Walking football, the novel sport helping Kenya’s elderly keep fit a step at a time

Walking football is a modern offshoot of the beautiful game that makes the world’s most popular sport more accessible and inclusive.

Kiarie Mwangi, the President of the Kenya Walking Football Federation (KWFF), vouches for the game’s benefits in that aspect.

“There are people whose ability to run is limited by old age, injury, and medical conditions. Their condition excludes them from playing regular football, yet they need exercise to strengthen their body and stimulate their minds. Walking football bridges that gap for them,” Mwangi says.

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“Walking football is even recognised by Fifa under their disability toolkit. They realise its significance in keeping footballers who have lost mobility due to serious injuries involved in the game,” Mwangi adds.

Mwangi says the game is played on a field measuring 35 metres by 40 metres. Matches are played in two halves of 20 minutes.

Players are not allowed to head the ball or run while playing. Physical contact with opponents is also prohibited. “The aim is to reduce the risk of players getting injured,” Mwangi says.

Offenders are first given a warning, then shown a blue card and sent to a sin bin for 10 per cent of the total playing time if they make another offence. A third offence is punished with a red card and expulsion from the match.

Teams are categorised according to age groups – over-40, over-50, over-60, and over-70. The sport can be played indoors or outdoors.

Mwangi registered the KWFF in August 2024, after two years “fighting red tape”.

“It took a lot of effort to convince the Sports Registrar that walking football is a sport with worldwide appeal,” Mwangi says.

Lilian Anupi, a former netballer and a veteran sports administrator, played a crucial role in fast-tracking KWFF’s registration. “Her involvement added credibility to our case,” Mwangi says. Anupi, former secretary of Kenya Netball Association, serves as KWFF treasurer.

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Mwangi’s involvement in walking football started in 2022 following a conversation with the former managing director of the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the late Davy Koech. The two met at the Kamiti Maximum Prison. Koech was serving a sentence while Mwangi had visited the facility to conduct a sports programme for youthful inmates.

“Koech challenged me to come up with similar programmes for elderly inmates because none existed,” Mwangi recalls. “As I worked on a programme I came across walking football and started advocating for its practice and registration in Kenya,” Mwangi says.

Yet, unbeknownst to Mwangi, the introduction of walking football in Kenya preceded his efforts by four years.

Englishman Ricky Weir introduced the sport in Kenya in late 2018 to comical results. “I had a session with former Kenyan footballers at City Stadium. After explaining to them the rules of walking football, we formed teams for a practice walking football match but they ended up playing regular football,” Weir, who first visited Kenya in 2012, says.

The Englishman is the Federation of International Walking Football Associations (Fiwfa) Ambassador for Africa. He had recently toured the country to meet with the local walking football community.

After the sport’s false start in Kenya, Weir visited Rwanda and Nigeria where he introduced the game to admirable success. The sport picked up well with the two countries making appearances at the 2023 Walking Football World Cup.

“Kenya had an opportunity to be pioneers in the sport in Africa but they lagged behind,” Weir, who is also a walking football referee, says.

Weir picked up refereeing in the sport to streamline growth of competitive walking football, a sport he describes as “reducing football to its basic components of passing and movement”.

“I played walking football but I took up refereeing after noticing the sport needs more quality referees to support its growth,” Weir, who says.

Weir, who has refereed a Walking Football World Cup final, reckons Kenya still has a long way to go before competitively participating in the sport.

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At the moment, the sport is played recreationally, with fun matches taking place every weekend in Nairobi, Kajiado, Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kitui, Migori, Mombasa, and Nakuru.

Mwangi was excited to talk about a recent fun tournament held in Nairobi. “We had a team all the way from Migori appearing,” he says. He also talks of efforts to grow the sport in Mombasa, where the area senator, Mohamed Faki Mwinyihaji, is encouraging elderly residents to take up the sport to improve their health.

In Nairobi, the growth of walking football is bringing communities together.

Youthful Wangui Wahome, who is an administrator and social media manager at KWFF, speaks of kids using TikTok to hype the sport. “Some kids have been on TikTok bragging about their grandmothers being better footballers than those of their friends. Others take their parents and grandparents out to the field and urge them to play,” Wahome says, highlighting how the youth are influencing the sport’s growth in Kenya.

Former Gor Mahia and Harambee Stars defender Tobias Ocholla is part of the walking football community in Nairobi and coaches a team at Donholm Primary School on Saturday morning.

“Walking football is not just creating an opportunity for senior citizens to exercise. Whenever they meet to play, they also bond over conversations which help them network and discuss issues that add value to the community,” Ocholla says.

Mwangi is also part of that team. “Embakasi East MP Babu Owino pays for our sessions,” he says.

Mwangi hopes to see corporate organisations playing a role in the game’s growth.

“We hope to secure partnerships and sponsorships that can help raise awareness about walking football. Walking football will help prolong the lives of our elderly by keeping them engaged, and it also provides an avenue for building communities and promoting better health practices,” Mwangi says.

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