Arthur Blick Jr: the champion reveals his secrets

He is a ten times motocross champion, 2015 national rally champion and 2015 national Enduro champion. With all these titles to him, fans have chosen to refer to him not by his real name Arthur Blick Jr. but as `Champion’.

He comes from the Blick family, which is a household name in sports in Uganda that is largely linked to motocross and motor rallying in Uganda.

Recently he has chosen to slow down and leave the armband to younger blood. He is focusing on motor rallying. He is, however, grooming two of his sons; Alestair Arthur Blick and Paddy Roldin Blick in the game of motocross.

Arthur Jr. has a degree in Business Administration from Makerere University. As a son of a mechanic, he picked up vehicle maintenance skills early but he chose to professionalise and acquired a certificate in mechanics from Kyambogo University in Kampala. He now took over his father’s workshop-Speedway Quick fix. He is also a partner at Victoria Raceway Park and runs a riding academy where riders are trained in defensive riding skills.

The family is into almost all famous sports disciplines in Uganda. Although the original Blick family hails from Oxfordshire in the UK, part of it has lived in Masaka-Uganda for decades.

The first Ugandan Blick – Penn Blick came to Africa as a hunter and finally settled in Masaka. One of his sons, Arthur Blick Sr. literally broke ground for the family’s sports career.

“My father won numerous championships in motor cycle racing and motor rallying in the late 1960s and 1970s until early 1980s when he got a spinal cord injury while competing in a race in Bugembe stadium in Jinja,” says Blick.

Arthur Blick’s mother, Grace Blick, who is half-Ugandan-half Dutch also navigated for her husband in the 1970s. She also navigated for Chipper Adams and is one of the first female navigators in Uganda.

Also related to the Blick family, former Uganda Investment Authority boss Maggie Kigozi raced motor cycles in the 1970s. The Late Paddy Blick was a motor cycle and rally car champion who dominated the motor sports world until 2004 when he passed on after a heart attack.

Others like Norman Blick and Donald Blick are into basketball; William Blick also rallied in motorcycles and cars and was also involved in Rugby as champion and now serves as president of the Uganda Olympics Committee. Leila Blick is a rally driver who has won a number of two wheel drive championships and Nannette Blick is a navigator to some of the drivers in the two wheel championships.

In a family that is deeply involved in sports everywhere, Arthur Blick Junior appears to be the most known among the public now.

He was born an only boy among six girls. Blick joined racing in 1996 and worked so hard to dethrone then champion Wycliff Bukenya who has switched to motor rallying. His competitive spirit was boosted when in 1999 he national rally championship.

In 1999, Blick met his wife Noella Blick at Watoto church in Kampala where they both fellowshipped and later wed in 2003. They have four children – all boys. His son Alestair Arthur Blick started racing at four years and was a pioneer Ugandan kid rider.