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ANNUAL SPORTS HONOURS DAY 25TH JANUARY 2014 OSHWAL ACADEMY

Hon General Secretary of Oshwal Education and Relief BoardMr. Dharmesh Shah, Chairman of Sports Hub - Mr. Kishore Shah, Principal of Oshwal Academy Mr. Banerjee, all protocols observed, ladies, gents, parents, students and coaches of Oshwal Academy, good afternoon. Today is the Sports Honors Award ceremony of Oshwal Academy where the sportsmen and sportswomen will be honoured for their performances and achievements during the year. I have been honored and invited to speak this afternoon on Unity through Sports and my outlook on sports as a way forward. This subject could not have come at a better time especially with the on going turmoil of disunity in the globe and various opportunities through sports. In my experience over the years, there are at least 3 events that unite people irrespective of skin, color, creed or religion. Sports, Music and Arts. The top on the list is sports. For most of us who follow any of these activities globally, you will note and agree that it does not matter what color or religion you belong to. As we are focused in sports today, you will appreciate the role and influence a sportsman/woman plays in the society. Until recently, most top black or Indian sportsmen were undermined.

The influence that sportsmen such as Tiger woods, Sachin Tendulkar, our Kenyan David Rudisha or Mahendra Singh Dhonithe Indian cricket captain have made a great impact to the sports world and to the society in general. When India plays cricket, it is irrelevant who is playing in the team or which particular religion a player belonged to. The entire Indian nation and the Indian diasporas support India to win in Cricket. In Kenya, when we watch our athletes on TV dominate in the marathons all over the world, it does not matter what tribe the runner is from. A Kenyan has won! These are some of the examples that give evidence on how sports can unite one another and improve a greater understanding with one another. On one of my experiences during the time I captained the Kenya cricket team and I think it was unique for Kenya unlike other international cricket teams. Cricket is a team sport, where players/everyone play a part toward success. The Kenyas team comprised of Asians and Africans. In the Asians we had Hindus and Muslims. Among the African players we had players from different tribes and to top it all we had players who were educated and unfortunately some were not . This was a real cocktail. To lead a team with such a composition, needed a greater understanding by and within the team. This was achieved with result that Kenya cricket produced in those years at international level.

The world in December 2013, lost a statesman and an icon , former South African president - Nelson Mandela. The inspiring leader was a great believer and supporter of sports. He strongly believed that sports united people irrespective of color, religion or creed. For those who remember the gesture he did when there was immense tension in South Africa. When he wore the famous rugby T- shirt and attended to witness South Africa win during the world cup rugby held in South Africa. That gesture helped in uniting the country . This is a lesson whose principal world leaders including leaders in very society be it school or communities, need to emulate and follow by promoting sports at all levels. From the information I have gathered, Oshwal Education and Relief Board has taken the lead in promoting sports and has been growing every year and I commend you Mr. Chairman and your team for encouraging the students and promoting sports. At this opportunity , I would like to strongly appeal to the jubilee government to take sports with the seriousness it deserves. Currently , we have a Ministry of Cultural , Heritage and the end a word sports is included. How can a talented country like Kenya who has produced world class sportsmen and women in the last 50 years in different sports, not have a Ministry of Sports on its own. This must change!. I appeal to all the parents and for those who can, to lobby at the government level for Kenya to have a ministry of sports with a significant budget and managed by a competent cabinet secretary.

I see no reason why Kenya cannot produce consistently the Ronaldos, Messis, Tiger woods, Sachin Tendulkars, Hussein Bolts or the William sisters and more importantly bring better understanding and unity within Kenyans. I would briefly like to talk on sports as a profession in different areas. Sports in this day and age needs to be taken very seriously by parents and children.Especially with the opportunities for careers and a good financial rewards along with it. This is something that most parents cannot or may be slow in accepting or promoting their children to take sports a s a profession. Let me remind/refresh most parents of my age or above. During our childhood, most of our parents had limited or no education. Most ended up with a job or joined family business. It was unheard of or very rare for parents to send their children for university studies in the 60s and 70s. This started changing in the 80s where almost all parents made every effort from savings or loans to give their children an opportunity to earn a degree in a university to make a career in that field like pharmacy, doctors, accountants, opticians and so on. The children are not compelled to join family business or dukawalla business. The parents and students should now consider sports also as a career.

The western countries and now the far east countries are heavily investing in promoting sports in form of sports academies and promotion of sports in school. There are several opportunities in sports career. A professional sports player, coaches, trainers sports , psychologist, physiotherapist and so on. All these professions earn a very good living. I am sure most of you who follow international sports will agree on the opportunities and the financial rewards these sportsmen have. To give an example the Wimbledon tennis in the 60s the winner would get a trophy and a token of uk1000/-. Currently, just 40 years down the road, the winner gets almost 2 million pounds and with it several endorsements. All other major sports have huge financial rewards with sports such as golf, football and basketball leading the way. There are several universities in USA/UK and South Africa and other countries that offer sports as a degree in different sport fields. Some of these universities also offer sports scholarships that can greatly help parents/students ease the pressure financially. I am a living example. I come from a very humble beginning in Mombasa where as I mentioned earlier that it was a great challenge financially to go overseas to study. Due to having done well in tennis and from the encouragement of my parents, my elder brother and myself, I received a 4 year tennis scholarship in USA where we managed to educate ourselves and play top level tennis through this sports scholarship.

I have had a brief discussion with Mr. Banerjee and the sports chairman Mr. Kishore Shah on sports as a career. I am willing and happy to be back one day where we can have in depth discussion and dialogue for all those interested parents /students on this subject. As I conclude my message, I wish to first thank the board for the honour and respect they accorded to my family and myself to be with you this afternoon. I also wish to congratulate all the achievements by the students including coaches who will be honoured this afternoon. Finally, I wish to remind myself and request you all that in any sphere of life that one is involved in , ones motto should be; I would like to leave this place better than what I found and as nelson Mandela said; death is something in evitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people, family , his country , he can rest in peace. God bless you! God Bless Oshwal community! God bless Kenya Thank you

AASIF KARIM 25/01/2014