Kenya Lionesses captain Grace Adhiambo wears more than one uniform. She is a serving police officer, a professional rugby player with the Nagato Blue Angels in Japan, the fly-half who leads her country on the world Sevens stage, and the newly elected female athlete representative at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
Speaking to gsport, she shares the perspective that travels with her across every role, that opportunity, not ability, is the gap facing African women’s rugby.
Adhiambo’s career abroad has shaped how she thinks about what is possible for African rugby players. The structure, investment, discipline, and visibility she has encountered have, in her view, revealed where the continent stands and how far it can go.
“The talent that we have in Africa can compete and achieve more on global or international stage when given the right structure, visibility, and exposure,” says Adhiambo.
“The gap between us and them is not the ability but the opportunity.”
Kenya Lionesses Captain, Grace Adhiambo
With the right investment in African women’s rugby, she believes the continent can produce the best players in the world, a belief she has earned the hard way.
Language has been one challenge of life abroad. The faster game plays and demands of Sevens rugby in Japan have been another, asking her to absorb a new system at speed.
“You need to be ready to adjust and learn as fast as possible, be ready to make a play,” says Adhiambo of life in the Japanese league. “Decision-making in the game has to be so quick, mentally ready.” She has come to “trust the system of the team, to have better communication with the team, and refine my skill under pressure.”
The ability to absorb and adapt has been sharpened by her work in the Kenya Police Service. “Being a police officer has shaped my discipline, sense of responsibility, and resilience,” she says. The composure required of an officer on duty translates directly to the composure required of a Test fly-half.
“You must keep calm under pressure and make decisions that are not only favourable to you but to the whole team.”
That description fits her position on the pitch precisely. “As a fly-half, I am the link between strategy and execution,” says Adhiambo. It is a role that demands quick decisions, mental readiness, and the steady belief of the players around her.
When she first picked up the ball, the player she looked up to was the New Zealand great Portia Woodman. “Portia is like the whole-time best rugby woman of all time,” says Adhiambo. She describes Woodman as “fearless, powerful,” a player who carried herself with conviction.
The trait Adhiambo emulates is Woodman’s refusal to settle. “She keep on going even when she is the best, but still wanted to be the best version of herself,” she says.
Leadership, in her own captaincy, draws on a different set of muscles. “It’s not about being the perfect one or giving the best answer, but a belief,” says Adhiambo.
“I focus more on a clear communication, clarity, and feed out the positive energy at those particular times.”
Rugby, she says, has taught her patience above all else, and a leader’s patience is a particular kind of work. Leadership under pressure, in her telling, requires composure and giving the team confidence in the moments where confidence is in short supply.
“Mental health is the foundation of a great player.”
She calls it the area “most underrated in sport.” A strong, positive mindset, she believes, is what gives an athlete the strength to push further.
Distance from home is part of the test. Living and playing professionally abroad means relying on a support system that exists at the other end of a phone line. Adhiambo credits the people around her, on and off the field, for keeping her grounded, the kind who are always there “to listen to me, encourage me.”
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A phone call from home, she says, can change how bad a situation feels. The rest she leaves to herself. “I control the controllable,” says Adhiambo, “and if I can’t, I leave or tackle it the way it is.”
Losses, she has learned, are not all the same. There are, in her words, “some losses that either build you or completely destroy you as a player.” Her approach is to take a loss as a lesson, go back to the drawing board, and study what did not work. Moving on takes “courage and strength,” she admits, but she does not have to carry the weight alone. The team, for her, is the difference.
Her election as the Female Athlete Representative at NOCK has given her a platform to push for the change she has long argued for.
“I hope to advocate for the increase in investment and structure for women athletes.”
Women athletes, Adhiambo adds, “require support and opportunity to grow, compete, and sustain a long-term career.”
The visibility loop sits at the heart of that work. Adhiambo sees a direct line between media coverage of women’s sport and the commercial investment that follows. “Playing the role to make sure that other people know about women players gives us the visibility,” she says, helping athletes “tell our stories to the society” and build “respect, recognition, and commercial values.”
“Media visibility is essential.”
Documenting women athletes and their journeys, in her view, is what brings corporate attention to the women’s game in the first place.
She offers the Kenya Lionesses themselves as the clearest illustration. “We had our first sponsors after 10 years, since the team was there,” says Adhiambo, “and that’s the greatness of a team that has a purpose.”
A decade of patience before the first commercial partner stepped forward.
“Sponsors invest where visibility is,” says Adhiambo. She sees platforms like gsport as central to building the respect, recognition, and commercial value that women’s rugby needs across the continent.
Her message to the girls watching from rural villages across Africa is direct. “You don’t need to be perfect,” she says. “Just believe in yourself, trust that simple process, stay consistent, and be courageous.” Background, she insists, is not a ceiling.
To the young athletes weighing a career in the game, Adhiambo points to a sport that is opening up faster than at any point in its history. There are more opportunities, she says, than there have ever been. The brief, in her telling, is to stay committed, work hard, hold focus, and be ready when the call comes.
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And to the teenage version of herself, “The journey will not be easy,” says Adhiambo, “but every challenge builds you for greatness.”
It is a sentiment that captures the Grace Adhiambo story in full. A Kenyan fly-half. A serving officer. A working professional in Japan. An elected advocate for women athletes. All driven by the conviction that African rugby’s future is one of opportunity finally meeting talent.
Main Photo Caption: Kenya Lionesses captain Grace Adhiambo balances multiple high-pressure roles as a professional rugby player in Japan, a serving police officer, and the newly elected Female Athlete Representative at the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, all while advocating for greater structural investment and visibility for women’s rugby across Africa. All Photos: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: The national fly-half credits her discipline and ability to remain composed under pressure to her career in the Kenya Police Service.
Photo 3 Caption: Inspired by global legends, Adhiambo focuses on constant self-improvement and maintains a positive mindset to lead her teammates.
Photo 4 Caption: As a vocal advocate for the game, the Kenyan skipper believes that media visibility is the key to securing corporate sponsorship.
