In the heart of Kisumu, where football, boxing and rugby dominate the sports scene, one young man is carving a new path in nurturing professional skaters.
Armed with a passion for skating and a dream of nurturing young talent, 24-year-old Rodgers Ochieng has been running a grassroot skating club to provide a thrilling experience of gliding on wheels and develop a lifelong love for the sport.
He started the Wales Skating Club in February 2024 to provide young people with a platform for healthy competition in roller-skating discipline.
The club is already blooming with eminent success, challenging the perception that skating is an activity reserved for the affluent.
“I wanted to go against the norm that only rich people do skating. I believe that skating is not just a sport, but a powerful tool for positive change, keeping physical fitness and helping to reduce bad habits like drugs among the youth,” explained Ochieng.
Today, the club enrollment includes over 30 members both boys and girls aged 3 to 25 drawn from local schools, college clubs while others join purely for leisure.
This non-profit club envisions establishing Kisumu as a key skating hub, with coaching sessions for both beginners and speed skaters taking place every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sundays at the refurbished Victoria Park.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Kenya News Agency, Ochieng revealed that the club is self-sponsored and is solely supported through membership fee and donations from willing parents.
“We charge a modest membership registration fee of Sh3,500 annually and a monthly contribution of Sh1,500 for provisions like branded club merchandise, purchasing skating gears and protective gears,” the youthful coach divulged.
The discipline, he states, is a highly skill-based sport that requires significant training, technique, and athleticism and to achieve excellence, the talented skater focuses on developing these skills whilst introducing the sport in a fun and engaging way for young people.
Through the programme, members are introduced to mastering fundamental skating skills like forward and backward skating, stops, edges, crossovers, and turns.
Apart from coached training sessions, the club also offers members the opportunity to participate in competitions and tournaments with other youth from the region and beyond.
The Kisumu Wales Skating Club has participated in five races, even venturing to Uganda last year where they secured first position.
The team is also set to participate in two other planned races scheduled to take place in Kirinyaga and Bungoma counties in April.
“Our club has recorded an impressive performance by garnering over 80 medals, most of which have been won by members placing in the top three positions,” Ochieng shared.
Races are rewarded with medals and certificates to winning participants, a testament to the hard work and dedication of the club’s skaters.
Victor Willis, a member who joined in December, offers insights that provide a valuable glimpse into the club’s daily realities saying; “Skating is very interesting. It provides recreational enjoyment and sometimes offers a practical mode of transportation in a city where mobility can be a challenge”.
Significantly, Ochieng decried that the cost of skating equipment is a major hurdle noting that the price of skate wheels ranges from Sh3,500 for basic models to a staggering Sh25,000 for high-end speed-boot skates.
The club also grapples with practical challenges including recurring rain impacting training schedule and race participation.
He highlighted the challenge of sourcing and maintaining skate wheels, joking that the cost of repairs often exceeds that of purchasing a new pair.
He envisions the Wales club growing beyond local competitions, aiming to build a strong team that competes in international skating races while also championing female participation in the sport.
By Robert Ojwang’ and Christine Odero
