Following Nkoroi FC: For The Love of The Game

I am from Nkoroi.

Nkoroi is in Olkeri Ward, lower Nkoroi sub location, in Ongata Rongai, on your way to Kiserian from Ongata Rongai Township, in Kajiado County, Kenya.

Ever since I have been small, Nkoroi has always had a football team. Nkoroi Football Club (NKFC) was formed on 18th February 1995 as a football club with the aim of bringing together the youth within Nkoroi and the surroundings. The main aim of the group was to help the youth de-associate themselves from such activities as drunkenness, drugs and other negative vices and help them become responsible in society. Nkoroi FC started with 15 members and grew to the 75 members it has currently.

The team started playing in the Nairobi Provincial League in the Division II league, and in the 2003/04 season, the team came second in the Super League.

I was part of the youth team, in years gone by, training, running and learning how to be a football player. My memories of that period are my coach, T.O., drilling us, making us head the ball to each other, run laps around the field at Arap Moi primary school. I hated it. But, I was playing football, and you don’t get to Real Madrid without training.

I stopped turning out for training, frankly, I was never good enough to be a player. As life went by, I went to high school, university, then work, Nkoroi FC still remained.

I thought about Nkoroi football club when I started my blog, so I reached out to my friend, Chris Masika, who is rather good at football and is involved with the team. I thought I would shadow them, as they trained for their matches and played them.

Nkoroi football club is currently part of the Football Kenya Federation Nairobi West Branch, Sub County League Zone A, and one of the teams playing to be promoted to the county league.

I do not know many of the players of the team, and that is because as time goes by, guys go to college, get jobs, and move to other places. Nkoroi FC has very young players; I would guess the average age is 20 years old. In two seasons, the team changes quite a lot.

However, the passion that the players, the coach Kaffiah, the old guard have for football never diminishes. I went to a game, against RVSA, which is a team from Kware, Ongata Rongai, with my pal Jimco, my sister and her friend. Nkoroi FC plays its home matches in a field next to Nakeel Secondary School, but it had a feel of being away from home, as RVSA is from nearby.

The football was very good. Oga, who is a Nigerian that plays for Nkoroi football club, was very good at getting the ball and releasing it to quick forwards such as Kibite and Enoko. Nkoroi FC thrashed RVSA 3-1, thanks to Enoko’s hatrick. Enoch Wanyama, who was also celebrating his 20^th birthday on the same day, has some talent. Quick on the through ball, strong and with good finishing, he has the potential to play in the Sportpesa Premier League and maybe even beyond.

I could see that these guys were not only passionate about the game; they are also pretty good at it too. The marking of the field was done by Odinga, my friend, also known as Bosingwa, the captain of Nkoroi FC. He is one of the few players who saw me on the field and how not so good I was. It is his responsibility to ensure that the ground is set, and the uniforms are clean as well as the goal nets are ready for every game. The uniforms are washed by the players, and he has to ensure the duty rota is followed.

As the game got underway, I was particularly impressed by Enoko, Ramos the central defender and Kibite the left back who kept running up and down the wing and was one of the main outlets for the attack.

After the game, as we sucked on some ice, the guys seemed to have a connection with each other. These guys are friends, and are so enthused about playing the game, that even being told that there were matches being played the next day in Matasia made them look forward to it.

Nkoroi FC finished fifth in Nairobi Sub County A and is looking forward to the playoffs to see if they might qualify for the Nairobi county league through that route. There is nowhere you will find a better group of under 23 players in Kajiado County. Hopefully, the side can go from strength to strength and get promoted to the County League.

I will be supporting them all the way.