Sports Development: How KCB Has Become A Hub For Manufacturing National Talents
KCB RFC 7s team celebrates emerging runners-up at the 2024 Driftwood 7s rugby tournament held at Mombasa Sports Club. PHOTO/ KCB BANK
NAIROBI, Kenya- Over the years, Kenya has churned out national team heroes who have gone ahead to cause ripples on international arena. Some of the stars like rugby ace Andrew Amonde have not forgotten where it all started.
Amonde is grateful for the kind of support he received from many quarters that changed his trajectory in sports; from playing handball and basketball to venturing into rugby and eventually leading Kenya into three Olympics- in Rio and Tokyo as a captain and Paris as part of the support unit.
The long serving former Shujaa ‘El Capitan’, popularly known as ‘Man Opede’ among his peers, has always been grateful for his first major move in sport, a passage that saw him leave his hometown outfit Kisumu RFC to pen a contract with the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) RFC in Nairobi in 2006.
The transfer developed and expanded his territory as he went ahead to lift seven Kenya Cup titles and numerous Enterprise Cups with the bankers. He also led the country to the historic 2016 HSBC World Sevens Series Main Cup trophy in Singapore on top of steering Kenya to the Rio and Tokyo Olympics qualifiers.
FIDE Master Joyce Nyaruai in action during a past Kenya National Chess league match at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka. PHOTO/ KCB BANK
Apart from Amonde, lives of other young rugby players including Samuel Asati, Vincent Onyala and Festus Shiasi and their families have been elevated in line with the banker’s purpose; For People. For Better., a theme anchored on opening doors of opportunities to anyone, anywhere and anytime.
With a similar kind of aid from the bank, rally ace Karan Patel has been able to defend his 2024 African Rally Champion (ARC) title with one leg of the series, the Equator Rally in Kenya, yet to go.
“This support is priceless, I cannot put it into words, it’s not cheap to run these cars, it’s not cheap to enter the WRC Safari Rally and the ARC either because of the costs involved. I’ll forever be grateful to KCB for this kind gesture,” Patel told Standard Sports early this year when him and fellow driver Nikhil Sachania received a part of the Sh195 Million boost that the bank injected into the third leg of the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC), the Safari Rally held in Naivasha, Nakuru County on March 28-31.
The bank, that has so far invested Sh2.3 billion in various sports disciplines including rugby, motorsports, football, chess, volleyball, athletics, and golf., made its debut in motorsport by promoting the 2003 and 2004 Safaris in South Coast.
Former Kenyan International and KCB’s Andrew Amonde runs past Strathmore Leos during a past Kenya Cup fixture at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka. PHOTO/ KCB BANK
This was a move aimed by the Kenya Motor Sports Federation to rope in tourists into the country. So far, the bank has invested a staggering Sh. 1.2 billion in rallying that have made them the single largest motor sports investors and indeed the longest running sponsors of the rally-sport in the country.
In 2022, the bankers put Kenya on the global map when they delivered for the country two FIDE Masters in chess through Martin Njoroge and Joyce Nyaruai.
The duo was awarded the accolades at the 44th edition of the World Chess Olympiad held in Chennai, India where they put up a mighty show.
The chess team, pioneered in the late 80’s by the likes of sport legends Isaac Babu, Humphrey Andolo and Joseph Kanyingi, has fueled the club to glory in the Kenya National Chess League, regional and international competitions.
FIDE Master Martin Njoroge in action during a past Kenya National Chess league match at the KCB Sports Club, Ruaraka. PHOTO/ KCB BANK
So far, the team is the most successful in the local chess arena, winning the national title a record eight times in the 12 seasons held since the first Kenya Chess Premier League campaign in 2003.
Last year, the team represented East Africa in the Inaugural World Rapid Chess Championship in Germany which saw candidate master Benjamin Magana, Joseph Methu, Robert Mcligeyo, Isaac Babu, Njoroge and Nyaruai, compete for the top honors at the coveted event graced by top chess players from around the globe.
Established in 1989, the bank’s women’s volleyball team is considered the oldest volleyball club in Kenya.
Under the tutelage of gaffer Japheth Munala, the team has risen to be a force to be reckoned with, winning the local Kenya National League, African Club Championship among other trophies. The team’s rich talent has seen players like Mercy Moim, Juliana Namutira, Edith Wisa, Belinda Barasa and Esther Mutinda represent the country in regional and global events.
The defining moments for the side in the past decade was winning the African Club Volleyball Championship in Kelibia, Tunisia in 2022 after a 16-year wait and clinching the Kenya National Volleyball League title this year after a 15-year wait to mark significant progress of the team in recent years.
Malkia Strikers captain Mercy Moim in action during a past Kenya Volleyball Federation
League match. PHOTO/ KCB BANK
Before the 2022 African Club Championship triumph, the team had last won the coveted trophy in 2006 when Paul Bitok was the coach, and Mercy Moim captained the side.
In the local scene, before the glory this year, the bankers had last clinched the trophy in 2008 as rivals Kenya Pipeline and Kenya Prisons dominated.
The exponential growth seen in the last decade has made the bankers the undisputed queens of Volleyball in the African continent but their rise to stardom has not been easy. There was blood, sweat, and tears.
The team that bagged the African title in Tunisia was captained by Malkia Striker’s finest Edith Wisa, joined by Moim, Sharon Jepchumba, Immaculate Nekesa, Mariam Musa, Mildred Cherop, Lincy Jeruto, Shirleen Maiywa among others who displayed their grit to defeat record holders Al Ahly 3-1 in a scintillating final in 2022.
With Sh 400 million investment, the bank has helped local golfers to master their swings with the likes of Kenya One Naomi Wafula representing the country in the annual Magical Kenya Ladies Open at the pristine Vipingo Ridge.
The bank has also sought to improve the country’s overall par by demystifying the sport to the masses and supporting other key tournaments like the Safari Tour, Karen Masters, KCB East Africa Golf Tour as well as the Club Nites and the Mug Mugs in a bid to create an enabling environment for amateur and elite pro golfers across the East African region to flourish, as well as provide an opportunity for its stakeholders to network through golf.
For two years – 2018 and 2019 – the Karen Masters was played at the Karen Country Club in Nairobi as part of the Sunshine Tour, with South Africans Michael Palmer and Toto Thimba emerging victorious. Unfortunately, 2020 saw the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutting down of sporting activities. This led to the untimely death of the tournament.
Dubbed KCB East Africa Golf Tour, the 8-month long series comprised an 18-leg amateur series in Kenya with Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi hosting a tournament each. The tournament entry into the East African nations has given an opportunity to regional golf enthusiasts to participate in the Sh 60 million championship.
Locally, the series was played this season at Vetlab Sports Club, Eldoret Golf Club, Limuru Golf Club, Railway Golf Club, Kakamega Golf Club, Nyanza Golf Club, Thika Sports Club, Nyeri Golf Club, Nakuru Golf Club, Kericho Golf Club, Great Rift Valley Lodge, Kitale Golf Club, Machakos Golf Club, Sigona Golf Club, Nyali Golf Club, Nandi Bears Golf Club and Karen Country Club in the Kenyan edition.
KCB RFC Accolades
8- Kenya Cup record
4- Enterprise Cups
4- National Sevens Circuit
10- Impala Floodlit Titles.
