•The former Kenya Prisons warden, who resigned to take up teaching, is now based at Singilet Primary School in Nandi County.
•As a coach to such young people, you must have sharp eyes and mind to know the prospects.
That Kenyan athletes are masters of track and roads cannot be over-emphasised.
However, little is known or said of the individuals, the supporting cast, who ensure that the runners rise from just another herds boy deep in the Kenyan countryside, into a world conqueror.
For years, Robert Ngisirei has embarked on a journey of fuelling the Kenyan athletics conveyor-belt in the Rift Valley, home to some of the country's best athletes.
He has seen some of his athletes participate in major championships across the world, winning numerous medals.
And for his efforts, Athletics Kenya have had faith in him to take head coach roles in Team Kenya to World Youth and World Junior Championships, where he has never disappointed.
The former Kenya Prisons warden, who resigned to take up teaching, is now based at Singilet Primary School in Nandi County.
He has churned numerous runners in his long career with stopwatches and is credited for the rise and rise of runners like world marathon record holder Brigid Kosgei, former world cross country champions Irene Cheptai and Agnes Tirop and former Africa 5,000m champion Margaret Chelimo among others.
"As a coach to such young people, you must have sharp eyes and mind to know the prospects.
"I always start from inter-schools, move to the zonal and on to the national championships.
"Once I see the best, I call them and place them in various camps. While there, I train them and I can say that for a long time, my recruits have gone on to become some of the best runners in the world," says Ngisirei.
As an active young and energetic youth, Ngisirei used to run 800m while at Chepterwai Primary and Lelmokwo Secondary schools. He secured a job at Kenya Prisons after starring during recruitment.
However, he later resigned to join the teaching fraternity. "My running was good hence winning the hearts of senior Prison officers, who offered me my first job in 1984. However, I did not take long at the service," said Ngisirei.
He schooled alongside Patrick 'Mr Silver' Sang, the current coach to world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge at Lelmokwo, though ahead by some classes.
"I was the school sports captain due to my good running skills. I also schooled alongside David Kitur, a former 400m champion. That tells you I have been in the sports industry for long and I am going nowhere" says Ngisirei.
The Mosop-based coach worked for only two years as a warden and resigned in 1986 to join Machakos Teachers’ Training College the following year." I resigned from Prisons to take up teaching because during the Moi era, there was little pay as a Prison warder but teaching was well-paying."
"For two years, I trained and come 1990, I was employed as a teacher and it remains my profession until retirement," explains Ngisirei. The former runner was accredited to select the best runners for the World Under-20 Championships and he set up 15 training camp across the country. The World Under-20 show has since been postponed.
He was tasked in supervising all the programmes under the surveillance of Athletics Kenya (AK) Youth Committee chairman Barnabas Korir. Ngisirei says he took the running genes from his mother's side of the family.
While discussing some of his best picks on the schools level, Ngisirei says he identified and recruited Cheptai from Tulwo Girls in West Pokot, Tirop was discovered while a pupil at Ngechek Primary, Chelimo was schooling at Tabolwa Primary while Kosgei was a pupil at Kondabilet Primary.
"It is not easy to tap, nurture and maintain an athlete. A beginner athlete has two sessions in her/him. The first class are fresh young people who have never been in any competition while the second class are those who have been in competition and may understand the rules," explains Ngisirei.
For the first class, he says, it is hard to bring the idea of running in her mind leave alone training. But once the concept has been understood and they feel it is good, life becomes easier.
However, he observes that has not always been rosy. "With these young people, I have achieved a lot that the runners and the country are proud of. That is why I respect all athletes who have had a good running career from junior to the senior cadre," says Ngisirei.
Ngisireis first outing as Team Kenya head coach was at the World Youth Championships in Australia in 1996, where they finished second in the world standing.
He also led the World Youth team to the 1999 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland also finishing second but his highest achievement came in 2010 at the World Junior in Toronto, Canada when they won the overall title.
He also took the world title at the World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz in 2018. "As a national team coach, you will always celebrate when you are on top of the world. I celebrated with my athletes for the big and successful event. The two events in Toronto and Bydgoszcz put me on the world map of athletics as a coach and a teacher back in the village," he says.
In addition to the two world titles, he also won the overall title during the 2015 World Youth in Cali, Colombia. “Winning in such events, as a coach, is pure joy. You laugh all the way home."
"But when you lose, there will be little to talk about as a technical team contingent as a whole," he says. But his lowest moment came when Kenya, for the first time, held the World Under 18 Championships at Moi Stadium, Kasarani.
Ngisirei says it was a bad championship after losing the overall title on home ground. It was my lowest moment as a coach, losing at home, not just finishing second but number four.
"Home fans were disappointed but we had to accept the outcome and move on but it was regrettable," said Ngisirei. With his focus now set on taking senior athletes under his wings, Ngisirei is optimistic of producing good results if given an opportunity.
"I have the power and zeal to train top runners in the country. Maybe our senior coaches have not understood how athletes transit from juniors. If given an opportunity, I will work and produce miracles that each one of us will celebrate," he explains.
He added that as a teacher, he knows how to discipline athletes and that is why the majority of young runners are so disciplined unlike when they transit.
"Teaching has been a good foundation for me, both in schools and in many training camps. It has given me an opportunity to train athletes at their youngest age, understanding them and how to handle them without raising any alarm. As a teacher, I know how to discipline them both in school and in training camps," concludes Ngisirei.
With the World Under 20 now postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Ngisirei is optimistic that come May, the disease will be over to enable them to resume training.
"We had really prepared our minds in readiness for the Under-20 Championships. As the hosts, we decided to have some training camps across the country so that we can get the best of the best. And I am sure we will perform well on home soil once the normal activities resume," he says.