Prepare Junior Starlets
The national women’s under-17 football team requires good preparations ahead of the second round of Fifa Women’s Under-17 World Cup qualifying match against Uganda scheduled for March. The competition will now be held annually for the next five years, with Morocco playing host for this year’s edition.
This team made history as the first Kenyan national football team to ever qualify for a world cup when they featured in the 2024 edition held in the Dominican Republic in October last year. The Junior Starlets might have failed to advance to the knockout stage but punched above their weight, leaving the championships with their heads held high as they finished third in their group. They won against Mexico 2-1 but lost to England and North Korea 2-0 and 3-0, respectively.
Uganda has always been a thorn in the flesh of Kenyan teams and that calls for better preparations, which is only possible if the new Football Kenya Federation (FKF) allows continuity in the team, especially the technical bench. Coach Mildred Cheche, who was appointed in April last year, went against all the odds, guiding the team to the historic world cup. She is the right person to continue handling the team.
Besides continuity at the technical bench, the tacticians should conduct proper recruitment of players. Preparations should start as soon as possible since the last minute rush that Kenya is used to will be a recipe of chaos and failure.
More so, FKF and the government should rejuvenate the Talanta Hela initiative that former Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba initiated in 2022. The initiative proved that talent can be developed from the lowest level and monetised, giving the youth hope and passion to pursue their dream.
The men’s under-20 national football team, the Rising Stars, secured a spot in the 2025 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) after an emphatic 4-0 victory over Burundi in the semi-finals of the Under-20 AFCON CECAFA Qualifiers in October last year.
