Africa-Press – Kenya. Highway Secondary School football coach Beldine Odemba believes the introduction of clear structures at the Kenya Secondary School Sports Association will be key in helping KSSSA products transit into the senior ranks with ease.
Speaking during an interview on KTN, Odemba noted that most promising players disappear after completing their high school education due to a lack of proper guidance on the way forward.
“We need to lay down proper structures for these young talents. They need to know where to start and where to go once they finish high school. We need to have means and ways of helping them join junior teams at our clubs,” Odemba said.
Odemba said the country was on the right path during the era of Centres of Excellence and stakeholders must strive to return to these centres if the country is to establish itself as a force to reckon with at the international front.
“Lack of a plan is our major setback. That is where countries like Uganda beat us when we go for these tournaments,” she said.
Odemba became a household name after leading Highway Secondary School to the East Africa final in Tanzania.
Odemba revealed that she harbours plans of establishing a centre where schools will act as a feeder for academies and clubs.
She lamented how sports in schools is not taken seriously yet it is the best ground to tap and exploit talents to feed the mainstream industry and national teams.
“This shows us that we are far much behind or we haven’t taken sports seriously,” she said. “We need to make sports lucrative. The government needs to come in and support these young talents.”
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