• Chris and Sammy were joint top scorers in the league in 2016 with 20 strikes, the most productive for Sammy. Their dream of playing together one day is valid.
• Chris is ready to return to the national team after being overlooked during the Olympic qualifiers last year in South Africa.
Image: /FILE
When growing up, siblings are always involved in a rivalry of sorts; be it who is better in academics, who does domestic chores better, who is popular among their peers and who can do something extraordinary in school, sports or at home.
However, when the rivalry comes in the shape of competitive sports, the impetus seems to go a notch higher, sometimes straining matters and at times strengthening the bond between the siblings.
Serena and Venus Williams (tennis); Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko (boxing); Jerome and Kevin-Prince Boateng (football); Michael and Ralf Schumacher (motor racing); Anton and Rio Ferdinand (football), Kolo and Yaya Touré (football); Gary, Phil and Tracey Neville (football/netball); Fábio and Rafael Da Silva (football); Mako and Billy Vunipola (rugby); Filip and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (athletics); Olivia, Kevin, Jonathan and Dylan Borlee (athletics) are some of the most popular siblings in the world of sport.
Closer home, the Wokila trio of Sammy, Stephen and Chris are part of a long list of brothers and sisters who have erected to the pitch, representing the same team or against each other.
Sammy plays for Police, Stephen is attached to United States International University (USIU-A Mashujaa) while Chris plies his trade with Ben Owaga’s Greensharks.
Sammy, the sixth born in a family of nine and the eldest of the trio recounts how he started playing hockey in Gobson, Bungoma County.
“We were all introduced to this sport by Rodgers Ayuya. We did not have a ball (cork) but Ayuya would burn some papers and roll them into a ball. We would then go to the nearby forest, cut some sticks and shape them like hockey sticks and start practising,” says Sammy.
However, joining Friends School Kamusinga, a hockey powerhouse in the country and the region was catalytical to his growth in the sport. Sammy started as a defender but his principal, Simon Nabukosi, spotted his attacking prowess and recommended the same to coach Albert ‘Mchumba’ Mutambo who deployed him as a centre forward.
The move paid dividends as Sammy helped FSK win the national and East Africa titles three times. He was a partner to iconic Butali Warriors’ attacker Frank Wanangwe at Kamusinga.
Upon finishing his ‘O’ Levels, Sammy joined the Kenya Police team in 2016, where he is a National Police Constable.
He is a three-time Premier League title winner—twice with Strathmore 2009 and 2010 and once with the law enforcers 2017. Playing against either Greensharks or USIU is a special moment for the enigmatic striker, who has had good stead against his brothers.
However, the tide changed last season when Greensharks rallied from 3-0 down to beat Police 4-3. Chris was the difference as he scored a brace to carry the bragging rights. It was tough for Sammy to bear falling to his last born.“Matches against my brothers are like derbies to me. Being the leader of the crew, I always savour victory and I have proved that against them severally. Chris’ passion and tough fighting spirit was the difference in that match. I don’t eat when I lose a match to my brothers. The painful thing about that defeat is that his heroics came in the last quarter,” Sammy narrates.
He could not face his brother afterwards.
“We were staying together at that time. I just gave him the key to my house and went to spend the weekend with a friend before returning on Sunday evening,” he reveals. “It is unbelievable to lose but it’s shameful to be defeated by your youngest brother. He scored and I didn’t.”
Chris and Sammy were joint top scorers in the league in 2016 with 20 strikes—the most productive for Sammy. Their dream of playing together one day is valid.
“Nothing is impossible but I highly doubt if it will be in the Premier League. Time is like a thief, running very fast and the Masters League is the most probable. However, Chris, 25, and Stephen, 28, can play together. Keeping fit and enjoying most what they do is my advice to them.”
As for Stephen, win or lose is treated in equal measure. He says: “Playing against each other is fun. We tout one another on who is better and try to prove it on the field. Losing makes me feel bad after bragging prior to the match but since it’s a sport, we live to fight another day. When I win, we celebrate, have a sitting and bond as brothers.”
The eighth-born recalled on the brains behind their change of heart. The three were all very talented footballers but the father-figure in their eldest brother was crucial to them picking hockey. Significantly, their mother supported them wholeheartedly.
“Bernard Mbati Wokila is nothing if not phenomenal. He only played during his time at Chavakali High School but his support was all that we needed. All of us used to play football but since there was a father figure in the family, he successfully mobilised all of us to love hockey,” he said.
“Mum was a shining light for us. She was the one who motivated us and gave us fare to go for tournaments. Football was and is still part of us though we are not so much into it. Chris and Sammy can man the post very well. I was a central midfielder.”
Stephen is a teller at Diamond Trust Bank. The FSK alumnus was a nominee in the Safaricom Sports Personality of the Year Awards and finished third in the most promising player of the year in 2009, earning, him a ticket to attend the Beijing Olympics.
Beating his elder brother has been fruitless but he still hopes to break the duck before hanging his boots. His dynamism enables him to play across the defence and in central midfield.
“I have never won against Police but Greensharks, yes. I guess it is true you can’t fight with your elder brother and win no matter how small he looks. In a way, you’ll just find yourself losing. I hope to break this duck before his retirement,” says Stephen.
He revealed how he missed the opportunity to play for the national junior team.
“I was selected to play for the Kenya Under-18 team that participated in Egypt back in my high school days. However, my principal insisted that I must concentrate on my academics and thus failed to travel with the team.”
Stephen, who has a soft for bongo and Ugandan music, says he would one day venture into coaching.
Chris, the top scorer in the league last season with 13 goals, credits his meteoritic rise to Sammy and Stephen.
“The greatest advantage of being the last born is having people that you look up to and will always be there to direct you. Both have changed the course of my life by playing big roles in different ways. We also share our love as brothers,” he observes.
Chris is an IT expert at Leopards Communication as a web and mobile app developer.
On beating his brother last season, he said: “He didn’t want to talk to me. We were both competing to score and help our teams get maximum points and I was glad luck was on my side.”
For Chris, it will be a dream come true if he can one day play alongside either of his brothers. Interestingly, he played hockey at Kakamega High School, where the sport remains secondary to rugby and football.
“When I went to Kakamega High School, I wanted to play football but then I found five solid teams. A friend of mine told me the institution only scouts for top talent and I found myself an outsider in this category. That’s how I quit,” he says. “I then went to the hockey pitch, took a stick and started dribbling. The coach saw me and told me to come in the full kit the next day. That weekend, there was a tournament and I was included in the list. That’s how I got into hockey.”
Chris is concerned with the standards of hockey in Kenya both at national and club level. He observes that if sponsors could come on board, then the game would be at a different level. However, he reckoned that progress is being made, though slowly, if last season’s activities are anything to go by.
“We really did well last season in trying to increase the visibility of the sport. We got to air the first Premier League match live on Facebook and you could easily see the impact it made to hockey lovers,” he says.
“It started feeling like the tide would change this season but then COVID-19 happened. We are still holding our breath, hoping that the uncertainty will end soon and allow us to resume to action.”
Aside from his brothers, Sikh Union’s striker Davis Wanangwe is his inspiration. “Davis was the best lethal forward of his generation. I am yet to see a forward who had his eye for goal. That’s what I always wanted to be as a player... strong, powerful fearful and predatory.”
Chris is ready to return to the national team after being overlooked during the Olympic qualifiers last year in South Africa. Previously, he represented the country in the World Hockey League in Ghana.