'Inclusion': Progress as Kenya handball federation adds deaf team into National League

Since the inception of the Kenya Handball League, the thought of integrating a deaf team into the league was just banter over brunch. However, if you fast-forward action into the 2022/2023 season, the unimaginable cliche is a reality. New deaf teams, Young City (Men) and New hope (women) were registered to play in the Kenyan handball senior league.

This has not only offered us an intimate and unsparing look at issues concerning diversity in sports but also provide a platform where we could discuss issues on inclusivity and eradicating perceptions around the deaf. Hence, is it time that other sports followed suit?

The deaf teams were established in 2017 through a collaborative effort between Kenyan veteran coaches, and deaf institutions around Kenya.

This enabled them to form a women’s and Men’s team that were headed by Coach Jack Ochieng and Peter Mwanthi respectively. One of the pet peeve reasons was that they needed a team to participate in the 2018 world Deaflympics that was held in Brazil. Moreover, the coaches’ philosophy has always been to transform handball to be an all-inclusive and diverse sport. “We are living in an era where perceptions around deaf stigma and inoculation into Kenya handball league are progressively and positively challenged,” Jack said.

“This is an effort to applaud as no other competitive sport in Kenya has a senior league with the deaf playing,” added Mwanthi. 

Both Men and Women’s deaf teams have had an equitable share of achievements since their inception as a team notwithstanding the results. In 2018 and 2022 the men’s team participated in the world Deaflympics championships in Brazil where they finished 5th and 6th position respectively. Their women counterparts impressively made their debut this year in Brazil where they reached the semis after a successful round-robin set of matches.

“I am impressed by the way the team performed on the debut. They have huge potential but only if they engage in regular handball,” Women’s head coach Peter Mwanthi said. In the National League, both teams are yet to register any wins.

To the deaf handball players, this sport is a microcosm of their life. It’s where they interact and do the ordinary in an extraordinary sense. Born deaf and playing in a team sport where communication, contact, and speed are paramount ingredients for success just explains the desire and passion of the deaf that brings to our sport. This epitomizes handball in Kenya as diverse and giving equal opportunities to deaf people which is great to see.

Let us use sports to tackle stereotypes around deafness and other sports should follow suit to inoculate the deaf around their leagues. This is a touching chronicle of players who don’t hear cheers or whistles and a team that will not only act as a mecca for deaf culture but also deaf sports in Kenya