Five years. Five East Africa secondary school games overall titles.
Globe-conquering athletes, including Olympic and World champion Faith Chepng’etich, have passed through his firm hands.
Countless individual accolades at national and regional games have also been overseen by his visionary eyes.
This is part of the enviable curriculum vitae of Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) chairman Kimutai Ng’etich, who died on Wednesday in a road accident along the Mau Summit/Kericho Road.
His was a life of dedication and selflessness. A man with the proverbial Midas touch. Whatever he touched turned into success, even if not instantaneously.
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He was a man of few words but with an incontestable eye for detail. Since November 2012, when he replaced Barnabas Kitlit as the KSSSA chairman, Ng’etich, who was the principal of Tinet Mixed Secondary School in Kuresoi, remained keen on success.
What is surely missing from his admirable resume are the countless hours he spent with his players in weather-beaten practice facilities around the country. For hundreds of athletes who achieved any level of success in their world of sports, there are people or a specific person whom they will always remember and thank him for giving them a chance, for believing in them.
To many in the school games, Kimutai Ng’etich was that person.
“The KSSSA family is in shock with the untimely demise of our chairman. The sporting fraternity has lost a very charismatic and uncontroversial leader,” said KSSSA secretary general David Ngugi.
“We condole with the family and pray that God gives them strength and courage at this difficult time.”
The Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Associations (FEASSSA) has lost its vice-president.
“It is a pity, sad, painful, and hard to come to terms with the reality of the passing of our dear brother, Kimutai Ng’etich. Such a humble, wise, calm, sober, and focused leader,” said the FEASSSA treasurer, Patrick Okanya of Uganda.
Ng’etich was also the Athletics Kenya Nakuru County chairman.
