Chester Kioko: From defying his father’s wishes to pioneering Kenya Prisons and the national team

In many ways he is a chip off the old block, Sylvester Kioko, the great Kenyan International volleyballer and national team coach.

In other aspects he's an apple that falls a little further from the tree, maybe because the branches are far reaching or it rolls several miles away just because the ground is conducive, who knows? 

He took after his mother Ann Wanjiru, a Kenyan great in her own right. A former Kenya Breweries and Kenya Prisons player. Born and bred in Ruiru, Chester Kioko was groomed to become a great athlete from a young age, it was what his father wanted for him. Most importantly, it was what he wanted for himself. 

He was introduced to the world of volleyball before he could spell his name and Sylvester, like many fathers, knew he had someone to continue his great volleyball legacy when he exits the stage, but boy was he in for a rude shock! 

Harambee Stars travelling squad to Mali

Chester learned all there was about his sport and was already coming up as a great left attacker at Mananja Secondary in Machakos County, his father was proud. He joined the Kenya Prisons training school immediately after high school and was actively involved in volleyball, representing his team in inter-barracks competitions as a recruit. 

But then something changed! Chester, the outside hitter, took interest in his mother's sport of choice, netball. He had seen her excel in the sport but unlike his father, she had never taken any interest in introducing her last born to the sport. 

"While in training school, they introduced men's netball and I tried out for the team. It was just out of curiosity since I had grown around the sport and I had never tried it. I did not make any decisions then about sticking with netball at the expense of volleyball," narrates Chester. 

Yes, men’s netball teams exist world over, but attract less attention than their women counterparts. Mixed teams are not uncommon too.

Netball became an International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized sport in 1995 but is yet to be played in an Olympics. There were high hopes that the sport could be temporarily included in the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo.

It was one of 12 sports considered for inclusion in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games, but it did not survive the first cut. With the 2032 Olympic Games being held in Brisbane, Australia, a popular home of netball, there may be a better chance of getting the sport on the Olympic program.

"I graduated from training college in December 2005 and was posted to Busia where I began my service in January 2006. I only lasted six months there as the netball coach had us recalled to Nairobi, and posted to Kamiti Maximum Prison, to continue the team,"

"I was one of the pioneer members of the Kenya Prisons men's netball team and most of us are still active. For a while my parents did not know that I had joined the team. When my father learned about it, he did not talk to me for more than six months. He could not understand how or why, after grooming me to the volleyball player he knew I was, I would make such a decision," Chester, who has captained the team national team and his club since inception offered. 

Kenya Prisons announced their arrival in the league with a bang, clinching the 2007 league title and never letting go off the title. The then league had eight teams among them National Youth Service (NYS), Nairobi and Naivasha City Council teams among others. 

A year after Prisons clinched the national league title, Chester made his debut for the national team, Netkings, and was appointed skipper, a position he has held to date. 

"I competed in my first outing with the national team, a Zone Five championship held in Zanzibar, in 2008 and won silver. At that point Prisons had six players in the national team. In our most recent outing with Netkings at the International Male Challenge held at Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria in South Africa, all but four members of the national team were drawn from Prisons," Chester reminisces. 

In 2009, he represented his club in their first ever African Club Championship and bagged silver. 

"The podium finishes were a clear indication that we were onto something good. In 2010, Kenya hosted the continental showpiece and we won our first ever gold. That remains my career highlight at club level. I have gone on to win more trophies but that was a defining moment for my career both as a player and in the correctional department," Chester says. 

Since winning the local title in 2007 and clinching their first Africa Club title in 2010, the Eva Cherono-coached warders remain undefeated in both competitions since. 

"We got a chance to feature in the only World Club Championships we have been to so far in 2013 and won silver against formidable opposition. We lost to an Australian club in the final. It felt good to compete at that level and know that we can go up against the best in the world and hold our own," he narrates, revealing that his team missed the 2018 global championship hosted in the United States due to lack of funds. 

He continued, "We have created a winning team while fighting the negativity that comes with playing a sport considered feminine. 'Ile ya wamama?' (The one played by women?) is just one of the questions I have to deal with. At first it was really hard to admit that I play netball and more often I would just say I moved to basketball. It was not just my father who could not understand my choice, I lost friends just for playing netball. But I have no regrets, netball has opened great sporting opportunities for me and now I proudly identify as a netballer," says Chester. 

It has not been all rosy for Chester and his fellow netball players. The sport is lacking crucial infrastructure and the federation is not one of the strongest when it comes to marketing the sport, male or female. 

Netkings, for instance, had not been in action for years before their recent trip to South Africa for the International Male Challenge. 

"Our last trip as the national team was in 2011 when we went to Maputo, Mozambique for the 2011 All -Africa Games but ended up not playing as there was no opposition. The South African competition last month was a welcome move as we are currently preparing for African Male Championship slated for Morocco in April 2022,"

"We needed such level of competition to know where we stand and what we need to work on heading to the continental showpiece. The competition in Africa is getting stiffer and we have to be ready," Chester, who guided the Netkings to a third-place finish in the nine-team tournament in Pretoria said. 

Before his outing with the national team, Chester will have another go at the club trophy which the warders have made their own for 11 years. The Club Championship is set for February in Uganda. 

"I want to retire in the next two or three years and get in to the running and management of the sport. In addition to guiding my club and the national team for more than a decade, I pride myself in having been part of the pioneer group that has convinced several universities and colleges to begin men's teams in their institutions. We are still pushing to see boys' netball introduced in secondary schools." 

His secret for staying at the top of his game for this long, discipline, dedication, focus and skills development. 

"I have had to rely on YouTube alot to keep my game at the top. I watch alot International netball action and that way I keep in touch with the sport. What I see I try to replicate in training and once I get it tight it becomes hard to be me on the court," said the 38-year old. 

Profile 

Name : Chester Kioko 

Sport : Netball 

Position: Goal Defender (GD) 

Club : Kenya Prisons 

National team debut: 2008 (Captain to date) 

Achievements

2007 to date Kenyan league champions 

2008 Zone Five silver medalists (National team)

2009 - Africa Club Championships silver medalist 

-010 to date Africa Club Champions 

-021- International Male Challenge bronze medalist (National team) \