MOMBASA, Kenya, Dec 10 – Harambee Stars legend Musa Otieno is determined to unearth talent in the Coast region at the ongoing Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) since Mombasa holds a special place in his heart.
Being in Kenya’s second city as the main coach for the KAS Coast region, it reminded Otieno way back in 1992 where he was first spotted as a young aspiring footballer.
Thirty-two years later on, Otieno is happy to give back to the community, saying the holiday camps have come in handy and will be a conveyor belt for the national football team.
“When I look back 1992 in Mombasa, this is where I was spotted and for me to come back and develop the future is a privilege because we normally say he who has the youth has the future and with KAS this is the right direction, in Kenya this is what we have been missing,” Otieno, who was a long serving Harambee Stars head coach said.
While welcoming the move by KAS to establish the holiday camps, Otieno, who was one of the coaches during the inaugural Talanta Hela initiative, challenged the Kenya Academy of Sports to ensure continuity so as not to lose the talent.
“As coaches, our role is to see how we can give these players a good football professionalism at an early age. We just coach them the basics and techniques which they have been lacking. Luckily, these are kids who have been selected from the School Games held in the coast region,” Otieno told Capital Sport.
He added, “The big challenge is from there what next? KAS should go further down to primary schools to source for talent. In secondary schools, there are players who will show promise at an early age and can be scouted to go play abroad and that is the path that needs the support.”
The boys are based at the Mombasa Baptist Secondary School while girls have pitched camp at the Shimo La Tewa Secondary School and Otieno is so impressed by the players passion and zeal.
“Each player has his own talent, for us as coaches is just to open the doors for them. The challenge has always been the breakdown between school coaches and us, but now we bring in professionalism to complete the process.”
“KAS now have a data base of all the players, the ones who will do better will be taken to Nairobi for a national elite camp where the best will be selected by international scouts. Kenya is in the right trajectory because if you look at the Talanta Hela programe, it churned out good players, that tells you that it’s something that is good.”
The players had a privilege of getting words of wisdom from legendary former Harambee Stars coach Mohamed Kheri who hails from Mombasa.
