Twelfth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This paper explores the varied experiences embedded within Kenyan high school sport during the 1960s and early 1970s. Specifically, it takes the case of two Catholic secondary schools, all-boys St. Patrick’s High School and all-girls Sing’ore High School, in western Kenya as a way to examine the hopes, successes, disappointments, and failures of student-athletes during the first decade of Kenyan national history, a period that historian Daniel Branch has described as being “between hope and despair.” It argues that while sport is often conceptualized and presented as a way for participants to express agency, achieve fulfillment, and experience enjoyment, a true analysis of sport must also take into account the disappointment and despair, as well as the joy and fulfillment, reflected in competitive sport. It draws on oral history interviews and archival research conducted in central and western Kenya between 2019-2020 and seeks to expand the study of African sports history to include the perspectives of student-athletes.