Selebwa: Early planning crucial to avoid youth squad chaos

Coach Selebwa faced a tight deadline to assemble a competitive squad for the upcoming CECAFA U-20 AFCON Qualifiers, as the majority of the players who featured in the previous Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt are now overage.

While he scouted more than 70 prospects, most were either ineligible due to age or lacked valid passports that could be processed in time ahead of the event set for September 15-25 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Consequently, Selebwa turned to the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) National Finals to fill the gaps.

The final 25-man squad comprises seven schoolboys, eleven Kenya Premier League players, and four foreign-based talents.

“The selection process has been extremely tedious for the simple reasons that players for the last edition have not been available and for the various reason some of them has gone over the age something which has forced us to go back to secondary school to pick talents.

“The other obstacle is the identification. Most of our players don’t have proper documentation like passports and because of the time frame, it was not posssible for us to get the documentation right on time. We had over 70 kids in the camp and because of the reason stated they have not been able to make it in the list,” he said.

Selebwa urged both the federation and the national government to address these systemic issues, stating, “This is a call up to the federation and the government to ensure we correct the gaps."

Despite the challenging setup, the coach remains confident he can lead the team to the 2027 U-20 AFCON in Ghana by securing top honours at the qualifiers in Tanzania.

The Rising Stars depart for Tanzania on Saturday before kicking off their campaign against Burundi on September 17 at 8pm at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, then take on South Sudan on September 19 at 2pm.

Group A features hosts Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, while Group B includes Uganda, Sudan, and Djibouti.

Kenya must secure a top-two finish in the tournament to book their ticket to Ghana.