Attacking superstars who score tremendous goals and grab headlines in all the communication channels dominate the world of sports across the globe.
Young players idolise and want to emulate the likes of Juventus star Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for their goal-scoring exploits, having won countless individual accolades and club titles.
Even our own Michael Olunga made history by scoring eight goals in a single match as Kashiwa Reysol got the better of Kyoto Sanga 13-1 in a record-breaking win in the J2 league in Japan in November last year. Kenyans were left purring as the football engineer reached that milestone.
A lot has been said about Kenya’s Collins Injera who holds the second place for the number of tries scored on the World Rugby Sevens Series with 271. The 33-year-old utility back achieved this with Kenya Rugby Sevens team.
Away from football, let’s switch the memory lane to the feared and less popular hockey game.
Greensharks’ Chris Wokila and the trio of Butali Warriors’ battle men—Festus Onyango, George Mutira and Amos Barkibir—have been in the headlines for the last four seasons in the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League, owing to their predatory nature in front of goal. The quartet have either been top scorer or runner up for the same period. The Butali brigade has also helped their side win trophies.
Besides trophies and accolades, there are players in sports circles who don’t receive the attention they deserve at all—just because they don’t play in an attractive position or turn out for small clubs.
But whatever the reason, these players go about their business the right way and receive nothing in terms of attention .
These are the players who are heavily relied upon and make everyone on the field look good in any competition. Their absence makes the team shaky if not useless.
Today, we will attempt to right the wrongs by recognising Willis Okeyo. ‘Awilo’ as he is fondly known in hockey circles, is a Kenya Police midfielder and Kenyan International. He is a police officer and tutors women’s Premier League side, United States International University (USIU ‘A’) Spartans. Okeyo has been the unsung hero for practically his entire career that is slowly winding down as he celebrates his 36th birthday this year.
Regarded as the finest midfielder of the decade, Okeyo is also one of the most travelled hockey players. He has won two Premier League titles with Police (2015,2017) and the prestigious Vaisakhi Cup that is organised by Nairobi Hockey Association three times. Okeyo catapulted Police to runners up position in the African Cup of Club Championship tournament in Nairobi in 2018. The team finished third in the 2014 version of the event held in Zambia. Last year, he guided the law enforcers to win the Sikh Union Astroturf tournament trophy but it’s Govan Mbeki, who took the plaudits for scoring the lone goal against the Sports Authority of India SAI in the final.
Okeyo is among the few privileged players to play abroad. He was crowned the Most Valuable Player in Bangladesh Premier League when he helped his side, Dhaka Mariners win their maiden trophy in 2015. Last year, Okeyo visited Germany twice in May and September for one-month playing stint with Struttgart, alongside Wazalendo’s fast-rising talent Danston Barasa.
Apart from playing, Okeyo is also Spartans coach and has led his students to both the Kenya Universities Sports Association (KUSA) Nairobi Conference games and East Africa University games’ hockey titles three times in a row.
Spartans finished fourth in the Africa Cup of Club Championship Trophy in 2018 and were the best hockey university team on the continent as of last year, according to reports.
So what makes Awilo an asset at both club and national team, where he has been a permanent fixture? Why is the former Eldoret Polytechnic student the epitome of a modern hockey midfielder and an example to be emulated?
Try to figure out why Police and the national team struggle in his absentia and why in 2007 he was a player-cum-coach at USIU Mashujaa side despite being only 23 and why the maestro could play for another two or more years before hanging his boots?
Okeyo is a dynamic and disciplined player and he is known for his relentless energy and ball-winning abilities as a deep-lying midfielder.
This is because of his strong positional awareness and ability to read the game. This are the main reasons why Police signed him in 2008 before he headed to Kiganjo Training College for one year.
Among his terms of reference on the pitch is to fetch the ball and retrieve possession to the benefit of the goal hungry strikers in his team.
Although he is predominantly known for his tactical awareness, intelligence and the defensive aspect of the game, he is capable of play-making from inside his own half and he is an efficient passer on the counter-attack. Police dropped more points last year as the team finished third for the first time in four years, thanks to his unavailability.
On several occasions last season, Police looked an average team, vulnerable and porous without his services. The team dropped many points from winning position as coach Patrick Mugambi, more often than not, bemoaned the team’s mediocre performance due to his unavailability. He was, actually, the missing piece in the Police squad.
