The sudden rise of Divock Origi from the youth ranks of OSC Lille to the starting line-up has excited thousands of Kenya football fans who are now calling for Divock to don the Kenya national team colours. Many of these are rightfully tired of the dismal performance of the national team. The last time Harambe Stars excited the Kenya public was in 2003 when they went on a winning run that culminated in qualifying for AFCON 2004 thanks in large part to the heroics of one Dennis Oliech.
It is therefore understandable that a fan base starved of success would like to see the rising star Origi in a stars uniform. Throughout the blogosphere fans have called on FKF to ensure that young Origi is capped by Kenya before Belgium snaps him up. A writer in a popular blog even said that Belgium should not be allowed to snatch Origi whom this writer erroneously claims was born in Kenya.
Sam Nyamweya, the FKF chairman said “I will talk to the Government to ensure that he is given a passport and I have a feeling he wants to play to Kenya. The new constitution allows dual citizenship and he is still a teenager so he can choose which country to play for,” FKF boss Sam Nyamweya said Friday.
According to Nyamweya, a formal approach had been made to the player’s family.
All this is most likely wishful thinking given that young Divock has been part of the Belgian youth setup and is therefore at senior level, he will be more inclined to line up for the red devils as Belgium’s national team is popularly known.
There are many talented youngstars in Kenya
With a population of 40 million people, there are hundreds upon hundreds of talented youngsters out there are many of whom are just as talented as Divock or more talented.
The difference is that Divock Origi has been going through structured youth development from the time he was in his pre-teens. Once his talents were discovered, the Belgians put him through the U15, U16 and U19 teams where he refined his technique and learned how to play structured team football, sharpened his strengths and eliminated bad habits.
Most Kenyan players do not undergo structured youth development. As a result, Kenya players are of a low calibre. Poor technique, poor ball control, poor positioning and tactical naivette are the hallmarks of the Kenya football player
Gor Mahia coach Zdvarko Logarusic in 2012 marvelled that Gor Mahia players did not understand tactical aspects of football that even 14 year olds in Europe know.
Frenchman Bernard Lama during his brief ill fated stint as Harambee stars coached remarked at the poor technique and ball control of national team players.
Lama was unimpressed by the calibre of player he saw in Kenya
It is no wonder therefore that Kenya players cannot cut it in Europe. Top Kenya players like Allan Wanga, George Odhiambo “Blackberry”, Jamal Mohammed, Kevin Kimani etc have all failed to make their mark in Europe. Patrick Oboya is stuck in the Czech second tier. Yet all are very talented players and among Kenya’s best. But once they go to Europe, their lack of fundamentals are exposed. Most other Kenyans who attend trials in Europe never pass trials.
When George Odhiambo arrived in Denmark he told journalists he was eager to showcase his dribbling skills. Dribblers typically do not thrive in places like Scandinavia because defenses are geared towards stopping them. Dribbling is a good skill to have but teams now place more emphasis on players with good technique, close control, tactical awareness and the ability to think and run at the same time. These are skills that are drilled into European players during their formative years in youth development schemes. It comes as no surprise therefore that Blackberry did not make it in Denmark.
Oliech made it in the French top league due in large part to his natural talent and his breathtaking speed. Kenya has many talented players but Oliech’s talents were exceptional. Nevertheless Oliech was very raw when he first arrived in France. On some occasions, he was almost dropped by his team and was on his way back to Qatar. He has however worked hard on his technique and the improvement has been noticeable. Watch him on videos and you can now see him shoot and score with his weaker left foot. He is now two footed which is an essential skill needed to succeed in Europe . Most Kenyan players can only play the ball with one foot. Oliech’s talents are such that had he gone through structured youth development, he might have been one of the best strikers in the world.
Aside from Oliech the the other Kenyans who have made it in top European teams have been defensive midfielders: Mariga, Wanyama, Robert Mambo and Patrick Osiako. It is virtually impossible for a Kenyan striker or attacking midfielder to make the cut at top European teams.
