Archie Evans

Last updated September 30, 2019

Archie Evans (February 1922 - 12 November 2010) was a British teacher and civil servant who pioneered the development of athletics in Kenya and co-founded the Kenya Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA), now Athletics Kenya.^[1]

The British people, or Britons, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies. British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Celtic Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It may also refer to citizens of the former British Empire.

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa with 47 semiautonomous counties governed by elected governors. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by total area. With a population of more than 52.2 million people, Kenya is the 27th most populous country. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret.

Athletics Kenya (AK) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Kenya. It is a member of the IAAF and Confederation of African Athletics. AK organises athletics competitions held in Kenya. It also sends Kenyan teams to international championships. Isaiah Kiplagat is the current chairman of Athletics Kenya. AK is headquartered in Riadha House, next to Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi.

Early life

Evans was born in Keswick, Cumberland. He was educated at Keswick School and trained as a teacher at St. Martin and St. John College, Cheltenham.^[2] In 1942, he left his teacher training after just a year to enlist in the British Army.^[3]

Keswick is an English market town and a civil parish, historically in Cumberland, and since 1974 in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria. Lying within the Lake District National Park, Keswick is just north of Derwentwater and is 4 miles (6.4 km) from Bassenthwaite Lake. It had a population of 4,821 at the 2011 census.

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England that had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. It was bordered by Northumberland to the east, County Durham to the southeast, Westmorland and Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire to the north. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria.

Keswick School is a coeducational 11–18 comprehensive with 1231 pupils on roll. There are 286 students in the sixth form and 50 boarders. The school has previously been recognised under a number of designations, including; training school, Leading Edge, Science Specialist, High Performance and Gifted and Talented SSAT Consultant School.

Kenya

He was commissioned into the Kings African Rifles and relocated to Nairobi. During the Second World War he served briefly in the Burma Campaign. Whilst in the Army, Evans was tasked with developing a physical fitness programme for the soldiers.^[3] At the end of the war he had attained the rank of Captain in the Border Regiment, and briefly returned to Kenya before leaving for Britain shortly afterwards.^[3]

Nairobi is the capital and the largest city of Kenya. The name comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to "cool water", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper had a population of 3,138,369 in the 2009 census, while the metropolitan area has a population of 6,547,547. The city is popularly referred to as the Green City in the Sun.

The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot.

Evans returned to Kenya with his wife in 1947. He began working at Jeanes School Kabete, a special training centre designed to equip demobilised military personnel.^[3] In 1949, he was appointed ‘Colony Sports Officer’ and embarked on a programme training Kenyans in athletics and organising national championships.^[3]

While on a visit to England in 1951, he visited the office of the Amateur Athletics Association (AAA), and was inspired to create a similar organisation in Kenya.^[3] The following year, with assistance from Derek Erskine he founded the Kenya Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA), now Athletics Kenya.^[3]

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Sir Derek Quicke Erskine was a British settler in Kenya. He played a key role in popularising Athletics in Kenya and co-founded the Kenya Amateur Athletics Association, now Athletics Kenya.

In 1954 he accompanied a Kenyan team to London to compete in their first international competition. Later that year he used funds he had raised, largely from Erskine, to send the Kenyan team to Vancouver to compete in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.^[3] He subsequently took a team to the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff and 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.^[2]

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2016 census recorded 631,486 people in the city, up from 603,502 in 2011. The Greater Vancouver area had a population of 2,463,431 in 2016, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Vancouver has the highest population density in Canada, with over 5,400 people per square kilometre, which makes it the fifth-most densely populated city with over 250,000 residents in North America, behind New York City, Guadalajara, San Francisco, and Mexico City according to the 2011 census. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada according to that census; 52% of its residents have a first language other than English. 48.9% have neither English nor French as their first language. Roughly 30% of the city's inhabitants are of Chinese heritage.

The 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from 30 July to 7 August 1954. These were the first games since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952.

The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which were held in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1956.

Later life

In 1966, Evans left Kenya and returned to Keswick with his wife and children. On his return he took up a teaching post at Derwent School in Cockermouth.^[2] In 1998 he was awarded an MBE for his services to school sports in Cumbria.^[2]

He died in Keswick on 12 November 2010 aged 88.

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References

↑ Robert R. Sands, Linda R. Sands, The Anthropology of Sport and Human Movement: A Biocultural Perspective, Lexington Books, 2012,p.205
1 2 3 4 "Leading Figure in the world of Sport nationally and internationally". CW Herald.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Kenya joins other countries in club games". The Nation.

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[1] Robert R. Sands, Linda R. Sands, The Anthropology of Sport and Human Movement: A Biocultural Perspective, Lexington Books, 2012,p.205

[auto1-2] 1 2 3 4 "Leading Figure in the world of Sport nationally and internationally". CW Herald.

[auto2-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Kenya joins other countries in club games". The Nation.