Coach and founder of the ‘Box Girls’ Foundation, Analo Anjere, has called on the government to invest more in the boxing sport to ensure the country reclaims her cherished former glory in various global championships.
Speaking during the unveiling of the Tujiamini Gold Winner-Nairobi, at the ‘Box Girls’ Sports Centre, Light Industry, Kariobangi, Analo said there is an urgent need to strengthen the Women’s Boxing League, as a way to identify and nurture the growing talents among Kenyan women.
“We need a well-structured and exclusive Women’s Boxing League run entirely by the women to support enrolment and competitiveness in the sport through regular tournaments. This will help build up our amateur and professional rankings to give our female boxers an edge regionally and globally,” said Anjere.
Anjere noted that support from the government and sponsors will go a long way in encouraging former and upcoming boxers to share skills and experiences, which positively boosts the morale of those who want to pursue the sport as a career.
The coach expressed gratitude to SportPesa for sponsoring the event, saying it will enhance their efforts in empowering women and girls in marginalised communities through boxing.
Anjere pointed out that the Foundation has been spearheading three key programmes: boxing education in schools, entrepreneurship for economic independence, and rights awareness to enlighten girls about their rights.
“We have many programmes; we even developed a curriculum which is used in schools to teach and empower young girls in life and boxing skills, entrepreneurship, and their rights. We also help demystify issues surrounding the sport as a violent sport and those affecting girls in society,” he clarified.
While calling for more sponsors to come on board, Anjere regretted that financial constraints had made the team miss out on many opportunities and expressed fear that the performance of the upcoming and reigning championship holders, including Sarah Ochieng, can be lost if the government and sponsors don’t chip in to give them the confidence they need.
The Tujiamini Gold Award winners for the Nairobi region walked away with Sh500,000. Tujiamini, powered by SportPesa, aims to nurture and support sports and sports-related talent, to help improve the quality of sport at the grassroots and community level.
“The Tujiamini Award Championships will go a long way in upgrading our gym and training facilities in the Kariobangi area of Embakasi North Constituency in Nairobi,” Anjere said.
Just like any other sporting activities, the Foundation has been working with professionals to empower young girls aged 7 to 23 from marginalised communities, to acquire life and boxing skills, which have been fundamental in day-to-day activities, especially those living in informal settlements such as Kariobangi.
“I use boxing as a tool to empower women and girls after realising how they were affected during the 2007 post-election violence (PEV). This made me establish the Girl Child Foundation, to ensure they raise their voice through boxing and make themselves known,” said Anjere.
He said the programme, with approximately 4,000 members, has been an avenue for talent scouting for sportswomen who have represented the country in national and international events, including Eliza Andiego (2012) and Christine Shisoka in the Olympics.
Anjere observed that, workshops have provided girls with life skills such as decision-making, confidence, and leadership.
He called on the Sports Cabinet Secretary (CS), Kipchumba Murkomen, to support boxing just like other sporting events by establishing more boxing halls and fully equipping them.
Anjere further called on the government to reclaim all sporting fields and halls from grabbers who have converted the facilities into their properties, thus denying youth their rights.
He challenged successful boxers to give back to society by supporting upcoming boxers through sponsoring them with training facilities.
Sarah Ochieng, a professional boxer, who works at ‘Box Girl’ as Administrator, said they have blended boxing with life skills, including sexual education, therefore, helping girls to overcome problems they experience in society.
“We try to blend boxing with life skills to help girls face contemporary challenges. We do boxing to challenge male stereotyping and to encourage many girls to participate and remain healthy,” she added.
On the inception of the ‘Box Girl’, Ochieng said in 2007, after post-election violence, many girls were left in despair, and therefore saw the need to recruit more girls to train for self-defense.
She highlighted the potential of boxing as a unique and untapped sport for youth to pursue and develop as a means of earning a living.
‘Box Girl’ has to date trained and mentored over 4,000 girls in boxing and self-defense classes and hopes to ultimately expand to include other sports and non-sports activities to keep empowering girls beyond the boxing ring.
Lyle Asiligwa, Director at DBA Africa, which has partnered with SportPesa in the Tujiamini Initiative, acknowledged the immense talents of young women who are seeking to advance in sports and contribute positively in the community.
“The Nairobi region’s Tujiamini submissions displayed a high level of competitiveness, and ‘Box Girls’ Kenya stood out as a key driver of sporting talent and positive change in the community. Their blend of amateur and professional boxing is proving to be high-yielding, and we look forward to seeing more exploits from the club,” he said.
The Tujiamini Initiative, powered by SportPesa, heads to the South Rift region in September. Young people have been urged to enrol in large numbers as the initiative nears completion in November.
By Ian Chepkuto
