NAIROBI, Kenya, September 3 – Kenyan sports must adopt technology if it is to transform into a multimillion shillings industry it is meant to be.
Sports Tech Africa co-founder Kerubo Momanyi insists that it is only the stakeholders themselves that can move the industry from the stone age in which it is stuck.
“Personally, I imagine everyone has been imagining that it is every one’s responsibility to enhance the adoption of technology in Kenyan sports. Everyone is waiting for a saviour…there is no saviour. It is us to save ourselves. We kept asking ourselves where is technology and who is introducing the technology conversation in the country. Why don’t we just do it? Rather than wait for an invisible saviour to come do it for us,” Momanyi said.
Even as technology intertwines itself in Kenyan sports, it is not lost on Momanyi that the process will be fraught with growing pains as different stakeholders struggle to adapt.
“A lot of people in our industry have been there for some time so some of them feel that these technologies have come to take their jobs. They are not…they are just coming to make their jobs easier. That’s one of the biggest challenges I foresee but if we do a lot of capacity building and put a lot of information out there they will be able to see technology as aids and not replacements,” she said.
Momanyi added: “We will also face the challenge of resources because technology is expensive. The average rugby or football club in Kenya thinks of how to honour their fixtures rather than invest in technology. They don’t really understand the correlation between investing in technology and business.”
She was speaking ahead of the inaugural Sports Tech Africa Conference set for October 16-17 at the Strathmore University in Nairobi.
The conference is expected to bring together various sports stakeholders, including government officials, sports federations, private sector, athletes and the media.
Transforming Kenyan sports ecosystem
Speaking at the same time, the senior manager at iLab Africa Research and Innovation Centre at Strathmore University, Richard Wanjohi, is optimistic the conference will contribute towards the wholesome enrichment of Kenyan sports.
“We have looking at how we can make a difference within the sports ecosystem and how we can impact performance for individuals and teams. How can we improve fan engagement and improve athletes across the board,” Wanjohi said.
He cited Strathmore University as an institution that has applied different technologies in management of its teams, including rugby, football, hockey and basketball.
“Two years ago, we made a deliberate attempt as Strathmore and more specifically, as a sports team, to integrate data technology. We started tracking our players from training to their games so that we may improve their performance,” he said.
Wanjohi added: “That has helped us in the team sports especially in football…we were able to qualify for Division One league using that tracking technology. Our hockey team has been performing well in the Women’s Premier League and we are integrating this technology for the rugby 7s and 15s as well as the basketball team.”
He is hopeful sports teams across the country will partner more with universities and research institutions to leverage on technology to improve athletes’ performance.
“Already the environment is existing for the use of technology and data. A lot of this data can be picked up and enriched and we can see the improvement in performance. It also gives us different narratives and metrics on performance. The future is so bright and the universities have the right structures to bring the private sector together with the sports industry to improve the ecosystem,” he said.
The conference will feature keynote speeches by experts, breakout sessions as well as demonstrations/exhibitions of the latest sports technologies.
