Omanyala launches another sprints club at St Joseph’s Boys Kitale

Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has expanded his grassroots sprint development programme in Western Kenya, launching another Omanyala Sprints Club at St Joseph’s Boys National School, Kitale, on Tuesday.

The launch is part of Omanyala’s wider effort to establish structured sprint programmes in schools and create a pathway for young athletes to develop their talent from an early age to the highest level of competition.

The St Joseph’s Boys Kitale launch came shortly after Omanyala established a similar club at his former school, Friends School Kamusinga, as he continues his schools tour across Western Kenya.

For Omanyala, the Kitale initiative is the result of conversations that have been ongoing for nearly two years.

“I am feeling happy and blessed because we have been having these conversations now for almost two years and I am glad that now we have finally actualized it,” Omanyala said.

The African 100m record holder is confident the programme will soon begin producing sprinters capable of making an impact at school, regional and international level.

“It will be my joy to see sprinters emerge from here, I am sure they will. I am grateful to the Principal, he is a great friend and it was easy for me to reach out and say that I was coming and all this happened,” he added.

Omanyala, who has often let his performances speak for themselves, challenged the new programme to demonstrate its impact on the track.

“I do not like talking too much, I like my actions speaking for themselves, so let us meet here again next year after the East Africa school games and see the impact that we have made from our side and the coaches side in terms of technical expertise,” he said.

The sprinter also pointed to an intriguing connection between his own record and the school’s academic performance.

Omanyala holds the African 100m record of 9.77 seconds, while he was told that St Joseph’s Boys Kitale recorded a mean score of 9.77 in last year’s Form Four examinations.

“I feel like the connection was just meant to happen. Last year, I was told that the form fours had a mean score of 9:77, and my African record is 9:77,” Omanyala said.

However, he expects both numbers to eventually change.

“But I believe this year it will be something different, and of course even for me next year I will be targeting something different, so all of that will be erased at some point, but for me I feel like it is a type of connection that we do not know about. I do not believe in coincidences but I believe in this one,” he added.

The initiative will not be limited to students currently enrolled at St Joseph’s Boys. Omanyala said the programme will also scout talent from across the country, particularly as the school admits students from different regions.

“I am looking forward to impacting not just students who are currently in this school, but also to bring talented students from grade nine. We will go and scout from the regional level, and bring them here, with of course the permission of the school,” he said.

As a national school, St Joseph’s Boys Kitale provides an ideal platform for the initiative to bring together talented students from different parts of the country.

“This is a national school, and it is breeding all kinds of students from all over the country. So, this is something that we are going to spread across the country and develop talents. Different communities will be touched by this,” Omanyala said.

The programme is designed to give young athletes more than an opportunity to run. Through structured coaching, technical expertise, talent identification and mentorship, the Sprints Club seeks to give promising athletes the support needed to turn raw speed into competitive ability.

St Joseph’s Boys Chief Principal Mr Cosmas Stephen Simiyu Nabungolo welcomed the initiative, saying the school had an opportunity to unlock its potential in athletics after years of limited investment in the discipline.

“We are only the best now, even in athletics. I want to thank Ferdinand Omanyala for launching this Sprints Club at this school. The boys are elated, we are all very happy,” Nabungolo said.

The principal believes the partnership will provide the school with a platform to identify and develop sprinting talent.

“This will give us an opportunity to showcase our athletics talent, especially the sprints. For a long time we have not been investing in athletics and in the sprints, but now we are privileged to have the Omanyala Foundation preparing our students on matters sprints so that they can be good athletes,” he said.

Nabungolo also expressed optimism that the programme would help St Joseph’s Boys produce athletes capable of competing at the East African level.

“On behalf of this school, I am very grateful for this opportunity. Come next year, we look forward to having even more talents in the school, who will compete up to the East African level in Rwanda,” he said.

For the principal, the partnership is an example of how schools, athletes and sports development initiatives can work together to give young people a platform to realise their potential.

“This is how to nurture talent. We do not take it for granted. We have a platform to grow and harness athletics, thanks to our own Ferdinand Omanyala,” Nabungolo said.

The launch further strengthens Omanyala’s growing grassroots programme, with the sprinter seeking to build a national network of school-based sprint clubs that can identify talent early, provide technical support and create a clear pathway from the school field to elite athletics.

Having himself discovered his sprinting potential relatively late after concentrating on rugby during his school years, Omanyala has made talent identification and development a key part of his legacy.

Through the Sprints Club programme, he hopes to give the next generation the structure, coaching and opportunities that can help them realise their potential much earlier.