGC) course, where the country’s oldest golf club crowned his illustrious sporting career with the “JJ Masiga The Legend” tournament, he said: “I don’t watch a lot of football these days, but there are some players I would have liked to play with during my time, if given a chance, like the current Captain of Harambee Stars (Michael Olunga).
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"He is very hardworking and he comes out for the team. It’s the extra mile you go for the team and I think he does that. I wouldn’t have minded playing with him,” he added.
Asked why he opted to play golf later in his life, the Dental Surgeon who was born on September 11, 1957, expounded: “Sports, in general, teaches you a lot of things in life; That you must train, you must be disciplined, and that has helped my career blossom in many facets. I think I am also a fairly disciplined dentist. If I give you an appointment and you come 15 minutes late, too bad for you.”
He continued: “Golf is an individual game, so it’s you and that ball. Unlike team sports, where one would rely more on other people, I’m coming into golf at an older age. I play social golf, but I enjoy it because it demands a lot from my physical fitness, walking and my sight. I play off handicap 23 on this course (Royal Nairobi Golf Club) and I’m okay with it.”
But prodded to explain why he has succeeded in the many things he has engaged in over the years; Dr. Masiga went on: “It’s sheer hard work. I have played a lot of team sports and in a team scenario, you need immense support from other people. So, you are not an individual but you are made by others and I’m grateful for that. I have played against very good players, something that shaped my career as a sportsman.”
BRIGHTEST MOMENT
Dr Masiga’s greatest moment in sports was perhaps when coach Marshall Mulwa led Harambee Stars in winning the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup for three years in a row between 1981 and 1983. This feat had never been achieved by any other Harambee Stars team before.
He remembers with nostalgia: “Winning the East and Central Africa Challenge Cup three times was quite an achievement and with Harambee Stars under Marshall Mulwa. This has not been repeated by the subsequent national teams that came after us. Again, with AFC Leopards, we won the regional club championship four times (1979, 1982, 1983 and 1984) and that was a great achievement too.”
Dr. Masiga got an opportunity to go and further his education which he couldn’t let go of considering his high-flying sporting status. “I got a British Council scholarship to go and study in the University of London and I took the chance with open arms,” he recalls
BEST PLAYERS OF YORE
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Dr Masiga singled out players from Gor Mahia as some of the best during their time. He cited Bobby Ogola, his very own good friend, as the greatest defender of all time in Kenya.
“I got the goal past quite several established goalkeepers, but I would vouch for my very good friend Mahmoud Abass (Kenya 1) as the best because as a team, you must have a goalkeeper, people who defend and the ones who receive the ball and score, as I did; it’s like a whole team effort. Gor had a few good keepers like Dan Odhiambo.”
YOUTH CENTRES
Dr. Masiga says football in Kenya will only go places if the country invests in the young generation of players as was the case with the Olympic Youth Centres.
German coach Bernhard Zgoll founded the Olympic Youth Centres in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru, and with them, came a golden generation of superstars including Wilberforce Mulamba, Ambrose ‘Golden Boy’ Ayoyi, Bobby Ogolla, Sammy Taabu, Hussein Kheri, Josephat Murila, Austin Oduor, Mahmoud Abbas and Sammy Owino ‘Kempes’.
“I must say the Olympic Centres were then working and they did well in talent identification and nurturing. I didn’t come from any of those but I played amongst those who came from the centres which was a very good thing,” recalls Dr. Masiga.
The football legend still believes if one comes up with structures similar to those of Bernhard Zgoll, football will go places.
He, nevertheless, thinks the current Sports CS Ababu Namwamba is already doing a good job with Talanta Hela Centres that will help rediscover the future of Kenyan football.
“Those exceptional footballers came from the centres. They had their skills developed to a level where when they played as a team, they gelled. Some of us who came from clubs just joined them. Coach Mulwa had a team that was drawn from Olympic Youth Centres and I think that’s how he managed to succeed,” said Dr. Masiga as he explained the dominance of Harambee Stars in the early 80s.
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EXPOSURE TODAY
However, Dr. Masiga agrees football has moved a notch higher globally hence the need for Kenyans to change tact.
He opines: “The standard of our league is not as good as other leagues. I believe some of the African teams succeed because they exported players to better-run leagues. True, I think it’s easier to succeed today unlike our time because many football academies develop talent and if nurtured well, we should be able to go places.”
RUGBY AND FOOTBALL DILEMMA
The living legend goes on to explain how good rugby was in those days. “We nurtured our rugby talent in school. I went to Nairobi School where sport was at another level.”
He expounded: “When I joined Form One, we went to school from about 7 am and finished at 1 pm and as youngsters, we were made to go and have a nap. Then we would get up at 3.30 pm and we all got to do sports. That made us improve on wherever talent we had and the inter-school championships in Nairobi really made us play well and then eventually they would have schools combine in rugby.”
“The rivalry between Nairobi School and Lenana was huge back in the day. When I captained Nairobi School in the 1970s, we beat Lenana on their home turf.”
Dr. Masiga played rugby for various teams. “Whenever there was a chance, I would play rugby and when there wasn’t, I would stick to soccer.”
Rugby and football were all played on Saturdays, but Dr Masiga leaned more on the soccer side. “I think I enjoyed rugby more when it came to the creation of moves. I mean I enjoyed playing both of them but in rugby, there were immense opportunities to create some moves.”
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“From outside the rugby pitch, it looks very rough but there are rules. So if not played according to the rules, you lose it. Like I said, in golf, it’s an individual game. If I go to the bush (rough) in golf, to keep my score, like in every other sport, I have to be honest. Golf is all about honesty, and integrity and that runs across all those sports. They say to play golf you have to have a bit of money. But sometimes it’s not all about money, it’s time! You have to create five hours on a round of golf, it’s your time.”
Asked what it will take for local sporting clubs to achieve their full potential in sport, Masiga said: “When we played sport, we did it as amateurs. Today, players play for money you have to pay to attract good players. You must have a purse to pay for them. I think sports sponsorships in this country have gone down because nobody wants to trust the managers or the people who run those clubs with their money. Because when they sponsor, they expect to get a return on investment. Until that is sorted out, the teams will remain inefficient.”
Lastly, Dr. Masiga wants players to invest the little they earn from the sport. “They should not feed from hand to mouth. I would encourage them to be better managers of whatever little they earn. I am happy several players have been wise enough to invest. They should also make sure they have medical insurance which is very important, especially, during their playing days, because without that life can be difficult.”