Fredrick Musisi Kiyingi
9 November 2009
Kampala — It is not too often that a family dominates one sport as in the case of Arthur Blick Jr and his two sons Alestair Arthur Blick and Paddy Roldin Blick. The Blicks are the current dominant force in Uganda's motocross after walking away with two national titles this season.
Blick Jr clinched the MX1 (Open class) with one round of the Mountain Dew-sponsored Uganda MX National Championship to spare. His eldest son Alestair also silenced the opposition in the MX 50 CC class. The duo is still in the hunt for regional individual honours when the third leg of the East Africa MX Championship takes place mid this month in Arusha. "It will be a dream come true for us if we can achieve the feat against our bitter rivals," Blick Jr said in an interview with Monday Scoreline.
Riding to the top, however, has not been all smooth for the family especially Blick Jr. "Unlike my two sons who jumped on the bike at two years, I first tested the bike when I was 13-years-old while a student at Katatumba International Academy Mbarara," narrated Blick Jr. He added: "I would train only three times a year- that is during school holidays. But for my sons; they practice at least every weekend.
After completing his advanced level education in Mbarara in 1996, Blick Jr embarked on a one-year training stint. "My first breakthrough came in the 1999 season when I won the first of my seven national (MX1 Open class) titles. I retained the title the following year," he said.
Blick Jr clinched the 2000 title but finished the season with an injury in his right knee, which sidelined him for two years. "I got surgery in USA and missed the 2001 and 2002 seasons. My absence allowed Abed Lubambula to be crowned champion," he recalled.
After the operation, Blick Jr came back strongly and achieved a hat-trick of titles 2003-05. "It was a good three years for me which also allowed me to get a chance of trying rallying," he said.
Times turned out to be tough for Blick Jr in 2006. While battling for the national title with Asaf Naten during the second round in Jinja, he injured his left foot. "The broken foot kept me out of the sport for the rest of the season allowing Naten to clinch his first ever Uganda national title," he said. Naten is an Israel national.
Difficult times
Despite the bitter feeling of missing out on the title, Blick was still delighted for Naten. "His triumph brought a new challenge to the sport as more foreign riders joined the sport," he said. "Just like in 2002 when Lubambula won the title, I was determined to reclaim it from Naten." Blick Jr did exactly that, dethroning Naten to win his sixth title in 2007. "The sporting rivalry between the two of us brought back the crowds," he said. Naten took the 2008 title but Blick regained it in 2009, his seventh in total.
Blick Jr thinks the sport is heading for difficult times if goverment and corporate sponsorship is not secured. He thinks he has been lucky to attract sponsorship because of his performances over the past 10 years. From 1998 to 2005, Lonhro Motors, agents for Yamaha were backing him with a bike and other logistics. From 2007 to date, Jomayi Property Consultants, Fotogenix and MSL Logistics have supported him.
Blick said he has spent close to Sh25m on three bikes in the past three years; his Yamaha Y2F450 model 2008, KTM-sx50 model 2007 for Alestair and KTM-sx50-pro junior model 2005 for Paddy. On top of the bikes protective gear is approximately $1,000 (about Shs1.9m) for each.
Parents' influence
Like his two sons, Blick also had some people to look up to as a budding rider. His father Arthur Blick Snr and uncle Paddy Blick (RIP) were inspirational. "Those two were very prominent sports figures in the world of racing and motor rallying," he said. "They also did other sports disciplines like soccer, hockey, tennis, basketball and rugby." "All in all, our family has a long sporting history. And I think it has had a big influence on me. Paddy and Arthur Snr were the best during their time," he said.
His wife Noela Blick and auntie Maggie Kigozi, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) executive director, have also been supportive. Blick is not yet thinking of retirement but wants to take a one-year sabbatical to undergo operation on one of his knees. "The operation is very costly, so am still saving money. I have not decided whether to skip 2010 or 2011. It will depend on the availability funds," he emphasised.
With the two sons ready to taker over the mantle, Blick said he will be riding for fun after the operation. "As you have seen, they (the sons) are already doing motocross," Blick explained. "Alestair (six years) started riding a motorcycle before he was two. At three, he could ride a three-wheeler. He achieved what I failed to do - winning his three national titles (2007-09)," Blick said of his son. Alestair is leading the East African Championship by 18 points, slightly ahead of Kenya's Murigu Njiri. Yet, the youngster still has another two years riding in the MX50cc category.
The other son Paddy ,3, recently upgraded to a two-wheeler, and last month's NRC round six was his second MX Championship. He is third in championship behind Alestair and Ali Omar. Paddy started competing last year.
Magic numbers
Blick and his son Paddy's bikes are numbered 99 and 4 respectively.
"My father Arthur Snr, zeroed in on number 99 because he said every time he participated he was giving 99% in performance," he explained. "So when he quit, I took over the number." "Paddy (RIP) used number 4 all his racing life. My son Paddy was born a day after the death of Paddy Snr. We decided to give him the same number as well."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
