Job Waka: Basketball coach who won the battle against cancer

Former basketball player, national basketball referee and International Basketball Federation (Fiba) agent Job Waka, 48, has won many battles and lost some - both on and off the basketball court.

June 8 was another victory day for the former Alliance Girls High School basketball coach following the successful conclusion of the fourth edition of the Under-23 Gold Cup Basketball Championship at Nyayo National Stadium Indoor Arena.

After strangulated hernia and colon cancer forced the father of two to painfully abandon his passion: basketball coaching in 2017, he promptly reinvented himself to continue contributing to the development of sports locally by organising sporting events.

In his grueling battle with cancer, Waka regards as a resounding victory over the monster, every successful tournament that he organises through his sporting company – Sterling Sports & Arts Inc.
The former football, hockey and rugby player has been partnering friends and corporates in organising the sporting events.

“Satisfaction boss,” Waka says, in regard to the successful conclusion of the fourth edition of the U23 Gold Cup Basketball Championship at Nyayo.

“My condition cannot bring me down,” he vowed.

Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League side Zetech Sparks pocketed Sh100,000 for winning the U23 Gold Cup Basketball Championship, which attracted 14 teams.

It was the 21st sporting event that Waka planned since he quit coaching.

Owing to his undying love for basketball, most events have been aroung the sport, including 3x3 basketball competitions for both men and women.

Waka believes he would still be coaching had he not been diagnosed with strangulated hernia and colon cancer, which caused him so much agony, including using colostomy bags. He recalled that it was sometime in 2017 that he quit coaching.

Then, things became unbearable since he was also grappling with pain in his rectal area, which was only diagnosed as colon cancer in August last year.

By the time he stopped coaching, Waka had handled Alliance Girls basketball team for 17 years.
“I would still be coaching, especially in the development side of it. Building talents from scratch,” says Waka of the desire to promote basketball development in the country through coaching.

He still revels in turning Alliance Girls High School basketball team to a powerhouse in the Central region.

He guided the team to five National Secondary School Games (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014) and two East Africa Secondary School Games (2010 and 2012). His major achievements with the team he recalls, was finishing third in the 2012 National Secondary School Games in Maseno School, Kisumu.

In his long journey to becoming a coach, Waka ditched football for basketball after they moved from Kariobangi North to Kariakor in Nairobi.

In deciding to move to Kariakor, his father had wanted him to concentrate on more meaningful activities like education.

Like in football, he found love in estate basketball, establishing himself as a point guard and featured for Nairobi Milimani Secondary School (formerly Nairobi Secondary School) and Vihiga Boys High School.

It is at the two schools that he also played rugby and hockey.

At club level, Waka turned out for NSSF (now disbanded) in the top flight league. It was through online materials and clinics organised by KBF that he cut his niche as a basketball coach and referee.

He officiated at Secondary School Games and national basketball league.

Waka became a certified Fiba Agent in 2017 after the test in Switzerland.

The need to introduce players to various sports at an early age and provide a platform where those who have completed Secondary School Education can showcase their talents, he said, is what motivated him to start organising sporting events.

“I realised that there was a gap in terms of developing players. After players have leave high school, many of them do not get the opportunity to join clubs so they disappear. I wanted to provide them with a platform where they can continue playing and be spotted by scouts," he said.

“I also used to feel very bad that a child joins high school while very green about most sports."
"I thought why I shouldn’t start something where I can go to various primary schools and teach pupils some of the sports so that by the time they graduate to high school, they understand the sports."

Nairobi Primary School, St Georges Primary School and Muthangari Primary School are some  institutions that benefited from this programme.

Though he stopped the programme due to ill health, he hopes to resume anytime soon.

During the sporting events, Waka also creates cancer awareness by inviting medics to talk to the players on the importance of undergoing frequent cancer screening. He regrets ignoring early signs that something was wrong with his health. "Ujinga wa wanaume (Toxic masculinity)," the former coach said on why he avoided going for a cancer screening for six years.

"At least if I had known my condition earlier, I would be different now. Once in a while if you can, get a full body screening to know how you are faring."

He has since shifted his attention to putting up a thrilling Super Cup 2023 Men and Women Basketball Championship in August.

[email protected]