Julius Yego. | image source: facebook.com/julius.yego |
When the national football team was struggling to get a convincing result away to a lowly Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday, World Javelin Champion Julius Yego was enjoying himself with a football at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, Nairobi.
The way he expertly juggled and controlled the ball, one could not help but wonder what the history of Kenyan football would have been like had he decided to be a footballer.
With a GoPro Camera strapped around his head, Yego recorded himself juggling a ball on the red tartan track and then uploaded the video on his Facebook page under the caption, "Javelin aside I can spare time for football too!!".
For many Kenyans, their constant memory of Yego is of him throwing the javelin, but success in that discipline has done little to make him betray his first love, football.
Yego is an ardent Arsenal fan and he frequently shares his opinion about the team's form on his Facebook page, as well as exchange lively banter with fans of rival English Premier League teams.
Speaking with him after he uploaded that video, Yego said the following, as he shed light on his love for the most popular sport world over, "I love football. It flows in my veins and every weekend I watch the English Premier League. It is a fantastic league."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QhuLp4rcGzM
VIDEO: Julius Yego juggling a football.
That 33-second video of him juggling the ball ignited my first memory of him while we were students at Kapsabet High School in Nandi County.
On that day, February 14, 2004, we were gathered at the school's old dining hall to watch a live TV broadcast of the AFCON 2004 finals, of which featured hosts Tunisia and their fellow North Africans, Morocco.
I was only two-days-old at the school and being in the same dormitory (Kipkenda Dorm) with him, I had already noticed him as we brushed shoulders within the corridors separating the cubicles.
However, it was during that match that he truly captured my attention when Tunisia's Ziad Jaziri scored the winning goal for the Carthage Eagles. Like a possessed man, Yego, jumped out of his seat and started shouting "Tunisia! Tunisia!"
I can still remember his jubilant shouting tearing through my left ear. Being one of the few students who were supporting Tunisia on that day, I am sure other students took notice of his passionate celebration.
Looking back to that day, when he was in Form Two, and comparing it to his current star status, that memory of him has been further been enhanced by not only thinking of him as someone who loves football, but also someone loves winning, and people who win.
With such a mentality, one would wonder why he supports Arsenal. But when you go back to those days, you will understand why. Arsenal was winning. That year they won the league unbeaten.
Yego revealed yet another reason why he loves Arsenal and it is not any different from that of other Gunners fans around the world.
"Arsenal FC is my favourite team. They play fantastic football, they are simply amazing to watch and I find it uplifting that give chances to young and upcoming players," he said.
Adding to that, Yego seems to have a liking for the initials AFC is his favourite Kenyan football club is anything to go by.
"I support AFC Leopards locally. I have liked them since I was young," he said as he revealed his local football allegiance.
Following up on the reasons he gave for loving Arsenal, it comes as no surprise that his favourite footballers are fantastic players who are amazing to watch and got their breakthrough at a very young age.
"Thierry Henry, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo and of course Lionel Messi are my favourite players. They are classy players and display great vision while on the ball. Paul Pogba is also amazing. He possesses excellent skills."
The players he mentioned make football seem easy and it is with football being an easy sport to practice that endeared him to it from a very young age.
"Football is a global sport and it is the first sport for most people. I would not be wrong to also say that everyone has played it at some point in life. I love football because it is an easy sport to practice. Even without a real ball, you can make a selele (a football made from polythene paper bags) and still enjoy. You do not have to buy a real ball and also space is not an issue because you can play it anywhere and at any time," he explained.
From his revelations, you can easily gather that Yego is a passionate football fan and quite interestingly, he can walk the talk.
While at Kapsabet High School, he established himself as a key player for the school team when he was in Form Two.
It was not a feat achieved by many and more than proved his early integration into the school team with his pace, dribbling and very fierce shots.
Together with a classmate of his nicknamed Kipsigis, they had a weird training routine which saw them line Form Ones on the goal line and then ask them to stop shots which they will fire from 25 or so metres off the goal line.
It was like a firing squad when they shot the balls at the same time, as helpless Form Ones would run out of the way to attempt missing being hit by Yego's shot only to be hit by a ball shot by Kipsigis.
With time, the Form Ones became wise and avoided the shot by lying down but their tricks came at a cost as they would have to fetch the ball from 50 or so metres away before lining up again.
Talking about those days, Yego intimated that he at one time considered a career in football over javelin but he was discouraged to pursue that route owing to the state of football in the country at the time.
"For sure I was a brilliant player and I thoroughly enjoyed playing football in high school. I feel I could have been a great midfielder but then, Kenya was not doing so well and the management situation was not encouraging at all. Also, lack of clubs to join after school hindered my chances in pursuing football as a career. Football is a team sport and you need a team to succeed. You can not do it alone."
However, that is not to say that his days playing football were wasted.
Yego feels that playing football has contributed greatly to his success as a javelin thrower.
Well one may wonder how the two sports relate and Yego's insight on that is quite an eye-opener.
"Playing football really helped me to develop as a physically-strong athlete. Javelin needs one to have a very strong physique to succeed. Playing football helped me gain strength and power in my legs. I also used to take throw-ins during games as some sort of a work out for my arms and shoulder. Taking those throw-ins proved to be a good thing because in javelin training, I use a medicine ball instead of a football."
The mention of throw-ins ignited yet another interesting memory of Yego from high school: he once scored a goal from a throw-in.
The year was 2006 and Naivasha House, Yego's House, was playing Baringo House. Naivasha House won a throw-in 30 or so metres from goal and as usual Yego rushed to take it.
Everyone knew he will throw the ball far but nobody expected the ball to sail into the net after floating over everybody including the goalkeeper, who happened to be a Form One student named Jodah Kegode.
Baringo House vehemently, and rightly so, protested the goal and ask that they be awarded a goal kick but the match referee, who happened to be a games teacher, one Mr. Emmanuel Barno, awarded Yego with a goal to the joy of his Housemates.
Baringo players accused Mr. Barno of favouring Yego because he was the Games Captain but that did not change anything as they had to restart the match from the centre circle.
"I have told so many people about that incident and they are always amazed by it. Some even find it hard to believe and take it as a joke from me. I compare that throw-in to some of my javelin throws. To throw a ball like that from 30 metres is simply amazing!"
As he continues to prepare to participate at the summer Olympic Games which will be held in Brazil later this year, your bet is as good as mine that Julius Yego will not be carrying only a javelin, but also a foot ball to play with on the sandy beaches of Copacabana, Leblon or Ipanema.