The fact that the top scorer in the KPL typically scores a paltry 14 goals is further evidence of lack of quality. Kenya strikers lack the refined technique needed to be good finishers. They do not understand how to position themselves to score. The Play makers lack the ability to make the precise passes and pinpoint crosses that create scoring chances. Oliech scores quite often in the French league despite the fact that he does not play as a striker. yet he has difficulty scoring when he plays for Kenya. This is down to the absence of good play-makers in the Kenya setup. Whereas he receives precise pinpoint passes from play-makers in France, he receives wayward passes in Kenya.
It is not that Kenya players lack talent. It is that those talents have not been refined via structured youth development. Sports is no different than academics in this regard. A person may be a good mathematician. But if he never gets good instruction from standard one to form four, his Maths skills will be shoddy. And when learning a language, it is easier to become fluent of you start in childhood. Those who learn a new language in adulthood typically have extreme difficulty and speak with a thick accent. This is the situation most Kenyan players find themselves in. They have been playing unstructured football throughout their lives. By the time they reach age 19, they have picked up many bad football habits and their weaknesses are ingrained. Even if they get a good coach in their early 20s, it is often too late. For example, most Kenyan players cannot shoot cross or pass with their weaker foot. A one footed striker can thrive in Kenya but in Europe, defenders will exploit that weakness. In Europe, 12 year old players perform shooting and passing skills with their weaker foot such that by the time they are 19, using their weaker foot is second nature.
Kenya: A permanent absentee in youth tournaments
The Africa youth championships for players under 21 have been played every 2 years since 1979. In the 34 years of its existence, Kenya has never featured. In fact in most of those 34 years, Kenya never fielded a team during qualification. Somalia have not only qualified but reached the semis once. Burundi were once runners up. Ethiopia have reached the semi finals of this youth tournament four times. At under 17 level, Rwanda qualfied for the FIFA U17 tournament in 2011.
Without even having youth teams that can act as feeder teams to the senior national team, it is difficult to see how Kenya football can progress. Yet successive FKF / KFF administrations have not seen it fit to take youth football seriously. Most have completely neglected it.
Sam Nyamweya’s FKF did better by fielding a team in the last qualifying campaign. They lost 3-0 to Egypt. Later in a tournament in South Africa, they lost all three games conceding a total of 9 goals and scoring none.
Kenya U20 lost 3-0 to Brazil
Nyamweya is however a vast improvement from his predecessor Mohammed Hatimy under whom Kenya never played in any youth tournament and whose sole focus was organizing lucrative friendlies in which he and his cohorts could pocket cash. The KFF chairman before Hatimy was Alfred Sambu who was simply an absentee chairman who never spared a thought for youth football. And before Sambu was the dreadful Maina Kariuki who nearly killed the sport in Kenya at senior level talk less of youth football.
Only foreigners seem interested in youth development.
The only occasions that Kenya had decent youth development or even youth teams was due to the efforts of foreigners. The German Bernard Zgoll established the Olympic youth development centers in the early 1980s. The centres existed in Kenya’s major towns and produced a generation of talented players like Wilberforce Mulamba, Sammy Owino, Sammy Taabu all who went on to become top class players.
As has been mentioned on this column, the best U20 team Kenya ever fielded was thanks to Austrian Gerry Saurer who went to the grassroots and unearthed players like Sammy Omollo, Allan Odhiambo, Tony Lwanga, Tom Odhiambo, Peter Mwololo etc and turned them into international calibre players.
Mathare Youth Sports Association was started by Bob Munro who is now a full Kenyan but was originally Canadian.
At club level, the only top team that seems to make an effort in youth development is Thika United. The last time Gor Mahia had a permanent youth team was under Len Julians in 1984 and Peter Pampuro in the 1970s. As far as this writer knows, AFC Leopards has never had a permanent youth team.
One player cannot make a big difference.
One good player does not make a team. In the unlikely event that Divock Origi is somehow convinced to play for Kenya, he cannot carry the team on his own. For Kenya to become a football power, the country needs a continuous pipeline of good players coming through the ranks. A good player of Origi’s calibre will not be effective if he is playing with players who are not at his level. Therefore having Divock Origi on the team will not work miracles. Dennis Oliech scores quite often in the French league despite the fact that he does not play as a striker. In Harambee stars he plays as a striker yet has difficulty scoring. The lack of playmakers who can create chances and deliver precise passes to strikers is the primary reason. Again this is due to lack of players with refined passing skills, tactical awareness and vision. This can be corrected via structured youth development.
