BREAKING THE BARRIERS: WOMEN IN FOOTBALL

For quite a reasonable period now, soccer has always been associated with men. It is a notion that has always been there as long as this sport has existed on this planet. We cannot entirely blame women for this stinging fact.

When the world cup came into the picture in 1930, women were not given the opportunity to showcase their talent. During that first edition in Uruguay, women were deliberately denied that chance. It was not until late in the 20th century when the first edition of the women’s world cup was held.

Women have always distanced themselves from football activities. Some say it is just a natural thing for women to “hate” football. Well, not according to what I think. I rather took some few samples in Moi University and noted a majority of the ladies have completely no interest in football. This has to give everybody connected to football some sleepless nights. Of course those who have no interest don’t even know basic information about the sport, let alone knowing the a football team has eleven players on the pitch. This is an alarming rate.

Putting that aside, we have seen the improvement of women in football activities. Recently women have taken up the challenge and have entered this male dominated sport. We have seen the rise of women footballers globarly. For instance Marta of Brazil, Carl Loyd of the United States and many others. The world football governing body, FIFA has also increased the level of women participation by organizing more events. Such exposed the talents out there that our female counterparts have

Back home in Moi University, we have had quite a significant improvement in this fete. We have had quite a number of tournaments in which ladies have participated. We have had football stars such as Pamela Achieng alias Pam, who have shown their prowess whenever they have been on the field.

I am going to examine what needs to be done in order to raise this bar even higher.

Investment in women football

All the stakeholders in football need to focus in improving the women participation. They have to do so by supporting our ladies to exploit their talent. In campus, the school administration and the sports director have an enormous challenge to make this happen. They can provide more funds in order to organize more events. They can also provide prizes for those who win a tournament. Other stakeholders have a duty to motivate our ladies by developing their talents even further. These particular ladies need to a advance their careers to a professional level soon after school. They can even offer our ladies scholarships to enable them further their studies.

Increasing public awareness 

Increasing women’s football to the masses is also a key point. In our case at the university, the sports director needs to make this awareness not just a dream but a reality. This can be done through posters, conferences at school or even using broadcast media such as KTS television and Moi University radio. This will definitely put the crowds especially ladies towards football matters.

Government support

The government has not gotten out of the hook. Not just yet. It needs to support our ladies in thick and thin. More funds need to be disbursed to this effect. The funds have to be accounted for. Officials found guilty of squandering those finances have to face the full wrath of the law. The government should also set aside football academies meant to nurture the flourishing talent of our sisters. This will be of great help.

In conclusion, women can be empowered through sports such as football. The thought of football being a male dominated event should be a thing of the past. We all have an obligation to do if we want this to be translated into reality.

IMPROVING THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

There is no doubt that football is the most popular sport in this planet. It is overwhelmingly liked by almost every sports fan worldwide. I recently did a poll in Moi University main campus about which sport anyone would prefer and the results just spoke for themselves. Out of the one hundred students that I managed to interview, 61 students said they loved football, 15 of them said they were not interested in sports, and the remaining 24 liked different sports. This tells you the level of the bar that this sport has raised over the year in the world. All said and done, there are things that ought to be put together for this bar to be raised even higher. Moi University and even the rest of vasities need to embrace some of these recommendations in order to keep the ball rolling on the pitch. We are going to go through each and every one of them. 

Sensitisation of the mass

Lots of public awareness campaigns need to be put in place. These campaigns will be significant in that they will arouse interests of the public. This doesn’t necessarily need a huge budget attached to it. A certain team within the university can make it even more fun by creating posters to invite other students to either become spectators when they are competing, invite them to join them or even watch their training sessions. Believe me you this will make even the smallest impact. The office of the MUSO sports director could also help in giving out this idea.

Invitation of more stakeholders

Stakeholders have been a key component of any sports success story. Football, like any other sports discipline, needs to be properly invested into. The university administration can be on the front line in making this a reality. Many students have played this game in the campus and have ended up nowhere to be seen,in terms of the sport, after they put on their graduation gown. We just don’t want football to be a part time event. Remember this can be a lucrative profession that can put one’s food on the table. We need more mindful people and even organisations to continue supporting and nurturing more talents. This will definitely propel this sport to a whole new level.

