Victor Oduor recalls encounter with Mc Donald Mariga and Dennis Oliech
T
he Daily Nation of August 17, 2002 reports that on the day, former national champions- Mombasa High School went down 1-0 against Thur Gem Secondary School, there was a young lad marshalling the Nyanza representatives’ defensive flank. Despite the home crowd rallying behind Mombasa High in the 2002 national balls games semi-final clash, Keffa Ojoggo would rise- fur minutes to time, to power in what would separate the two teams. The cross had been whipped in by Victor Oduor, a youngster who was less than a year old at the school. Thur Gem had made the final, and would face Kamukunji High School for the ultimate prize. They had fallen to the side in the group stages and only a miracle would see them edge the team that had McDonald Mariga and Dennis Oliech.
Victor ‘Papy’ Oduor is still part of the Kenyan game as a playerturns out for Kisumu side Western Stima FC and recalls vividly how Thur Gem found it tough against Kamukunji that year. They would bounce back a few years later however, with Oduor more experienced. ‘’Kamukunji had big names at the time. Looking back, I would way we suffered from stage-fright. Mariga was already the Kenyan captain of the U17 side and Oliech too was a well-known youngster. For us at the time, to just get to the final was something huge and after falling to Kamukunji for the second time in the tournament, we went back to school and started working on our shortcomings,’’ Oduor, also nicknamed Waweru by his peers, starts us off when we caught up with him after a training session with Western Stima. Of course they did put in extra work to the team that had lost the 2002 final because two years later, they would be back in that same final- this time, against St Anthony’s Kitale. It will be deeply unjust if we failed to mention that their rise to the nationals final was a journey that always started right from the district level. The rivalry between Thur Gem and Kisumu Day High School was one that always went either way. Oduor reveals that even before thinking about the national games, there was always the small matter of Kisumu Day that they just couldn’t escape; every a year, a tense ninety minutes had to separate the two Nyanza giants. In 2004, the final pitting the two teams had to be brought to the Moi Stadium in Kisumu. The first encounter, played at Onjiko High School, had ended prematurely with Thur Gem leading 1-0. A venue change had to be made and into the City they travelled. They had been bred well, Oduor says, even now, looking back at the quality in that team, there was no way they were going to fluff their lines at the district level.
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There was no way we were going to lose after seeing your own school principal warm up with you.
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‘’I cannot remember the full first eleven from the top of my head but I recall the late Jack Omba and former Ulinzi winger Chester Okoyo playing in our flanks. Fred Okello and Victor Ali Abondo were in midfield and so were Farid Abdalla and Martin Kiragu. In Defense, I can remember playing alongside Dalmas Ngesa while the goalkeeper was Amos Ochieng,’’ says Oduor. Day on the other hand had Nick Odongo, Fred Obara and Benjamin Oketch who currently plays for Kakamega Homeboyz. To psyche his own charges up, Coach Gordon Akoko even called the school principal to help the boys warm up before the Kisumu Day match. ‘’There was no way we were going to lose after seeing your own school principal warm up with you,’’ laughs Oduor. To cut the long story short. Kisumu Day were taken down by three goals to one. They were lucky however, because in the Provincials final, Thur Gem walloped Nyabondo 5-1. This was clearly their year. Next up was the nationals, one they had narrowly lost to Kamukunji High two years prior. Akoko’s boys had done themselves a lot of justice, dismissing teams left, right and center- on their way to making the final. It was now St Anthony’s Kitale between them and the very coveted accolade. Now there was a little problem, not only had St Anthony’s featured in the nationals more regularly before, they were the defending champions, a title they won in Kisumu in 2003.
PAPY
Did they have big names like Kamukunji had? Not so many, but names that could make the difference all the same. Current Western Stima goalkeeper Samuel Odhiambo was the number one choice between the sticks for St Anthony’s that year. Former Kenyan Premier League MVP Kevin Kimani was part of the lot and so was Andrew Mbwabi (Former Karuturi Sport). The few were not good enough to deter Thur Gem from their first national title. Through Fred Okello and Chester Okoyo, the boys from Nyando sub-county edged the saints from Kitale 2-1. Oduor has never been that delighted. ‘’I can remember it like it was yesterday. The joy it brought to the entire school is something I can never forget. We were the best team in the country,’’ he recalls
with a smile. It was his final year at the school, a young lad already playing for Chemelil Sugar FC at the time. Behind them they had left a promising lot that comprised future Zoo FC defender Samuel Samdo and keeper Amos Ochieng who would later turn out for Kisumu City FC. 2004 was Thur Gem’s second and last appearance at a nationals final match. And it is the only national boys’ football trophy in Kisumu County currently. In later years, schools from South Nyanza would lift the accolade (St Marks Mokorongoinwa and Gekomoni). Kisumu Day came close in 2014, but fell short against Kakamega High School in extra time. While Oduor winds up his career at Western Stima, one cannot help but marvel at the fine breed of footballers
Thur Gem once gifted the county with. From Kevin Oluoch to David Juma, Mose Nyalik to Jeffers Odongo, Dave Otieno to Boniface Okwiri, the list goes on and on. And even though a pale shadow of its former self, Oduor believes Thur Gem will one day rise. ‘’We had a supportive environment during my time there. Everyone loved football and maybe that’s why it thrived. If that kind of environment comes back, Thur Gem will surface again,’’ he concludes.
Wazalendo series is a set of stories told one at a time, featuring local sportsmen who have been in the trade for too long. Have a story for us, email (abu.fabian@gmail.com)