Ingwe Handball Club dreaming big after their grand unveiling
Former First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt once said “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
And this quote seems to have sparked life for the newly formed Ingwe Handball Club to believe they’re the dreamers of taking over the handball club competition space in this country.
Formed August this year (only four months old) by Janane Jarega, an inspector of police and a CPA(K) certified accountant as well as a graduate Bachelor of Commerce, the handball enthusiast decided to name the club Ingwe which made their debut during the annual Jamhuru Handball Tournament in Makueni County almost a fortnight ago and they didn’t disappoint.
They emerged third-best in the tournament, winning bronze. And the excitement of the achievement of upsetting form book in their first-ever handball tournament has left the club dreaming in a big way.
“It’s really pleasing and exciting to see this dream come true. Taking part in our first ever handball tournament and finishing third with such a young pool of players is intense joy and we’re happy and optimistic that Ingwe Handball Club will grow to be the big thing in matters handball club competition in this country,” Founder and club coach Janane Jarega told People Sport.
Janane who before forming Ingwe Handball Club, was the team manager of the General Service Unit (GSU) Handball Club who are taking part in the top-tier handball league, the Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) National League, said that while handling GSU, he realised that many students from Nairobi were interested in joining handball but lacked clubs to offer them the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Team manager
Later, Janane who is a trained handball coach and a referee holding level 3 certification, was relieved of his duties as GSU Handball Club team manager to go for further studies and after returning from the training at GSU Training School, he decided to use the gained experience at GSU to form Ingwe Handball Club team.
“When GSU Handball Club was formed, my boss then, Niko Okoth tasked me to handle the team.
From that time I got and gained a lot of experience and learned a lot about team management and the game.
I took the over when the team was position 19 in the national league and now it’s position four in the same league.
And I believe I have what it takes to form a team and continue pushing towards talent development and exposing our young and talented players,” Janane said.
He added that the objective of starting Ingwe Handball Club being a Nairobi-based club is to accommodate many handball players who come from high schools and universities in the city but can’t get a club to play for after graduation and give them a chance to continue showcasing their talent.
“My academic qualification coupled with experience makes it easy for me to run the team and the sport.
So, I look forward to seeing this club flourish by tapping and exposing the talents of many handball players by giving them a platform to live their dreams,” he said.
Janane revealed they hoped to take part in the Western Handball Extravaganza, their second tournament in their existence but since the dates are colliding with the University National Games where his players from Kenyatta University and TUK will be participating, he has decided not to travel to avoid exhaustion but said they will participate in next tournament, the Rangers Annual Tournament set for this month, December 26, 2021.
In the Makueni Jamhuru Handball Tournament, Ingwe outran the University of Nairobi (UoN) Handball Club 28-18 in the third/fourth playoffs.
This was after they had knocked out Assassin’s 18-16 in the tournament quarters, but lost narrowly 24-22 to the tournament eventual winners Legends Handball Club in the semifinals.
The Legends beat Tishvile 21-28 to emerge champions, Tishvile finishing second, Ingwe (third), and the University of Nairobi (fourth).
