SON: Dad, today at school my friend showed me a photo of a legendary football player. His name is JG Okocha. Did you see him play for Kenya?
DAD: It is not JG Okocha. It is JJ Masiga.
SON: Yeah, he said JJ Masiga. Do you know him?
DAD: I watched him throughout his sporting career. He is a sporting legend and was a formidable force of his time who bullied all defenders at will.
SON: Where did he play? Did he have a club?
DAD: He played for different outfits at different times. But he rose to fame when he donned the AFC Leopards jersey. I remember the time we travelled to Malawi to go watch the CECAFA Club tournament where he helped Leopards to the semis and became instrumental in the final. Unfortunately they lost.
SON: Ouch! That was sad.
DAD: Yes, considering he cruised the Leopards to finals almost single-handedly. But it could be understood now that he was an unsettled man throughout the tournament.
SON: Was he unwell?
DAD: Depends on how you look at it. Here is a man who is pursuing two worlds, the sporting world and his academics. Immediately after qualifying for the finals, JJ hopped onto the next plane to Nairobi for his exams before returning to play in the finals. Just imagine.
SON: How easy? Was he doing a driving school exam? I understand those days being a driver was the thing.
DAD: No. He was at the University of Nairobi studying Medicine and was coming back to sit his final papers. When the results came out later he had passed so well that everybody was proud. JJ helped clear the lie that sportsmen never excel in academics. But that is a story for another day. Let’s go back to that Malawi tournament. Immediately after the exams he boarded the next plane again and arrived just when his team was about to take to the field.
SON: That is scary! The jet lag and all. Or were they playing a small team?
DAD: Which small team! They were meeting fellow Kenyan giants Gor Mahia and because of his value in the team, Leopards insisted he must play. JJ scored a goal and added another. Yet that was not just good enough to overcome the great Gor Mahia opposition. Leopards lost 3-2. But at least the trophy came back to Nairobi.
SON: Sad and happy ending. I feel for JJ.
DAD: Happier ending is that he later became a doctor and now served Kenyans in hospital.
SON: I think JJ was an avatar, dad. Combining football and medicine doesn't appear an easy feat!
DAD: That's not even half the story son. You know why? JJ combined football, medicine and rugby.
SON: Rugby again? As a team doctor I guess. He was a smart medic.
DAD: Unfortunately he didn't feature for rugby as a doctor. He was right in the midst of the action.
SON: Wait. JJ played rugby?
DAD: You are right son.
SON: For his high school, yes?
DAD: The matches he played for his Nairobi High only spiced him up for the great future ahead. He broke his sweat and won them trophies. He later played for University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine Rugby Club and would rise further to excel at both club and national levels.
SON: He played for the national team?
DAD: Not just playing. JJ captained the team! He is the only man to serve as captain of the Harambee Stars and Kenya rugby team.
SON: No dad. Tell me more about it...
DAD: He captained the Kenya 7s team in Dubai in 1982 and came back home with the trophy and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award to his name. He was a member of the Miro team that had earlier beat England’s Blackheath in 1979. Yet still, his name is still imprinted in the annals of Impala RFC where he provided his brilliance as a flexible but formidable rock who played wing, centre and fly-half with ease. An analysis of Kenya’s all-time top 30 rugby players some years back placed him at position 25.
SON: Position 25 of all-time! Dad, JJ was an extraordinary guy….
DAD: An avatar as you said. Some say he had extranatural powers whenever he entered the field of play. Having seen him do his magic, I cannot deny. It was not by sheer luck that he became an inspiration to an emerging generation of footballers like Frankline Obare and Henry ‘Ndovu’ Motego who looked up to him and who in their heyday rose to the apex.
SON: JJ… I guess he at one point went to play in Europe.
DAD: Europe was not such a dream to Kenyans those days as it is today. We had our football at the very top and there was no thought of a life away from it. We produced names like Peter Dawo, Wilberforce Mulamba, Charles ‘Engine’ Otieno, Okello Zangi, Josephat Murila, Abbas Magongo, Mahmoud Abbas.... Son, there was no need for Europe because we believed in ourselves.
SON: Then that means JJ was excelling in a clout of giants.
DAD: Exactly son.
SON: So what happened? Did he retire?
DAD: Unfortunately a knee injury claimed his sporting career in 1985. He was at the peak of the game but he had to slowly take other roles. He even coached Leopards as a player-coach and when they hosted Egyptian giants Al Ahly in Kakamega, JJ overpowered the Pharaohs 2-1.
Players of Tanzania’s Maji Maji FC line up to greet AFC Leopards striker JJ Masiga in a 1987 match where Leopards won 1-0. [PHOTO/JJ Masiga]
SON: What an inspiration that is! Can someone be like him?
DAD: Very possible. It only needs one to believe in himself and the rest will follow. JJ rose at a time salaries were very meagre in the league. Today the league enjoys massive sponsorship from SportPesa who have also ensured that the players’ welfare is catered for. You know they sponsor the country’s two biggest clubs and they also facilitate exposure of local players to other leagues. You saw Gor play Everton and Harambee Stars play Hull City. That is something we did not have in the past and which current players should cling on to. In short, there is everything to make you an even bigger JJ. What else would one ask for?
SON: But how come JJ is not a Cabinet Secretary or a big politician? We can elect him to any office he wants.
DAD: Our legends did not play for money. They did not play to be rewarded in the future. They sacrificed for the spirit of the badge and the colours of our national flag. They sacrificed so that we would look and feel proud. Today the biggest thing we can do is to honour them by celebrating them every day. But if someone offers them a job, why not?
SON: When I grow up I want to be like JJ, dad. What does JJ stand for?
DAD: Joseph Jesse Masiga, now Doctor. He is not only a sporting legend but also a leading dentist in the city.
SON: Dad, I think my tooth will be aching tomorrow. Shall we go see Dr Joseph Jesse Masiga?
DAD: Haha.
Because our football has been struggling in the recent past, many people might not know the rich history our legends brought to the country. JJ Masiga is just one among the many men and women who brought glory and pride to the hearts of Kenyans.
Sportpesa is giving us the chance to re-live those moments and to celebrate our heroes. Through the Tujiamini initiative, we tell our tales and reach out to the young generation with the message that indeed we can. Click here to read more hero stories and add your own hero.