What is the solution
Rather than hope that Origi will spurn Belgium and play for Kenya Harambee Stars fans should pressure Sam Nyamweya and FKF to come up with a program for youth development in Kenya.
So far Nyamweya’s emphasis has been at the top level. He even went as far as hiring Frenchman Henri Michel at a cost of Sh 80 million. If that kind of money was available, it would be better spent setting up youth development structures. Football should be developed from the bottom up and it requires patience.
Further to that, Kenyans should ask the government to expand on the UNICEF sponsored talent development centers. At present, only 2 or 3 such centers exist. This simply is not enough.Contrast this with Europe where each football club has youth structures that span all the age groups from U12 to U19. This means that a country like England has 3 dozen youth schemes each with hundreds of youth. Virtually every player in the top European leagues has been through such youth schemes. No wonder the quality of play is higher.
Ideally there should be talent development centers in each county to tap the best available talent in each county and expose them to structured youth development. Nairobi alone with a population of 3 million should have a minimum of 3 such centers if not more.
A well run youth development scheme at county level can make money by selling players to Kenya Premier league teams and possibly even to European teams.
If each county or even half the counties have youth development schemes, you could even have an inter-county youth tournament that is sure to draw crowds. Because of people’s natural affinity to their home counties, such a tournament could draw larger crowds than the Kenya Premier League which has mostly corporate teams.
The KPL U19 tournament is a sham
The Kenya Premier league once started a U19 tournament whereby each club was required to field a team. The tournament lasted only a few weeks which means most KPL teams hurriedly assembled a team then disbanded it once the tournament was over. A youth tournament that lasts one month is not youth development and does not contribute towards creating good players. To make matters worse, the KPL U19 tournament is now defunct. Rather than simply have a U19 tournament, KPL should use some of its sponsorship money to assist each team in creating a permanent youth development scheme. The result will be a higher level of play in the league.
Moral of the Story
The moral of this story is that if Kenya takes some steps towards structured youth development, the country could produce several players of Divock Origi’s calibre that could lift Kenya from oblivion. There is plenty of talent amongst Kenya’s 40 million people but it is all being wasted.
Therefore rather than pressure Nyamweya to bring Divock Origi to Kenya, let Kenyans pressure him and others in authority to start taking youth development seriously. Kenyans should also encourage wealthy philanthropists and companies to invest in the UNICEF sponsored talent development initiative to expand them and set up new ones.
A company like Standard Chartered bank could endear itself to Kenyans by investing in Kenyan youth instead of a five-a-side for corporate types that is of no benefit to Kenya football.
Kenyan sports fans counting on new governors
Kenyan sports has been neglected by successive governments. The sports federations have grossly underfunded, stadiums are in a dilapidated state and sports officials have been allowed to run federations like their personal fiefdoms. Worse still, land that was meant for public sporting grounds has been grabbed by well connected individuals.
With the new constitution granting governors the power to rectify these issues, sports fans all over Kenya will be looking towards newly elected governors like Dr. Evans Kidero of Nairobi and Wycliffe Oparanya to address sports issues that have been completely neglected.
Poor Stadia and Infrastructure
Virtually all stadia in Kenya were constructed by the colonialists. Since Independence, only two new stadiums have been built in Kenya; Nyayo stadium and Kasarani. Both were built by the Moi goverment. The previous Kenyatta government completely ignored sports and did not improve on what the colonialists built and neither did the Kibaki government.
Nairobi city stadium generates millions of shillings each month by hosting football matches. Yet no improvements are ever made. Nobody can tell where all that money goes. The stadium is badly in need of refurbishment and could use expansion and new terraces. Governor Kidero with his business background could partner with private companies who could finance the construction of new terraces at City stadium much like Safaricom did at the RFUEA grounds.
City stadium earns millions of Ksh. Where does that money go ?
Woodley stadium which was built by the colonialists in the 1950s and was used to host league matches in the 1980s has since fallen into disrepair. If refurbished, it too could start hosting league matches and generate income.
