SPORTS EQUIPMENT DESIGNERS AND SUPPLIERS SHOULD GIVE LOCAL TEAMS BETTER DEALS.

SPORTS EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS AND BRANDS: GIVE OUR LOCAL CLUBS PROPER DEALS. 
Kenyan sports teams and leagues are flooded with products from international suppliers and brands. We all agree that this is a good thing, is it? Clothing brands like Adidas, Umbro, Givova, Errea, Puma among others dominate the local sports stores and stadiums. Do they offer any sustainable solutions on sports development for communities that consume these products?
Knockoffs. I will be judged wrongly if I do not first of all admit some of the biggest problems being faced by these suppliers and brands. There exists a huge challenge in helping these brands market their genuine products directly with the market. In this vain a number of unscrupulous business dealers have quickly adapted mechanisms to manipulate the huge market spaces. Following on to the worldwide obsession for "quick fashion" the local market is flooded with a lot of fakes. 
In many cases if you meet a good jersey out there it is probably (by a huge percentage) a fake. I am treading on deadly waters here though, many of these fakes are designed by very real hustlers seeking an opportunity for self betterment. But we have to engage the actual problems and how the major brands are ignoring responsibility. Whether the jersey on the street is a fake or not, by virtue of it having an Adidas, Puma, Errea, Givova ET Al label and in effect a player name on it, the interests of players and companies have to be protected. 
Unfortunately these perpetrators of FOOTBALL POVERTY in our low-income communities have no space for player interests. While the brands get quite a huge portion of funds from media outreach and sale of sportswear branded by the "big boys", players and sports teams in local leagues tend to benefit from little or nothing when it comes to exposure. 
Case in point, Umbro signed a deal of undisclosed amount with Kenya Premier League champions recently for supply of sports equipment and facilities. This is a big thing for the team in terms of efforts to improve the quality of the club's image. However while the champion recieves the icing on the cream, we cannot say the same about other premier league sides. It is also important to question the details of the deal. How much has been allocated to promotion of equality in the sport? Will the resources trickle down to the most deserving members of the community? 
In following with the same matter of sports equipment deals, a lot has to be asked on how the market outreach will in return help create job opportunities for local dealers and sport's equipment designers. On the question of sustainability, there should be a strategy by which this partnership helps the team set up their own supply chains. It is important for teams to benefit from restructuring plans to grow not only their fan bases but also establish community empowerment programs. 
Kevin Makova is a soccer coach, teacher, environmentalist and an advocate for #EqualityInSoccerKe