The countdown to USA Rugby Sevens in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas is getting closer. The event will officially start on Thursday Feb. 28 with the opening ceremony known as the Parade of Nations on the flashy Fremont Street in Las Vegas. Fans will have an opportunity to meet and mingle with their stars and even attend an after party.
Game kickoff is Friday March 1, and the first Shujaa, Kenya team game is against the defending champions USA scheduled to start at 4.50 p.m.
Are you ready?
As always Kenyan fans from all over the United States and Canada are planning to attend in large numbers and let loose. The event is considered the largest Kenyan gathering every year and it’s on the bucket list of a majority of Kenyans living in the United States and Canada.
Kenyan fans come in dressed in Kenyan flag colors and cheer with songs and dance, mostly in Sheng, a mix of Kiswahili and English, or famous Kenyan rhymes just for fun and laughs. Chants such as “hatuta piga kelele” meaning we’re not going to make noise ring around the stadium every time the Kenyan team turns over the ball or just because somebody wanted to hype the fans.
Besides the opposing team, the biggest target for the overzealous cheering and booing is the referee. They get the loudest cheers when they make a favorable call and are mercilessly booed and not spared taunts. In fact, some of the harshest wrath from the fans jeering lands on the poor referees, most of whom don’t understand Kiswahili or English spoken with the Kenyan accent.
Any calls against the Kenyan team, fair or unfair, will be met with exaggerated groans of disapproval, throat clearing, boos and chants of “who’s your father, who’s your father, who’s your father, referee?” The origin of the chant is not clear, but many people think the chant originated from the Kenyan parental role separation where a child’s bad manners were considered a dishonor to the father. In the case of the “who’s your father referee?” the chant seeks to know the name of the referees’ father so they can pity him for raising such a useless son or daughter. It’s all in the name of good fun and no harm is intended.
T-shirts with hilarious Kenyan messages, such as “wazee punguza mahari vijana tuoe” a plea to elders from girls’ family to lower the dowry price so young men can afford to marry, Wakanda salutes, Kenyans eating chapati will be common place. Famous faces in the Kenyan diaspora community, such as cheerleader per excellence Georgie The Student, attend the event and party peacefully.
Win or lose the Kenyan fans will be there for their team and when Kenya is not playing, Kenyans readily switch their loyalties to USA and South Africa.
Mashujaa Twende Kazi.