High School principal Onchong’a's unending passion for producing world beaters

Kenya is renowned globally for its rich heritage and prowess in athletics talent and continues to produce world beaters.

The country’s success in the global athletics arena is buttressed by a steady supply of budding talent identified and nurtured in schools.

Haron Onchong’a has made a name for himself in Kenya’s athletics circles as he continues to identify and nurture talented runners who have gone on to conquer the world.

Kenya’s big hitters include World 800m champion Mary Moraa,  former Africa 400m hurdles champion Fanise Nyagisera and  Commonwealth Games 800m champion  Wycliffe Kinyamal.

Olympian Pesi Leshoo, long-distance runners Beatrice Begi and Esther Borura, sprinters, Brian Tinega, Elkana Chemelil, Mercy Oketch and Loice Morara are some of the household names produced under Onchonga’s watch. 

Onchong’a is keen to continue producing more athletes after a two-year hiatus.

Now the principal at Riooga Secondary School, which is an Athletics Kenya (AK) accredited camp, Onchong’a says he is ready to produce more world beaters.

Onchong’a was moved from Mogonga to Wamurondo Secondary in Migori then later Nyameru Secondary in Nyamira.

“The two schools didn’t have training fields but once I went to Riooga, after consultations with key stakeholders including school management and Athletics Kenya Youth and Development Committee, we decided the open a training camp here and luckily in December, it was funded by the Ministry of Education in December,” said Onchong’a.

Other camps in the region are Kiendege Secondary and St Peter’s Keberesi. The camps are training athletes ahead of the World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru in August. The camps will resume training on April 7.

“We had 14 athletes in the nationals in Machakos. From the 14, I want to have at least seven to feature at the East Africa Championships and the same number to proceed to the World Under-20 Championships in Peru,” said Onchong’a who is also a qualified athletics coach.

During the Nyanza region secondary schools athletics champions, Nyamira with the majority of athletes went head to head with neighbours Kisii. Previously, Nyamira used to perform dismally during the regional athletics championships.

During the regional championships, Kisii County emerged top in both the men’s and women’s categories with Nyamira second. Kisii bagged the boys’ title with 146 points followed by Nyamira with 112 and Homa Bay third with 70.

In the girls’ category, Kisii again emerged top with 164 points, Nyamira was second with 109 points, while Homa Bay was third with 54. The story was the same in both the 5.5 km and 3.5 km races for junior men and women respectively.

“In the next few years, Nyamira will be dominating the athletics chats in the country. There is enormous talent here which should be nurtured,” says Onchong’a.

Nyamira has produced several athletes, including Olympic gold medalists the late Naftali Temu, the late Robert Ouko and Charles Asati.

“We want to rekindle Kisii and Nyamira counties’ lost athletic glory. With investment, it’s possible,” says Ochong’a who took up athletics training after being frustrated from football.

At Riooga, he works with other coaches among them former international athlete Thomas Osano, former marathoner Declerk Omari, Andrew Mayaka and Moses Saiti.

For most head teachers, striking a balance between co-curricular activities and academics is not easy.

“True it’s not easy to balance the two. However, we have had many athletes get employed in Kenya Police, Kenya Army and Prisons while others have landed scholarships in the US and Japan. Some of these children come from extremely poor backgrounds. It makes me happy when they get employed and they uplift their families in return,” adds Onchong’a.

He appealed to AK to open more camps in the two counties. “In December, we had 110 athletes who turned up for training against the quota of 55. You find it difficult to turn them away,” he notes. The camps, he adds, lack some facilities like field implements.