When you think about our local football teams, the first things that come to mind are underperformance in comparison to our West African counterparts, corruption in the Kenya Football Federation and unpaid salaries to the players. However, a ray of hope in a form of a small football academy called ACAKORO in Korogocho is putting Kenya on the map globally by beating top youth teams like Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
ACAKORO is a community based organisation that started in 2013 as a result of a partnership between Kenya and Austria. They provide training kits, school uniforms and pays school fees for all the children in their project. Since its inception, ACAKORO has outdone itself and some of their notable achievements include their under 11 team winning the top spot in that age category in the “Donauauencup” tournament beating Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona in 2016. One of their coaches, Jackline Akoth was appointed as coach of the under 20 women’s national football team. One of their co-founders, Stanley Okumbi was appointed head coach of the Kenyan national team in 2016.
The achievements of ACOKORO will probably need more than just one article. The football team often wins national tournaments, their under 17 team regularly attends football camps in Europe, training alongside top teams like Southampton. Children sponsored by ACAKORO are between the ages of 10-17 yrs.
Because ACAKORO is non-profit, they rely heavily on donations from well wishers so if you can help out, check out their website to learn how you can lend a hand to this awesome project.