Time capsule of Shujaa’s downfall

In 2016 they defied all the odds and beat Fiji 30-7 in the final to win their first tournament and put Kenyan Sevens on the map but fast forward to 2022, as has been widely covered and witnessed by the masses, they have failed to punch equal to their weight for a consistent period.

They put in a disappointing performance in the opening leg of the World Sevens Series finishing last with only a point in Hong Kong in weekend and must approach the 10 remaining legs differently to avoid relegation.

Unsuccessful seasons every year are only making the rugby fraternity more impatient, and apprehensive about the future of the team and they want Shujaa to move from the conventional wisdom in order to put to an end the poor run.

The genesis of the problem

Beneath the poor performances, things are not so rosy for the national team under the stewardship of the Briton Damian McGrath. He says the team has been training under run-of-the-mill conditions which have been much to the surprise of the head coach, who wondered how they have been managing to compete with the world beaters while training under such grim conditions.

“I knew life wasn’t going to be straight forward here in Kenya but I never had the idea that it would be this difficult. These guys deserve better. If you look at the three teams we have in our group (Ireland, Argentina and Canada) they are tier one teams and they are preparing in a way we can’t even dream of.

“They have nutritionists, Psychologists and for us we are even fighting to find a field we can train in; the gym is not fit for purpose and yet the Kenyans expect us to go toe to toe with such teams. I’ve noticed we’ve been punching above our weight,” McGrath lamented before they left for the concluded Hong Kong Sevens.

And true to his brutal assessment, Shujaa did not win a single match in the tournament and the Briton coach warns nothing better is in the offing unless things change.

Things are so dire with the team starting the season without a single sponsor and players have no contracts so far and according to former Kenyan International Oscar Ayodi such things highly affect the focus of the team.

“It was a poor showing but things will get better with time. If the team gets good sponsorships of course they come with good contracts for players which will translate to good remuneration; so that will boost their morale and put more focus on their game instead of that focus being on looking for alternative ways of getting money.

“You can be skilled but when you’re not focused, your quality will drop. The players in the setup, the likes of Nelson Oyoo, Bill Odhiambo; these are veteran players who have been tried and tested so if the sponsorships come, things will definitely improve,” said Ayodi.

The last time Shujaa had a sponsor on board was during the 2017/2018 season as the government through the Ministry of Tourism sponsored the team to push the “Make It Kenya” brand.

However, the sponsorship which was worth a whopping Sh. 20 million was cancelled a fortnight later after the team tapped the name “Make It Kenya” in their last leg of the 2017/2018 season in Paris as a protest for lack of payment.

Things haven’t been rosy since then with the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) struggling to pay up player allowances as well as sorting training and travel expenses.

It’s still early days but rugby fanatics in Kenya and all over the world who so hugely adore the Shujaa will hope this is just a passing cloud and that the team will return to their “dancing” best and put smiles back on their fans’ faces as they have often done over the years.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all of the evidence and arguments only point to one viable solution to the miseries faced by Shujaa, good preparations. The fans of the team can only hope that potential sponsors can come their way and make Shujaa great again.