When ex-B.C. Lion Cory Philpot read a story about a new American football league in Kenya he was surprised. He didn’t know how much the game had spread in Africa.
“As soon as I read the story I wanted to help.”
The former Grey Cup winning CFL running back, who has been heavily involved in community and junior football in Vancouver and BC since his retirement in 2001, and is the current commissioner of the British Columbia Football Conference of the Canadian Junior Football League, remembered the used equipment that the Seaquam Seahawks high school program was set to discard.
Philpot has been helping to coach the high school team for the past couple of years with both his sons starring on the team.
The 47 year old Philpot contacted AFI offering to donate the equipment which is badly needed in Kenya.
Cory Philpot helped the BC Lions win the 1994 Grey Cup
Needless to say, the Kenyans were excited.
George Alwanga, head of the Kenyan American Football Federation:
We were delighted for the donation. We are just awaiting final funding to have the equipment picked up and shipped to Kenya. The estimated cost to ship the equipment is $1200. There is also same tax recently introduced in Kenya called Damping tax for used products. I am working with the shipping company from Kenya for a better rate and also a waiting documentations from the Ministry of Sports for clearance. However, I have a contact in BC ready to meet Cory and package them for shipping. I am sure by the new year they will be on the way to Kenya.”
The cost of new equipment for countries outside of the North America is steep to say the least and extremely hard to come by, especially in Africa. AFI posted a story last year about a similar donation to the Treichville Dockers in the Ivory Coast.
As soon as Alwanga is able to arrange for payment for shipping, the equipment will be headed to Nairobi, Kenya where it will fittingly be used to equip a fledgling high school program.