Hundreds are expected to gather at Santry’s Morton Stadium on 26 May to witness a strong athletics programme as part of this year’s Africa Week celebrations.
Dublin’s Lord Mayor Andrew Montague officially launches the One Race Human Race programme for Africa Week Athletics (AWA) at Dublin Castle on 27 January.
It’s expected that top athletes from Ireland and around the world will join competitors from the African diaspora at the event, which has the support of British Olympic marathon hopeful Mo Farah and Kipchoge Keino, a multi-time gold medallist for Kenya.
Organisers hope to raise awareness of the benefits of athletics, particular among minority groups. According to Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari), recent studies have shown a very poor participation rate by African migrants in athletics, despite the fact that Africa has produced so many world-class practitioners – Kenya alone boasting 81 of the world’s fastest 100 marathon runners.
Mubarak Habib, chairperson for AWA 2012, said he was thrilled with the programme and the support it has drawn, and hopes the meet will achieve much for the future.
“What we want to see is talent coming out of the immigrant community, especially the African community,” he said. “You and I know that there is a lot of talent in the African community. You can see for yourself in the Olympic Games, in the World Athletics Champ-ionships: the people who excel in the track events are the Africans, no doubt about it.”
One young athlete who hopes to encourage more migrant participation is 24-year-old Tosin Omiyale, a member of the Clonliffe Harriers whose specialty is the 100m hurdles, though she intends to move into the long jump.
Omiyale moved to Ireland from Nigeria just over two years ago with a sports scholarship for the Dublin Institute of Technology, but unfortunately lost that support due to a knee injury which, along with her studies for a Master’s in journalism, took her out of athletics for over a year. But her passion for track and field soon drew her back.
“Athletics really is my passion so I just went [to the track to] look at the people train, smile and to just keep that hope in me that I’ll get back one day,” she said. “Then I met Joe [Cooper], the captain in Clonliffe. He always encourages me when he sees me around, and his encouragement really helped me to get back to the track.”
Getting involved again in the sport she loves has given her “a sense of joy and peace”, she added.
When it comes to the One Race Human Race programme, Omiyale is particularly excited about encouraging junior athletes – but emphasises that they need parental support.
“Once you discover that your child is actually good at athletics – you always know when you can’t stop them from running, can’t stop them from watching, is a sign that they actually like the sport [and they should be encouraged],” she said.
“I know people have busy schedules, but [parents should] find the time to really encourage their children to participate in athletics, or in any sport at all.”
Omiyale echoed Habib’s sentiments that this programme should only be the beginning. “We are really hoping to get the message across to everybody out there,” she said. “I’m really hoping this will be a continuous yearly event and get sponsorship.”
Omiyale is candid about the difficulties faces by immigrant athletes in Ireland, based on her own experiences, but believes these can be overcome.
“The Athletics Association of Ireland and different clubs [and bodies] in Ireland, including the county councils, I think they need to sit down and see how they could support immigrant athletes,” she said. “It is so difficult to be an immigrant… you have nobody to turn to and I think just getting that right, the support from the association, the clubs, the schools, just getting that right would go a long way to help.”
Meanwhile, the sports schedule for Africa Week 2012 – which runs from 21-27 May – also includes a showcase soccer friendly between and Ireland XI and an under-20 side representing Africa, with players to be picked by Sari from teams that have competed in previous years’ Soccerfests
Former Nigerian youth international and current Insaka FC manager James Igwilo will be in charge of the African side, while Sari’s Ken McCue is hopeful that former Ireland boss Brian Kerr will manage the Irish team.
Africa Week Athletics 2012 is an initiative of the Dublin Multicultural Resource Centre (DMRC) in partnership with Sari, AkiDwA, Cradle, the Integrated Academy for Athletics Performance and Offaly Sports Partnership.
