The shame of training in Nairobi estates

Top-notch Kenyan football stars Victor Wanyama formerly with Tottenham Hotspur and Michael Olunga who features J1 League in Japan with Kashiwa Reysol started their careers in pitches not too dissimilar to the Sinai grounds tucked away in Lunga Lunga estate which is a true manifestation of the shame we live with in the guise of sports facilities in Kenya’s capital city.

Yes, the duo and a number of others have gone a head to play in some of the top notch grounds around the world but there is no guarantee more others will pull through in this 21st century when sports are going digital. 

The field is simply an eyesore—littered with fragments of stones, mud and dirt but as they say, children know no boundaries when they set their mind on something.

Stories are sweet when told later in life pointing to players’ background in such places like Sinai but the question is how many survive such environments to play at the top.

Picture a situation, where players are forced to share a pitch half-half with a dumpsite amid the stench from the uncollected garbage.

But do the children have a choice? of course not; and worse still, there is no guarantee one will return home injury-free or disease free.

Despite all the challenges, Sinai residents still hold on to the glimmer of hope that the situation might improve someday as kids strive to discover their talents under Samwel Maina, a 24-year-old former Gor Mahia Youth player.

Maina is among residents of Sinai who have grown up battling the filth while playing football on the repulsive grounds. Yet despite all the challenges, Maina still holds on to his dream of one day building a soccer academy featuring children from Nairobi’s Sinai slums.

Only time will tell if he will receive the required backing to complete such a noble initiative.