Peter Akatsa

Kenyan sportsman Peter Akatsa competed in hockey and rugby before becoming a successful youth coach in the United States. From his early school days Akatsa excelled in multiple sports including hockey, rugby, cricket, and athletics. At high school his talent as a hockey player was spotted by a local team before he moved to Nairobi where he joined the Nairobi Gymkhana Club. Akatsa represented the Kenyan hockey team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with the team finishing in ninth and 12th places, respectively. In between his two Olympic appearances Akatsa won gold at the 1987 All-Africa Games in Nairobi.

Akatsa was also a talented rugby player who represented the West Kenya Orbis and the Kenya Harlequins in Nairobi. At an international level he was part of the Tuskers, the East Africa rugby union team that was made up of players from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Akatsa was in the 7th Tuskers squad that toured Zambia and Zimbabwe in 1982. The team played five matches including a match against a full-strength Zimbabwean international team, which they narrowly lost 15–12.

In 1984 Akatsa began to teach and coach youth teams in Kenya, becoming the head coach of the boys and girls junior hockey teams within four years. He moved to the United States in 1992 to begin a bachelor’s degree at Eastern Kentucky University. Akatsa spent more than 25 years working as a PE teacher and coach at the Lexington Christian Academy in Kentucky.