Support from the students organisation

The Moi University Students Organisation (MUSO) has an uphill task to ensure that football prosper in campus. The office of the sports director automatically comes into the equation. I resolved to talk to the incumbent sports director, Esther Wasike about the kind of support her office has offered the footballers. She claimed to have offered the training equipment including shoes, balls and football jerseys. I then went out at upperhill grounds and interviewed one of the footballers, Ben Ombura and trust me he said that the sports director was taking them for a ride. She never assisted the team in any way. Whether true or false, the fact remains; the office of the sports director needs to offer FULL support to each and every sports talent. They ought to provide both the moral and material support  to these young talents.

incorporation of sports science into the university’s curriculum

Moi University for quite some time now has not considered making sports science part and parcel of its curriculum. The adoption of this course will ensure that learners enjoy their desire to learn their sports of interest. A quick look at football means that those who always dream about playing and learning football, will grab the opportunity with both hands. This will increase the knowledge on football and arise the interest to know.

In conclusion, when football is well catered for, well nurtured and well examined then it will raised to a different new level. Let’s all join hands and make sure that this sport is well exploited in terms of talent

ALL SYSTEMS GO!

The Technical Students Association games kicked off in style at the Moi University graduation ground, popularly referred to as Pavilion. The main organisers of the event flagged off the event at exactly 9:00am in the morning. All the participating teams had much vigor, zeal and zest to set their eyes on the main prize.

The football event did kick off at around 11am. The first tussle was action between the second years and first year men. Both teams had prepared well the previous day, though at a different venue. The second year students did have an edge over their counterparts when it came to the physical appearance… but well who knows? You wouldn’t just rule them out. The match kicked off. It was the first years who got an early chance through a corner kick when Paul Bore’s header hit the post. Minutes later the second years tried to stamp authority into the game through Sammy Muraya’s shot but that did not give the goal keeper any trouble. 

In the second half things were all square until the first years broke the deadlock through an industrious Paul Bore who went past the defender and fired home the first goal. In other results, fourth years hammered the third years four goal to one courtesy of a hatrick from Issa Mude and a goal from Nyongesa Ben. The hapless third yearsinterestingsolation from Dan Biwott in the dying minutes of the game. The final was set to be all square between first years and fourth years. 

The final kicked off at 4pm. It was a heavily emotional yet very intersting game. The game began in vigorous fashion with both teams getting numerous chances but none was fully converted into a goal. The goal came late in the first half when Pascal was brought down in the penalty area. It was a penalty for the first year. He scored from the spot. In the second half things were not rozy for the first year team. Two quick goals through a header and a long range were enough to propelled the fourth years to a well deserved glory. They won the football tournament.

TRAINING: THE TASK AHEAD

Moi University, Kesses.

There was a beehive of activities at the Moi University Upperhill grounds due to the looming Technology Students Association games. Teams were getting ready to show their prowess for this long awaited event. The football fraternity was not left behind in this. All the teams were seen on the pitch, just trying as much as possible to secure a good result for themselves. Kennedy Akosi, the chairman of the Technology Students Association was at the training grounds. ” We are the engineers and as you know we do a lot of mental work in our classes. The purpose of such an event is pretty clear with us. We needed to enforce co curricular activities. This will give the students a high level of relaxation of their minds after a long day in classrooms”, Mr Akosi explained. As true to his remarks, the event was scheduled to be on 21th October 2017. 

Both the male and female students had shown up for their training. The winner of the event was to walk away with a brand new trophy and new sports kits including football jerseys and playing boots as promised by their chairman. The teams were sharpening their skills in dribbling, passing, shooting and even sprinting with the ball. The goalkeepers were being trainned on doing a good job in between the posts. The male teams present were second years, led by Dan Biwott as captain, fourth years led by Hillary Kamau and first years led by Johnstone Mulwa. There was only one female’s team around and that was the first years. This perhaps indicating quite clear that football was a male dominated sport. The training from the teams did continue into the day, the afternoon and further into the evening despite the fact that their was uncertainty in the university issuerance of a memo in the event of the reapet of the national presidential elections to be held the following week. But nevertheless, the boys and girls were determined to excel in the big event. 

After a busy day of training by the students, they did finally part ways at around 6:30pm. They expressed confidence ahead of the tournament.