Have you ever bumped into a bearded man donning primary school uniform? It's quite a hilarious picture, isn't it?
What am I driving at with the metaphor? I recently stumbled upon a Facebook post by former Kenyan international and AFC Leopards striker Boniface Ambani that whipped up some contrasting reactions among football stakeholders.
The write-up got me fidgeting in my chair and scratching my head fervently in deep thought.
So goes the post: "I got invited to watch a tournament by the organiser. I leave the house early enough to catch up with the first match of the day.
"I do arrive safely at the venue, given an excellent reception, I take my position at the dais. The first match kicks off. I count around five Premier League players and another eight plying trade in the National Super League.
"I am less concerned about the first match. In the second match, I saw almost the same number of players from KPL, NSL and the FKF Division One league. That's the time, I tell organisers I have to take a leave. They are baffled by my decision."
"My question is. What are Premier League and NSL players doing in such tournaments, denying those who are still looking for clubs a place to showcase what they have?
"I found it quite unprofessional from the organisers, the coaches of those teams and the players themselves. Don't tell me they spice up the games. That's denying budding talent a chance. To the organisers, what are you selling? Or you are also part of the guys who use players for your own benefits," concluded Ambani.
What Ambani is saying is not an entirely new phenomenon. It's a well-established pattern that has been consciously thought out over the years by self-seeking individuals usually hoping to reap big from their actions.
And like Ambani, such developments usually leave our upcoming players with bouts of listless depression. Naturally, aren't such tournaments meant to act as springboards to greatness?
Surprisingly, the vice of warming up to luminaries and nudging budding talent aside has gained some traction in the country and has spread its tentacles into school games as well.
It is common practice for school team coaches to field overage players with diminutive bodies but who, nonetheless, already possess shaving machines and have a couple of children waiting for their fatherly attention back at home too.
One wonders, though, why a right-thinking person would be so much passionate about denying budding talent a chance to blossom. The bottom line is selfishness.
The people behind the teams that participate in such tournaments have their eyes firmly fixed on the financial incentives to an extent anything else including ethics and professionalism is of secondary importance.
They hurriedly but meticulously cobble up star-studded sides mostly comprising players plying trade in the top-flight and second-tier leagues.
The onus is now on corporate entities that pump funds into such activities to set out tough conditions that will ensure only budding footballers get the opportunity to participate in grassroots tournaments.
