Two years ago, Sandra Kimokoti, the co-founder and Chief Business Officer at Twende Sports was doing her Master’s degree in Sports Business in New York.
Sports has always been within reach, the sun through which her athlete’s career orbits—having played pro-rugby with the Kenya Lionesses.
“I was earning Sh6,000 a month,” she says, half-chuckling, half-pensive.
In the US, she lent her services as the Chief of Staff at the National Cycling League and worked with Elevate Sports, providing growth strategy for professional and college teams. She also worked as an Associate Partner at Axum providing strategy advisory services to clients.
Then somebody she used to work with got in touch with her and told her about a man who was playing basketball in Kenya. She offered to volunteer her time and soon with co-founders they opened Twende Sports in January last year.
They acquired Nairobi City Thunder, a Kenyan basketball team that made history last week by becoming the first Kenyan team to qualify for the Basketball Africa League. The basketball team is proving that sports in Kenya can be a bonafide career.
“You don’t have to leave Kenya or get a second job, sports can be your job,” Sandra says.
How does one get to where you are?
In 2022, while pursuing my Master’s degree in New York, a former colleague reached out to me about an individual involved in basketball development in Kenya. Intrigued, I volunteered my expertise, and by January of the following year, we officially launched Twende Sports.
The vision was clear: to eventually expand into multiple sports and establish a sustainable model for professional sports management in Kenya.
Sports present significant untapped opportunities. While youth unemployment is a pressing issue, the creative economy—especially sports—offers an innovative pathway to bridge this gap.
Together with Colin Rasmussen as CEO, Koshin Diriye as General Manager, and Stephen Domingo as a fellow co-founder, we identified the potential to develop a professional team that would attract investments and deliver long-term returns.
This led to our acquisition of Nairobi City Thunder, previously a community team based in Shauri Moyo. Unlike many local players who juggle sports with other jobs, all our players are fully contracted professionals. For them, basketball is not just a passion—it’s a full-time career.
What is behind your, to borrow a media buzzword, meteoric rise?
Our success stems from a strong foundation of professionalism and excellence. By offering professional contracts, we’ve attracted top-tier talent, allowing players and staff to fully dedicate themselves to the game. This singular focus elevates the quality of our product on the court
Beyond performance, we meticulously track and support our players both on and off the court, fostering an environment that prioritises growth and accountability.
However, such outcomes require substantial investment—not just in talent but also in building a loyal fan base. Our ultimate goal is to establish ourselves as a household name in sports, and we are steadfastly working towards that vision.
How do you fund operations?
Our funding primarily comes from private investments. We approach investors who share our vision. We also generate revenue through strategic sponsorships and the sale of branded merchandise.
You recently made history as the first Kenyan team to qualify for the Basketball Africa League. What was that like?
Yes, the clubs that win their local leagues compete against each other. After we acquired Thunder, we won the local premier league—the first time in the team’s history. We played the qualifiers in two rounds—Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. We then went on and just won the whole thing.
Twende Sports Chief Business Officer Sandra Kimokoti poses for a picture after the interview on December 10, 2024.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
In the sports industry, when an athlete swaps field for management, they either fail to make an impact or becomes part of the system.
How do you ensure you don’t suffer a similar fate?
Simple. I've been through it all and so I am well motivated to bring change. I started by playing in the national rugby team — Kenya Lionesses —in 2014 earning Sh6,000 only, which translated to Sh500 per training session.
We didn't have contracts. When I had finished school two years later, we were earning Sh12,000, which is still not enough to sustain oneself in Nairobi.
Besides the poor pay, the culture in the national team was quite toxic. Because competition was stiff, any new person was viewed as a threat—they could replace you in the team. The unspoken rules was 'succeed but not more than me'.
I opted to retire early and went to do strategy work for organisations and jumped into the sports industry after some while. So, that's my enduring motivation. Because I've been through it, I really believe that I can create opportunities. Athletes don’t have to leave Kenya to have a thriving career. We can pay them enough to stay here and not have a second job and play sports and still be in good mental health.
What is an important decision that has sustained you in your career?
The decision to focus on where I can add value. I talk to people who want to pivot to sports and I see there is some lack of clarity on what they want to do. It is a broad field—so what in sports do you want to do? Is it talent representation, physiotherapy, sports education et al. I am not necessarily good at people management, but in making sure things run, that’s my strong suit—focusing on what I am good at.
What are the qualities that make a good sportspreneur?
In this market, grit, haha! Kenyan sports are afflicted by politics which affects businesses performance. We have political animals like federations where officials are voted in to oversee clubs, but do not always make the best decisions. You need that financial and political acumen to navigate those waters, and that requires grit. Creativity is key because sports is an entertainment business.
