Football stakeholders urge political leaders go beyond 'holiday' tournaments

Football stakeholders in the country have urged political leaders to pay more attention to sports infrastructure development instead of concentrating on seasonal tournaments.

Led by former Kajiado FC head coach Mohammed Hamisi, the football enthusiasts feel that the main hindrance to sports development in the country is a lack of proper sporting facilities.

Hamisi, who now handles Rainbow FC, has acknowledged the festive season tournaments have helped discover grass-roots talents, but underlines more needs to be done.

“During the Talanta Hela tournament, we saw about 80 talented athletes whose talents had not been discovered, and this has brought another dimension that these tournaments are very important. However, they have to be organised with a plan to take those special talents to the next level.”

Mathare United CEO Jacktone Obure wonders why there is little or no attention given to upcoming athletes who showcase their talents in such competitions.

“After these players do well in such competitions and earn a fortune, what next? Do they have a team at hand to scout these players and help nurture their talents? Looking for talents is not all about cash prizes. The idea is to identify them, and start the journey to polish the talents ian an organized manner.”

Kenyan Women Premier League side Bungoma Queens coach Robert Machio has underlined the need for political leaders to go beyond the seasonal tournaments.

“I appreciate this initiative, but they should also rally academies by providing the athletes with equipment and finance to help in their movements. This will help grow talents; a number of athletes trained in these academies are doing well, and it is also an easy way to scout players for the national team.”

At the same time, Hamisi and Obure feel that investing in sporting facilities across the country will enable coaches to continually polish the players they spot during the seasonal tournaments.

“Instead of a one-off tournament, they can channel their funds and refurbish current stadiums to ultramodern ones, as well as appeal to the government through the ministry of sports and help build standard stadiums across the country,” said Hamisi.

Obure added: “They can as well boost the Kenyan leagues, which are the KPL, KWPL, NSL, and Divisions 1 and 2, so that we have each team identify with a county and leaders channel their funds to it.”