MALINDI, Kenya, March 31 – Bandari FC youth coach Alex Shikanga is advocating for a structured beach football premier league to enhance the spread of the game across the country.
Shikanga believes formation of such a league wouldn’t require a lot of resources as far as construction of pitches is concerned.
“Beach football is not necessarily played on beaches rather the pitches that are used consist of sand from the beaches. Kisumu has been blessed in that it is situated next to a lake…they can take advantage of that. Even areas that are not situated near a water body, they only need to ferry sand from the beaches and construct their own pitch and thereafter grow the game in their locality,” Shikanga said.
The tactician added that beach football can be an alternative career pathway for many players who may have not found much joy in the traditional version of the sport.
“Many people don’t know much about beach football yet it could be a big employer of many players. We’ve seen footballers who had hung up their boots find their way back into the game through this sport. Most of them never shone in the conventional football but have prospered in the beach version, having trained for it and learnt its rules,” he said.
Shikanga was speaking on the sidelines of the annual Kenya Beach Games at the Buntwani Water Park in Malindi.
The games, organised by the National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK), brought together hundreds of athletes competing for honours in various disciplines including football, wrestling, hockey, handball, volleyball, judo, taekwondo, 3×3 basketball, badminton and dhow racing, among others.
The gaffer lauded the vision propelling the games and suggested they be held regularly to provide opportunities for talent identification, nurturing and development around the country.
“They should take it to the next level…it should be held regularly and if possible, three times in a year. It is a game that is played in many countries and we should also follow suit. We have seen, for example, in beach football, many players going on to represent the country at international tournaments…for example, our beach football team was in Tunisia last year,” he said.
Shikanga was an optimistic man despite his charges losing 5-2 to defending champions Watamu Stars in their quarterfinal bout.
He is hopeful Bandari – who were making their debut at the games – will be one of the teams to beat at next edition having learnt the ropes this year.
“It was our first time competing in this tournament as was the case for our ladies team as well. We have been here all week being enlightened on the rules and coming to grips with the game. Today we lost but next year we will come back a better team,” he said.
The curtains come down on the games on Sunday with more events on the menu.
