Promising age-group football needs more support
What you need to know:
- Partnerships between such schools and universities locally and abroad should also be nurtured by school principals, such as St Anthony’s head Victor Makanda who has successfully interwoven sports and education with awe-inspiring results.
- Our universities have been the missing link as star players coming through from a vibrant high school sports set-up hardly develop their footballing skills to full potential once on campus.
Kenya’s victory in last week’s Copa Coca-Cola under-16 Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Nakuru offered good promise to the Kenyan game.
The psychological lift of having defeated Nigeria in a continental tournament — for the first time ever — regardless the calibre, was a breath of fresh air for a sport in which we have struggled to dominate on the continent, flattering only to deceive.
Coupled with Gor Mahia’s 3-1 humiliation of Nigeria’s Lobi Stars in the Caf Champions League round of 30, first leg match last Sunday, Kenyan footballers can now dare to dream with the psychological edge over Africa’s football powerhouse.
Bring on the "Super Eagles!"
Lucrative group stage
We hope K’Ogalo will hang in there during the return match at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu this Saturday to make the lucrative group stage for the first time ever.
Kenya’s under-16 boys defeated Nigeria on penalties in the 12-nation tournament’s final last weekend and the hosts completed a double with a 1-0 win over Zimbabwe at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium in the girls’ final of the continental show organised by the Coca-Cola Company ostensibly to nurture talent.
It was also reassuring to see Kenyan players earn individual accolades with goalkeeper Issa Emuria bagging the "Golden Gloves" award and striker Jacob Onyango walking away with the "Golden Boot" honours for his five strikes.
The success in Nakuru confirmed what we have all along been saying — that there’s enormous talent in Kenya which only needs to be nurtured.
It’s sad that, despite the home teams’ stellar show, coach Peter Mayoyo complained of lack of technical, financial or moral support from Football Kenya Federation (FKF) who should have taken keen interest in the teams in Nakuru with international age-group competitions in mind.
That Kenya is on the brink of qualifying for next year’s Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations in Egypt, from where the top three nations qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is a huge step towards restoring our dented football pride.
But while FKF is focusing on this team, they must also invest in the lower age-groups, including the under-16s who clinched the continental titles in Nakuru.
Support should be given to schools that have excelled in football by transforming these into centres of excellence that enjoy steady material and financial support.
Schools such as St Anthony’s Boys High School, Kitale, that formed Team Kenya at the Nakuru tournament, Kaya Tiwi, Upper Hill, Dagoretti, Kakamega, Kisumu Day and Passenga on the boys’ side, and Moi Nangili, St John’s Kaloleni, Butere, Bishop Njenga, Wiyeta, Tartar and Ibinzo on the girls’ front, to mention but a few, can be such centres of excellence.
FKF, through the Ministry of Education, should source scholarships to cover fees for the talented players besides offering their teachers and coaches training opportunities that abound within the Fifa development system.
Partnerships between such schools and universities locally and abroad should also be nurtured by school principals, such as St Anthony’s head Victor Makanda who has successfully interwoven sports and education with awe-inspiring results.
Our universities have been the missing link as star players coming through from a vibrant high school sports set-up hardly develop their footballing skills to full potential once on campus.
The demise of the talent-nurturing partnership between Unicef and the Ministry of Education was a huge blow to age-group sports, and efforts must be made to rekindle such partnerships for our football to thrive.
Corporates too should chip in and help our youngsters realize their full potential.
While it’s inspiring to bring footballing legends on whistle-stop tours of Kenya, such tidy sums paid to these pensioners could be better utilized in financing football development programmes at schools that have shown promise as we battle to groom our own stars.
Meanwhile, a word of caution to K’Ogalo as they travel to Nigeria this weekend: They should be well aware that the two-goal cushion is far from safe.
They must send an advance party to Enugu to make necessary preparations because their hosts will do whatever it takes to win the match outside the 90 minutes, including delaying their transfer from Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed Airport to Enugu, driving them around in a rickety bus and putting them up in a mosquito-infested downtown hotel adjacent to a noisy pub frequented by scantily clad, cigarette-puffing twilight girls.
Don’t mention throwing them onto a sandy pitch for pre-match practice! That’s why coach Hassan Oktay isn’t celebrating yet…
