Top Talanta Hela prospects head to Barcelona's Nastic Sports Academy
President William Ruto hands over the winners' trophy to Homa Bay County players after winning the Talanta Hela Boys Under 19 final match against Kisumu County on December 12, 2023 at Nyayo National Stadium.
What you need to know:
- They have been grouped into under-17 and Under-20 teams for both boys and girls, with 25 players each in the four categories from 179 playersinitially called up for the camp.
Some players selected from the recently concluded Talanta Hela Under-19 Inter-County Football Tournament will head to Barcelona's Nastic Sports Academy for a high performance training in March.
The players will be selected from the 100 that have been training at Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani, for the last three weeks under the watch of several coaches.
They have been grouped into under-17 and Under-20 teams for both boys and girls, with 25 players each in the four categories from 179 playersinitially called up for the camp.
Homa Bay and Busia Counties emerged winners of the inaugural U-19 Talanta Hela tournament in the boys' and girls' categories, respectively.
The tournament started at the grassroots level in all 47 counties, with Homa Bay and Busia receiving Sh5 million each for their victories.
Kenya Academy of Sports (KAS) CEO, Dr Doreen Odhiambo, told the press on Friday at Kasarani the exercise is part of the country's preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), whcihwill be co-hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
"This is a journey we embarked upon in March of this year with players from all over the country. This is a team that we want to start developing but this does not mean that we zero in the ones that have been selected. We now have a team that will represent us in the 2027 games. The tournament is not all about working on the infrastructure but also nurturing the talents earlier ahead of the tournament," said Odhiambo.
"We will scout for more talents. The travelling squad is yet to be named. While the camp was intended for U-19 participants, we have also identified promising players from the U-14 category. Our objective is to cultivate and nurture this team, we want to revive football in our country," added Odhiambo.
Odhiambo also noted there are plans to expand the efforts to other sports.
The team had players drawn from the Talanta Hela U-19 tournament, Kenya U-18 team that finished second in the 2023 Cecafa tournament, the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKF-PL) and the National Super League (NSL) clubs.
Coach Stanley Okumbi and Jackline Juma were appointed to guide the boys' and girls' teams.
"Technically Kenyan players are better off but not good when it comes to physique. Most of the players are in school and they do not get quality training. We tried working on defending and attacking because that is what we lack in our senior team. We also worked on the midfield where we always reminded players to always think forward," said Okumbi.
Juma stated: "Apart from impacting them with football knowledge we also took them through life skills and mentorship programmes. Sometimes we go beyond football because we have to integrate them in order to get a holistic player."
The Nastic Sports Academy is home to several Kenyans who joined the academy in September - Ismael Alal Odhiambo, Ezekiel Nguwa, Amos Wanjala, Aldrine Kibet and Alvin Kasavuli.
