Meet George Kinuthia, a man who uses sports to inspire young people and combat societal vices.
Kinuthia, who is from Kabete in Kiambu County, made the decision to act in 2004 after seeing the myriad social problems in his community including drug abuse, drunkenness and organised crime.
As a result, Kabete Cares was founded in 2005. This not-for-profit organisation uses sports to combat drug and substance abuse among children and youth in addition to developing talent and giving them social skills.
“I am committed to empowering the youth. There is a lot of child neglect in Kenya. Children are left to take care of themselves. Our program creates a sense of belonging. It is possible to have that Kenyan dream through sports irrespective of your background. That has always been the dream of Kabete Cares,” said Kinuthia.
The organisation has so far natured over a hundred children in athletics, football, chess and baseball.
According to Kinuthia, society presupposes that all children will achieve academic success, and if a child fails, they are condemned.
“There are children in schools who might not be performing well but they have a talent in sports. We teach them how to use that talent to make a living, and that their life is not over. Aside from education, we need to nature children’s talents,” he added.
In football talent development, Kinuthia revealed how they established the Kabete Cares Soccer Academy in 2009, and a year later, they sent 30 kids to Rwanda for an international friendly. While there, the kids participated in community service which helped them raise Sh380,000.
The under-14 football team won the Nairobi Junior World Cup, which featured teams made up of children from the international community living in Kenya.
In addition to hosts Kenya, Norway, Sweden and Japan were also represented.
Kinuthia said they have also had some of their players feature for Kenyan Premier League clubs' junior sides including Tusker and Thika United.
Some of their runners, he added, have successfully graced international races.
To execute these programmes, Kinuthia, who is also a commissioner at the Baseball Federation of Kenya, has partnered with well-wishers from abroad to donate kits and running shoes.
“Good running shoes are very expensive and it was a big issue. But since I worked in the tourism industry, I would ask my clients to bring us kits and shoes they weren’t using. Since then, we have been getting a lot of donations,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, BFK and baseball Africa have tasked 20 local centres with the responsibility to encourage children to engage in baseball.
