Starring in men’s field through her magic touch

By Mwangi Muiruri

For a woman only 25 years old, it was sheer willpower that made her beat all odds to become one of the only two women support physiotherapists for a premier league team.

Ms Rebecca Auma is Sofapaka’s — the new sensation in local football premier league — assistant physiotherapist.

"My work is to attend to injured players while in training camp or during a premier league action," she says.

Ms Rebecca Auma attends to a player. She says it is dangerous to ignore an injury. [PHOTO: jonah onyango/STANDARD]

The only girl in a family of five, Auma — born in Eastlands in 1984 — was to get inclined to sports at the age of 14.

"That is the time I joined Mathare Youth Sports Association while at Drive Inn Primary School as a junior football player specialising in defence," she reminisces.

It was in this sport that she got interested in injuries, where she would give first aid to her peers.

"Applying the basics of first aid as taught in primary school, I would attend to injured players and in it I derived a lot of interest," Auma says.

She proceeded to Kahawa Secondary School where her passion for games got the better of her and she was a permanent entrant in decathlon (where you compete in at least 10 disciplines).

"The die had been cast by then. I knew my destiny was in a sporting related field, physiotherapy being my priority," she remembers.

But owing to financial constraints, she was unable to pursue the course at university level.

New developments

A physiotherapist holds at least a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy degree. It is a three to four year university course to study the human body, particularly the muscle and joint system.

It involves studying anatomy, neuroanatomy, physiology, medical conditions, musculoskeletal conditions, exercise prescription and electrotherapy. Many therapists pursue post-graduate courses on a yearly basis to keep up with the newest development in research, evaluation and treatment techniques.

"This was far beyond my reach since I could not raise the prohibitive further education costs," she regrets.

But Auma was determined enough to achieve her dreams in small ways.

"I made a personal vow that if I could not reach the stars, then the moon was good enough," she says.

In 2006, Caroline Adhiambo (an employee of Mathare Youth Sports Association) inducted Auma into a MYSA programme that identified talents for sponsorship by the Norwegian Government.

Efforts rewarded

"It was in that programme that I jetted out to Norway for a two-year course on Injury Treatment and Prevention," she says.

In 2006, Auma landed another crash programme with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) where she furthered her education in sports injuries for a year.

Luck was on her side, as she was to later enroll in Tanzania under the sponsorship of East African Cup, where she majored in common injuries in sports and first aid modules.

"I was examined in acute crucial ligaments, menisci, thigh contusion, head concussion, fractures, dislocations, sprains, strains and superficial cuts," Auma says.

Last year her efforts finally paid off when she landed employment with Mathare Football Club’s first aid team.

"It is here that I encountered one of my most harrowing experiences," she remembers with a shiver.

Auma says Ibrahim Hussein, a Mathare United player got a behind tackle from an opponent and went down, rolling and screaming as he held his right leg.

"We rushed into the field to attend to him. We tried an ice bag on the leg, but the swelling would not subside; we tried bandaging the leg, but he simply passed out in pain," she recalls.

Glorious moments

An ambulance was called and the player taken to Nairobi Hospital, where he was diagnosed to have torn his ligaments.

"That he was out of the game for a year made me realise it is dangerous to ignore an injury and also one can lose a life in sports," Auma says.

Last year, she moved to Sofapaka. But she laments that men dominate the profession and that it is risky, especially when opponents resort to hooliganism.

"I urge more women to join the profession and push for gender parity. Most hooligans are male and you can imagine the terror they can unleash on a woman official in the opposing camp," she says.

Auma says her job has glorious moments too.

"I provide for my three children through this job," she says.

Beyond that, she says the job has made her interact with "great personalities" whom she says have really enriched her social and professional profiles.

Her most single thrill, she says, is when she helps a player overcome the pain of an injury.

Auma says sports, if well exploited, can bring the nation’s youth together, away from ethnic balkanisation.

"It is in sports where ethnic diversity does not matter and relationships rise above petty issues of tribe for the good of the nation," she points out.

Auma urges the Government to use sports as a way of job creation and promotion of national cohesion.

 

 

Read all about: Sofapaka physiotherapist Mathare Youth Sports Association

 

 

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