Nairobi News

Sixty five coaches drawn from the SportPesa Premier League, National Super League and the Football Kenya Federation Women Premier League converged on Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi for a week-long coaching clinic conducted by Arsenal Soccer School coaches.

Of the 65 participants, only three were women, an ugly reminder of the huge gender disparity in as far as football coaching in Kenya is concerned.

The training is being steered by the Arsenal Soccer School trio of Simon McManus (head coach of Arsenal Soccer Schools), James Colinese (Arsenal third-year youth coach) and youthful goalkeeping trainer Imran Hamid.

According to McManus, the training has been designed by Arsenal coaches and is focused on encouraging the growth of grassroots football in Kenya as a means to helping Kenya realise the country’s ambition of making it to the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

CURRICULUM

Manus acknowledged that there exists several barriers to the implementation of “Playing the Arsenal Way”, explaining that they had to devise a wholesome curriculum which is practical to the Kenyan football realities.

“The dynamics invoiced are very different. We have world-class pitches, professional players and infrastructure that is difficult to find here. It is very difficult, for example, to play dominant possession football in Kenya which is why we have harmonised the manual and found a middle ground of ideas that are both acceptable and applicable here in Kenya,” said McManus, who was Bournemouth Lead Age Group coach until October last year.

It is the third time the coaches are receiving training from Arsenal coaches, and the only novelty this time round is that the training has incorporated 15 goal keeping trainers.

Unlike last December’s series of training which was mainly focused on defenders, this particular training will help coaches identify and nurture formidable midfielders, forwards as well as goalkeepers.