Okeyo credits his calm and composed demeanour on the pitch to experience, having played in various positions prior to settling in his preferred role. “It’s not about pride but I have been in this game for a long time. I started playing as a left midfielder before transitioning to a forward because hockey demands flexibility. It was in 2013 when I finally settled to play in deep midfield, a position I am identified with to date,” he said.
The brand midfielder, who has had more glorious highs with minimal terrifying lows, added: “Hockey demands patience, hard work, commitment and discipline. Sometimes you don’t achieve what you want but giving up is not an option. You should always try to push yourself to the limit. This means breaking away from the limitations that have accosted you in the past. For me, I am passionate about the game and it has enabled me go places I wouldn’t have imagined.”
Okeyo rose to love the sport at Kisumu Boys High School between 1998 and 2001, guiding the institution to a third place finish in Kenya Secondary School Games his final year.
He later enrolled for a pharmacy course at Eldoret Polytechnic between 2002-2003 and also played for them. He travelled to Nairobi in 2004 to hustle and had to wait for three years to join USIU team.
In 2007, the demise of Mike Omondi, who was USIU’s coach opened up a coaching opportunity for Okeyo. Despite joining Police in 2008, he volunteered to coach USIU (men and women) in 2009/2010 while serving Police as a player. He later settled for the men’s team; abandoning the ladies and his efforts paid dividends.
“We worked so hard and our efforts saw the men’s side being promoted from the national league to the top tier league in 2011. This was definitely my greatest achievement that inspired me to pursue coaching as a career. I could not face USIU when Police played them because I was their coach. Mashujaa have not been relegated since that time and it is largely because of the foundation I set,” he bragged.
The first call up to the national team for the Embakasi-based officer came in 2013 during the Olympic qualifiers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe as Kenya finished fourth. Since then, he has been a mainstay in the side. Last year in the Olympic qualifiers in South Africa, he was Kenya’s most capped player in a pool that largely consisted of young players.
Okeyo then took charge of the USIU Ladies team in 2017, transforming the team from the comforts of mid-table experience to title contenders. This, he said was due the institution’s well-structured recruitment policy, which saw players being offered full-time scholarships.
“In the last three years, there has been progress in the team because of a much better recruitment system where players who buy into our philosophy have had the opportunity to showcase what they can do when chance is presented to them. There’s togetherness on and off the field and players who graduate stick with us for along time. If we maintain this trend, I believe we can break Blazers’ dominance in the league. I know it only calls for self-belief and a tough mentality but I think Blazers are formidable but beatable.”
Even as he continues to gain recognition locally and internationally, he has his eyes set on coaching role for both Police and the national team. This, he said will be the hallmark of his career. For now, he is keen to see the budding players in Police hit dizzying heights. Police are rebuilding after an inconsistent season.
“I think my body can soldier on for two more seasons or so before I can quit playing and focus thoroughly on coaching. Police team would be a good place to carry on with the coaching duties. I can also give back at a higher level with the national team in any capacity at the technical bench. Police are currently restructuring and I need to leave them somewhere .That’s why I’ll continue playing,” he added.
In his next visit to Germany, Okeyo intends to take more players with him. Barasa, who was with him at VfB Stuttgart last year left the Germans impressed. Awilo thinks the relationship being developed between Kenya and Germany will see the national team one day play Germany in friendly matches.
“If you do well, you open up the opportunities for others and that is exactly what Barasa did. I will tag others along with me. They (Germans) have realised how talented our players are. KHU president Nashon Randiek is in constant communication with German teams and it will be a step in the right direction if we can take the national team to train there even for a week. That experience alone will be invaluable.”
Okeyo is concerned with the standards of the national team and he is keen to see the trend changing.
“We want to see players being appreciated for their efforts and our events attracting sponsorship,” he said.
“Our standards are raising eyebrows and this can be attributed to poor preps which begin so late. Training needs to be timely. In Bangladesh, the top scorer pockets Sh50,000 but here there has been nothing until last season when the union rewarded top performers and I think they should double their efforts. KHU need to put it’s house in order and the sooner they do it the better because hockey is an expensive sport that demands sponsorship.”
On how he juggles between work, coaching and playing, Okeyo said: “Sportsmen at Police have enough time to train after finishing duty early. We do policing in community service through sports. I do coaching as a sportsman not as a policeman. This has really helped change perception of how people view the men in uniform.”
