NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – In a bid to empower retired footballers in the country, Harambee Stars legends Musa Otieno, Hillary Echesa and Fred Ambani are among participants in the first CAF B License Course held in Kenya.
CAF B is the second highest level coaching qualification available in Africa, with the course taking four months including classes and internships at Premier League clubs.
For former Harambee Stars Captain Musa, coaching classes are vital.
“There is a misplaced notion that once you are a football player one can automatically become a qualified coach without attending the classes. Once you sit in class, you realize that your really don’t know anything.”
Fred Amabani echoed the sentiment.
“I want to thank the Federation because we were out here coaching without knowledge which is not the way things should be done. We were just doing what we saw our coaches doing but without really understanding.”
According to CAF instructor Leonard Odipo, the course is structured to immerse the coaches in the grind of training a team.
“This is not a five-day course, its four months of serious work. Its intense, its detailed and it’s both theory and practical They will sit it in class but they will also go out and get hands on. Every student is attached to a club where they will be mentored by the coach in that club and be given actual responsibility for training sessions,” said Odipo.
Echesa wants more former players to take up coaching.
“These courses have been made available and former players should take advantage of them. This is how we get to stay in the game and improve it.”
The former Stars have various ambitions for their upcoming coaching careers.
“For me it’s about using the knowledge I have gained to make an impact in the community,” Otieno says.
Ambani is more ambitious.
“I want to see a time where the national team is coached by locals not foreigners. Hopefully, I will be one of them,”
For their club internships, Musa Otieno is attached to Kariobangi Sharks, Fred Ambani to Nairobi City Stars and Hillary Echesa to FKF National Super League side Dandora Love.
Other participants in the course include former Harambee Stars players John Baraza and Anthony Kimani, KCB Assistant Coach Godfrey Oduor and former Harambee Starlets players Doreen Nabwire and Beldine Odemba.
