I enjoyed my days at Ofafa Jericho. My coming to Impala Saracens was courtesy of convincing by my brother – Brian Omondi. He and coach Steve Juma had a lot to play in convincing me to join the Academy side. Juma who coaches the Academy side watched me play at the High School games, got interested and proceeded to tell my brother of the talent he saw in me. I obliged and joined the Academy side in 2012. I must laud Juma and Samson Onsomu’s efforts in moulding me to understanding the systems involved at Club Rugby level. It was a whole new experience for me, but I took all the learnings. It is while playing at the Academy level that I became Kajiado 7s MVP after beating Homeboyz RFC in the final under muddy conditions. It is also here while playing for the National Team, that we came out 2nd runners’ up in the Africa youth games.
By 2015, I was playing in RESOLUTION Impala Saracens’ top team. I used to follow Innocent Simiyu’s paces and even got to rewatch Brian O’Driscoll’s clips on YouTube to understand what it means to become really skilfull as a back. Ambition to become a regular player in the Gazelles side would continue burning but the unfortunate happened on 9th April 2016..
I tore my anterior cruciate ligament: The ligament in the knee that crosses from the underside of the femur (the thigh bone) to the top of the tibia (the bigger bone in the lower leg). If you’ve ever torn a ligament then you probably understand that the injury itself is not painful. The emotional instability that comes with it is even more torturous. An injury comes with a paradigm shift in your daily timetable. Your diet changes. You have to unlearn all that you were doing the previous week and adjust to a whole new perspective. I had become used to fans chanting on Saturdays as I played. That stopped. You expect some of your closest friends out of rugby to visit you during this time, but none appears. Galloping around in crutches is not something you admire after surgery, but you have to fill up your mind with activity. I am happy to have come out of this. I must thank Resolution Impala Saracens for the link to Resolution Insurance medical cover. I did the math involved if I had to pay for surgery and rehabilitation and it opened my eyes to just how far reliable insurance goes into making it easy to come out of such a situation. Dr. Mailu and Dr. Mbugua of CURE International Hospital were also instrumental in making sure I not only walk out of the ward, but also run back into the sport.
Billy Okoyo Omondi made a comeback when Resolution Impala Saracens Boks went against Homeboyz RFC. Impala was trailing 0-20. Coming off the bench, Billy scored the second and third tries after Paul Oimbo’s first, cutting Impala’s trail to 17-20. Paul Oimbo scored the last try that was converted to win 24-20. Billy went ahead to start against Mean Machine II scored the opening try and was quickly substituted under the team physio’s advice. He is currently conditioning for Impala’s 7s Series campaign that starts in 6 months.
Will the 20 year old finally break in to the Kenya 7s after the 2017 local 7s circuit or will he find himself tearing lines with the Simbas in 2018? It is only a matter of time…