10 local coaches have successfully completed a three-day training camp conducted by Hull City at Kenya School of Monetary Studies (KSMS).
The initiative dubbed ‘Coaches to Count On’ was organized by global technology, entertainment brand and gaming firm, SportPesa and is aimed at improving football standards across Africa.
“ I am thankful for the opportunity, I have acquired new skills which will help my team to get back to the winning ways. I hope to attend more of these sessions in the future, said Thika Queens Coach Benta Achieng, three-time winner of the Kenya Women Premier League title.
The selection of the coaches was based on qualification of a course offered by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) which has been ongoing since 2016. Among the selected, were seven male and three female coaches from different parts of the country.
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“The program was meant to impart the knowledge through local coaches who will pass it to their teams in order to improve football standards in the country.” Said SportPesa Marketing Operations Manager Patricia Munyororo, during the training’s closing ceremony.
The Coaches to Count On initiative also saw Arsenal coaches go to South Africa from April 8–April 10 to conduct a similar clinic while Southampton finished their session in Tanzania last week.
Hull City coach Richard O’Donnell believes that Kenyan football has a lot of talent and the program was a great opportunity to pass knowledge to the local football trainers and help them understand challenges to players, player empowerment and understanding each player in the team.
“We understand the environment better since we’ve been here before and we would love to come back again to share football cultures,” he added.
Harambee Starlets coach David Ouma was impressed by the initiative and thanked SportPesa for the opportunity to bring experts to help achieve and develop football in Kenya.
SportPesa has held several such clinics before in collaboration with EPL club partners Arsenal, Southampton and Hull City.
