Sudanese Nubians Triumph at Wrestling Tournament

August 14 marked a second triumph for the brave South Sudanese traditional wrestlers from the Nuba Mountains in a Traditional African Wrestling Tournament organized by the Sports for Youth Development Initiative (SYDI), a registered Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) domiciled in Kibera, Kenya.

The tournament attracted four teams which battled it out for the top position. The Kenyan Nubians representing (Kibera - Nairobi), The Kivuli Bull Wresters (Kabiria- Nairobi), Kakamega team (Western - Kenya) and the eventual victors, a team from the Nuba Mountains.

The motivation behind this rare sporting event was to popularize African wrestling as part of SYDI’s campaign to use sports as a creative avenue for addressing the numerous problems facing the Kenyan youth.

When the contestants hit the ground to flex their muscles and prove their invincibility, a winner is declare by a flap down of an opponent on his back. The Nuba team won the tournament with eight points out of ten, followed by a tie from Kivuli and Kakamega with three points each, while the Kenyan Nubians held the tail with only one point.

”Since this Sport is played among different communities and as for my understanding each community has its own rules, it was difficult for us to lay down the regulations for this tournament. We had to consult with the leaders from each team and help in refereeing the game” said Kennedy Ambale, SYDI Official.

The inaugural wrestling tournament was held on 20 March 2010, and it was the enthusiasm generated from its success that prompted SYDI to organize a second one.

Traditional wrestling was a very important feature of life in ancient Africa. The sport was immensely popular in Egypt, Nubia, and West Africa and in many other parts of the continent before the colonial era threatened it with extinction. Despite this long period of lag, the sport’s unwritten memory somehow faltered its way into independent Africa. In some parts it simply never faded, for instance, among the Nuba people of Central Sudan, where African wrestling remained a widely practiced activity despite colonialism and Sudan’s long civil war. Several efforts are today being pursued to restore the sport’s popularity across Africa.

Please click on the video link below to catch a glimpse of what went down at the tournament.