Brother Hussein Juma, a member of Stanmore Jafferys, received a nomination and was a finalist for the prestigious Harrow’s Heroes Awards 2022 in the category of “Inspiring Young People” in recognition of his dedication for coaching young people in table tennis.
Who is Hussein Juma?
Br. Hussein was born in Kampala, Uganda and currently resides in London. He is a very experienced and highly regarded property and commercial lawyer. He came to London as a student in 1971 and after qualifying as a solicitor in 1981, he has practiced with a number of London law firms. Since 1988, he has as worked as a Senior Consultant at Vyman Solicitors Limited, a leading North-West London law firm.
Br. Hussein’s passion for Tennis and Table Tennis
Br. Hussein is extremely passionate about tennis and table tennis. He started playing both these sports at the age of 12 years and, since then, has played competitively for over 55 years.
in 1969 Hussein at age 13, represented Uganda YMCA for a two month youth development programme to the USA. Whilst in US, Hussein’s talent and potential in tennis was spotted by Arthur Ashe, who together with Stan Smith were providing coaching at a training camp to youngsters aspiring to become professional players. Ashe offered Hussein a Tennis Scholarship to a US College; Hussein’s fate was, however, decided by his mother insisting he had to study. Hussein continued to play tennis competitively and at the age of 16, he became the best junior tennis player in Uganda winning the National under 18 singles and doubles titles.
Despite his busy working life, he has throughout managed to play both sports competitively both at club and individual level and competed at tournaments at some of the most prestigious clubs in London including Wimbledon. Hussein applied his playing skills to coach his wife and all four of their children at both sports. His daughter became an accomplished junior table tennis player who competed in the local adults league and became ranked in the under 18 juniors age in England. Hussein, his wife and two their adult sons continue all continue to play competitively in the Middlesex League.
His involvement with Stanmore Jafferys
He has been a committed volunteer for Stanmore Jafferys Racket Sports (SJRS) since its inception. Last year SJRS recognised Hussein’s outstanding contribution and services to SJRS by awarding him the inaugural SJRS award. While recalling his journey as a volunteer table tennis coach for SJRS, in an interview conducted by Stanmore Jafferys, Hussein sait that his journey began about 8 years ago when he joined a random group of 10 adults from Stanmore Mosque who privately hired out a few tables for social play and fun. Since 2017, these social sessions have now become a very successful and structured table tennis club with regular training/coaching sessions on Saturdays attended by up to SJRS 35 members of all ages led by brother Mohammedabbas Merali, Hussein and their team of helpers. As a result of these structured efforts, there are now around 20 SJRS members (half of whom are junior players) who have attained the standard to play competitively at club level in the local league.
It is worth mentioning that last year, the 5 junior SJRS players coached by Hussein and Mo Merali who competed in the Wembley and Harrow Table Tennis League were crowned champions of their division in their first season. Hussein hopes to replicate a similar result this season by the 5 boys trained by him and Mo Merali with an average age of 11 who are competing this year in the local league.
Nomination at the Harrow’s Heroes Awards
Br. Hussein voluntary services at SJRS and his club for coaching young people in table tennis and helping them with their personal development has been recognised with a nomination for the award under the “Inspiring Young People” category for the prestigious Harrow’s Heroes Awards 2022, run by the Harrow Council.
In an interview with Stanmore News, speaking about how he felt about the nomination, Hussein said that “he was deeply humbled and felt that it should have been a joint nomination with his teammate Mo Merali”. He was very surprised (about the nomination) as he is not a professional table tennis coach. He said, “people like him Mo Merali and I do this because we are passionate and want to give something back to the sport that has given us a lot of pleasure.”
Br. Hussein’s future aspirations
He believes that our vision must change and be grander to see that our kids have the opportunities and full financial and other support required to transition them from grassroots to clubs, county level and why not national and global heroes. Better recognition of our famous sporting personalities like Asif Karim and others will inspire our youngsters to dream bigger!