Reclaim land meant for sports
When the city of Nairobi was initially built, the original city planners ensured that every housing estate had playing grounds where the youth could play various sports, be it basketball, volleyball or football. Much of that land has since been grabbed.
Sports fans are counting on the new governors to revert to the policy of allocating land specifically for playing grounds. It is this land that will nurture Kenya’s future sports star. Throughout Kenya’s history, the best basketball and football players have honed their skills at these playing grounds. Yet these grounds are disappearing at an alarming rate. It partially explains why Kenya is producing fewer talented footballers compared to the 1970s and 1980s.
Boxing especially has been hit hard. In the 1980s and 1970s, there were social halls all over city estates which hosted boxing gyms. These social halls have since been grabbed.Thus budding boxers now have fewer venues to hone their skills. As a result, whereas Kenya used to win multiple medals at the Olympics, and were the African champions and Commonwealth games champions during the 1980s, few Kenyans ever qualify for the Olympics and those who do are bounced in round one.
The famous Muthurwa boxing club (Dallas) where world beating talents like Robert Wangila Napunyi and Ibrahim Bilali were honed is no longer in existence.
Railways sports grounds which hosts football, rugby, netball and basketball is constantly under pressure from greedy land grabbers induced by its prime location which is near the city centre. The new governor of Nairobi should not only stop this but should expand the facility and enhance its infrastructure which has not been improved since Kenya became independent.
Railway sports club in the early 1960s. It has not been refurbished and is now on danger of being grabbed
The new group of governors should not only stem this tide of grabbing sports grounds and social halls but should reverse it.
There is an acute need for playing grounds for basketball, football, rugby and volleyball. In rugby for example, there are only 3 grounds in Nairobi and none in most of Kenya’s major cities. In Kakamega and Kisumu for example, clubs have to borrow fields belonging to schools.The land on which The Harlequins and Impala clubs reside was given to the RFUEA by the colonial government. There is no reason for example why Mr. Kidero cannot provide land for the construction of playing fields. Community teams like AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia were once given land by the government, only for that land to be grabbed by well connected individuals. Kidero could help the clubs reclaim that land.
Sports as a crime prevention mechanism
One of the daunting tasks each governor will face will be reducing rampant crime. Keeping the youth busy with positive activities including sports and the arts is a good way to keep them away from negative activities such as drugs and crime.
Community sports
Both Dr Kidero and Mr. Oparanya have been supporters of community tournaments. One of the things that propelled Oparanya’s popularity in Butere and its environs were the youth tournaments he organized while he was the area MP. Now that he is the governor of Kakamega, he could organize tournaments that pit towns like Butere, Mumias and Kakamega town against each other in various sports. Such tournaments if well organized will pull huge crowds. And wherever there are huge crowds, sponsors will follow.
The same applies to Nairobi. Mr. Kidero could pick up from where he left off when he was in the private sector by creating an inter-constituency tournaments in football, rugby, volleyball and basketball for both men and women. Nairobians identify strongly with their neighbourhoods which means such a tournament if well organized could pull huge crowds and attendant sponsorship from the private sector.
In fact community tournaments will pull larger crowds than the national leagues which mostly feature corporate teams that have no fans. Community tournaments are thus far more capable of getting sponsorship.
Grassroots tournaments like Sakata ball gave the youth opportunities to stay busy, make extra money and sharpen their life skills and sporting skills
Sports as Job Creation
With Kenya’s youth unemployment rates at 60% , governors all over the country will be called upon to come up with creative ways to enable youth to generate income.
The youth can earn money by playing in well organized youth tournaments. In 2011 for example, the prize money available was over sh 3.5 million.
In addition, properly maintained stadiums and social halls that generate income by hosting games can also employ youth as groundskeepers, maintenance crews and others.
More importantly, expanded sports facilities will enable the youth to hone their skills that could enable them to actually earn a living by playing sports overseas.
Summary
The above does not just apply to Messrs Kidero and Oparanya. In fact governors all over Kenya could endear themselves to the youth by providing them with an outlet for their talents, helping them build their sporting careers and enhancing the talent levels available in the country.
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