Politics, like taxes, can be avoided but not evaded. How are you making sure politics does not rear its head in your business?
To be fair, I must credit our federation which really pushed to have the Basketball Africa League (BAL) competition held here, and that gave us visibility. If we—the federations and the clubs—can show how we can grow the pie for everybody, everyone will get a piece. The opposite is true.
When you look into your crystal (basket) ball, where do you see yourself?
I want Thunder to become a household name, that it even leads the news segment. Heck, we want to become the region’s team. Twende Sports wants to dabble in more sports as well.
How does one invest in sports and what are the pitfalls to look out for?
Sports is a unique asset class. We tend to think of government bonds and bills, money market funds and land. Sports is different because it does not give you a guaranteed return—it depends on the stage of the sports enterprise.
For us, the potential is huge but there are also risks. You don’t know what could happen that could kill your team's performance. But it is also not a speculative investment because there are clearly documented ways of making money like ticket sales, sponsorship revenue, merchandise, and broadcasting rights among others.
Like any other a business it depends on you as an investor—do you understand how the business works? What is your risk appetite? And unlike other businesses, this is a competitive environment—nothing is guaranteed.
Sports stars tend to make a lot of money, suddenly and that presents its own challenges, since sports is generally a short career. How do you handle star mentality?
We do not have star mentality at Thunder. We are setting up financial training for our athletes because we say to them 'you are going to be a non-athlete longer than you will be an athlete'. When we need to roll a player off, we think about where they can fit internally, off the court or how we can find them opportunities to find work with our networks.
Was this all you ever wanted to do as a young girl growing up?
I knew I would be in sports but I didn’t know I would be in this role. When I was in primary school, I thought I would run track, the 800M for Kenya in the Olympics.
In high school, I played basketball but when I went to college in the US, my height and basketball skills oozed me out, haha! I went for a rugby session, I tackled someone and the coach was like, 'you come back next week' and that’s how I joined rugby and ended up as a pro player. I am privileged to be here because I can create the world I imagined, but I also know it will take time.
What has sports given you that perhaps other careers wouldn’t have?
A sense of “if anybody can do it is me.” It takes a certain level of self-belief to just keep showing up every day, no matter what happens. I have a sense of self- belief that nobody can take away from me. And the knowledge that life goes on. Win or lose, tomorrow will come and you have to face the day.
How has your definition of success changed from being an employee to an employer?
First, I have learned to count the wins a lot more because when you are an entrepreneur or employer, you get exposed to everything that happens in the company regularly.
This has put me in a place where I am quicker to celebrate the wins that we have. Secondly, as an employer, the job is more than just a job. You have a closer attachment to the brand than when you are an employee, because you feel like its success or failure has your name attached, it is your name on the line.
What does Sandra want from life?
I want joy for myself and I want to bring joy to whatever space that I am in. I want that joy to have de-alienation between my career, my home life, my family, I want joy in all spheres of life.
What can Sandra do better?
Resting. I rest, but not enough. I can be more intentional about it. We are on this treadmill and Nairobi grind that never ends.
Is that your son who just passed us?
(We are recording from her house). No, that’s my nephew. We don’t have children yet.
How are you keeping a cool head in Nairobi’s money-is-Jesus mantra?
First, my husband is very supportive. I read something when I was much younger, that for women the most important career decision you make is whether to get married and if you do, who you get married to.
I don’t think about how am I going to balance things. There is work and there is home—and we share responsibilities in our home.
Secondly, I found physical exercise to be my saving grace. In a previous iteration of my career, in New York, I had major health challenges due to long work hours. Taking a walk for 30 minutes or going out to the gym for an hour, say three times a week, and not swinging in extremes of the pendulum gives you a balanced life.
I am grateful for my husband—we got married a month back—and my parents and brothers who have been very supportive. My dad told me back in high school, ‘If anybody can do it is you.’ That’s what I tell myself when things get tough. God has been good to me.
Did you marry your father, so to speak?
Yes and no. They are both very patient and listen before responding, and they are such gentlemen. But he, my husband, is really more like my mother, haha! They are both creative and impulsive. My dad and I are more structured.
Odongo, my husband and my mother are spur of the moment people. I don’t think I married my father but I am telling you a month and a half in, I believe I married well. But find me in 10 years and ask me again, haha!
Okay, but don’t change your number then. What does a good life for Sandra look like?
Slow mornings. Being able to wake up and breathe in and be with family. The last few years family has come to mean more to me than it did earlier in my life. Doing my undergrad and Master's outside the country and coming back gave me a much healthier appreciation for family.
Community, God, adventure, and fun—these are the things that maketh a good life.
