image via Fifa.com
It’s no secret that Kenyan football is on a decline despite the increased interest in and exposure of our national football league. With the recent dismal performance of the national team raising alarms amongst stakeholders there has been a lot of debate on how we can improve and build on our football performance.
One of the things I feel we should start with is our football clubs. With the financial benefits streaming in from television rights and sponsors, it should be mandatory that these clubs invest in setting up youth structures like a youth team or a sporting facility. With each club having youth teams, and a league set up then we can follow the progress of football talent from a young age and ensure that we develop quality players. The same was done in German football and look where it got them.
Another thing is to work on the national football body and ensure that they have a vision and a plan and are not just out to fill their pockets. Most of us have no faith with the football association’s officials and there should be measures taken to ensire that the body is transparent and has the full support of the country.
There should also be work done to develop non-professional football in the country and setting up non-professional leagues that support teams from the 5- aside to the 11-aside teams. This will drive interest in the game and have more people taking a role to ensure that football in the country grows.
The government in it manifesto promised to develop sports facilities and it is time they delivered on this especially a national football facility where the youth teams and the national team can train. We should invest in a set up that researches on modern football training techniques and tracks eligible players from across the globe.
Last but not least of the measures, is the development of local coaches, trainers and managers. This will go a long way to having managers for the different league teams and professional managers/coaches at that.
We all wish to see Kenyan football flourish and we want our national team making headlines for all the right reasons.