I am no Manchester United fan but I admire the spirit and tradition of that great soccer club. And I most of all I know what a theatre of dreams really is and what it feels like to be a part of it.
Lenana was once a true theatre of dreams. But some people who didn't quite understand that deliberately killed it. Indeed the traditions of this once greatest school on earth have over the years churned out real magic for Kenyan rugby. All that we enjoy today as a world 7s rugby powerhouse had its’ foundations in the theatre of dreams. Many others who have passed through the doors of changes have been shaped into exceptional individuals, even if they didn't play rugby and have produced nothing but the best in many different fields. Although it was rugby that brought us all together, players, fans, teachers, subordinate staff etc. Everybody knew that rugby mattered terribly at Changes.
Life is strange because I did not choose Lenana as my first choice when I was at Lavington primary school. Indeed it did not even feature anywhere on the pre-selection form my dad signed and approved. But as fate would have it, a teacher who knew me and my circumstances at the time extremely well decided that the best thing for my life was a little toughening up and she secretly changed my choices. I will be forever grateful to her because she was absolutely right.
And even when I arrived my first choice sport remained soccer. For me rugby was NOT a love at first sight encounter. I thought it was too rough, crude and dangerous but jumped at it enthusiastically as a temporary tool and opportunity to use to safely mete out revenge on some brutal bullies in Kirk house. I hardly noticed myself falling in love with the game and even the traditions. It just happened.
As early as second form I would listen keenly as Nesbitt Wesonga would recount tales of stars who had donned the Mean Maroon shirt in earlier years. I started hearing stories of legends like Nick Kado the school boy who toured with Tuskers and was a powerful head of school. Cool Jacko Omaido who was as tough as they come. Or his easy-going brother Walter Omaido (RIP) who re-invented the fly half position and was part of the long tradition of exceptional fly-halfs the school effortlessly churned out over the years. Fly halfs like Absalom Bimbo Mutere (RIP) who even when he could never find a place in Mean Maroon 1st XV went on to book his place in history playing for Kenya and Mwamba. Pare Mukora the legendary stylish fly half of the 1977 Eric Shirley winning side who brought admirable class to the position. The list was pretty long, the stories numerous.
There is no doubt that to achieve anything you must dream and “see it” first. Wesonga’s name has now joined the legends he talked about as a rabble and third former. Not only did he lead the 1982 side, bringing together guys who hated each other’s guts but were a great team on the pitch but he went on to play for Kenya, Scorpions and every representative side in the country both as a scrum half and fly half. In his brief 2 year rugby career before he departed to the US, he achieved much more than most rugby players achieve in 10 years of playing the game.
Wesonga’s stories made a deep impression on me and initially I wanted to be a fly half. But two things refused to leave my mind. The confident arrogant full back play of Jimmy Owino that I witnessed in 1978 and the deep spinning torpedo kicks for touch by Eric Ayodo that I marvelled at in the same year. Besides I was having too much fan crash tackling bullies at house practice sessions. And the best position to do that from was Full back. I even devised devious schemes of pretending to do an up and under but really kicking the ball into the arms of a hateful cowardly bully I saw in front of me so that I could passionately bring them down real good.
And then in '79 I started going to the RFUEA grounds during international matches (courtesy of HOS Mogere who threw seniors out of the bus to make room for rabbles who were already playing rugby for the school) and watched some of the Lenana legends I had previously only heard about in action. Absalom Bimbo Mutere, Jacko Omaido, Walter Omaido and Cliff Mukulu amongst many others.
By the time I was in third form I would sneak out at 3am to run around Stirlings kicking for touch in the dark.
All this rather boring background is necessary because as this tale moves to the next stage, the culmination of all these things that had happened quietly in the background over the years were about to explode into pure magic. With this information what happened next makes much better sense.
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