‘Minor sports’ have been a big letdown to the country
In this undated file photo, Kenya Breweries chairman Brian Hobson (left) hands over Perpetual Champion trophy to national darts champion Alex Kavisi of Bandari Darts Club, Mombasa.
What you need to know:
- Entire families would converge around tiny black and white TV sets to enjoy their weekly doses of darts
- More intriguing was the fact that even with booze flowing freely, “KBL Festival of Darts” was widely perceived as a 'family show'
- No wonder the much-loved game of darts of old has since receded to the backwaters of sports, at least in the Kenyan context
Once upon a time, when all Kenyans still used to watch KBC – and this is not a slight to the national broadcaster – there used to be a must-watch TV programme that aired at prime on weekends. It was called "KBL Festival of Darts".
I say ‘all Kenyans’ because with KBC as the only broadcaster back then, the viewers had no choice. So yes, the game of darts once fascinated many Kenyan households. Entire families would converge around tiny black and white TV sets to enjoy their weekly doses of darts.
But there was much more to “KBL Festival of Darts” than just two competitors taking turns in an attempt to hit the bullseye. There was plenty of beer drinking in between rounds. After each turn, a competitor would retreat to a table in the background to sip the tipple. This ritual was repeated over and over until the contest was decided.
Come to think of it, with all that drinking it’s a small miracle that no serious injuries were ever witnessed from stray darts haphazardly launched by inebriated contenders.
More intriguing was the fact that even with booze flowing freely, “KBL Festival of Darts” was widely perceived as a 'family show'. Mercifully, that was long before advertising alcohol and cigarettes was outlawed outside the watershed hours.
But even so, for all its popularity back then, I can bet the mere idea of broadcasting such a programme in the present day would be dead in the water even before it makes it on air. I say this for two reasons.
Beer-drinking sessions
One, a certain Dr Ezekiel Mutua, the self-styled moral cop, would never allow the broadcast of beer-drinking sessions disguised as sport at prime time on national TV. Not under his watch as the CEO of the Kenya Film Classification Board.
Two, and most importantly, with all the premium content that is readily available on TV and on online subscription video on demand platforms, a ‘boring’ game of darts would really struggle for viewership.
No wonder the much-loved game of darts of old has since receded to the backwaters of sports, at least in the Kenyan context. The sport is among a handful other disciplines such as squash, badminton, handball, netball, cycling, archery, skating and the martial arts, to name a few, that have fully embraced the unenviable moniker of ‘minor sports’.
These are sporting disciplines that are as good as dead in this country, thanks in large part to years of mismanagement and incessant wrangling among officials who run the respective federations and associations. You’ll struggle to come across any notable coverage of these sports in the Kenyan media, all for lack of any meaningful activities within the sports.
The few occasions they do make it to the sports page, it’s almost always for the wrong reasons; a protracted power struggle within the federation, an association that has been suspended or banned for one reason or the other, a bunch of players banged up abroad after competing in an international tournament or players missing a tournament altogether after putting in weeks of hard work in practice, name it! That is the modus operandi of ‘minor sports’ in Kenya.
In an ideal situation, the national darts league – if such a tournament actually exists – merits just as much coverage as the FKF Premier League, which in my view enjoys excessive coverage. Tragically, there is nothing on the ground to cover.
