Makueni County launch grassroots coaching clinic

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) technical director David Lungáho and former Harambee Stars assistant coach Leonard Saleh are among top tacticians currently in Makueni County for a two week-long training programme organised for grassroots coaches.

The initiative, spearheaded by the county government of Makueni, is aimed at bridging a gap in coaching management and supervision and will see local gaffers drawn from all the 30 wards benefit with basic knowledge from the invited instructors.

The county sports director Ambrose Kisoi says the initiative which kicked off Tuesday, will improve the status of the county’s league dubbed ‘Ligi Mashinani’ and the annual Makueni Super Cup Tournament.

“The programme will in the long run improve our sports because many coaches our coaches don’t have the basics and as department of sports we’ve organised the training in order to ensure what they will be giving our athletes is the best.

“We’ve roped in the best instructors from our area and also from other parts of the country who will train our coaches before they are enrolled to National Level One courses. The target is to have a very professional and competitive Ligi Mashinani which will produce potent talents to the sports industry,” Kisoi told Citizen Digital last week, days before the initiative kicked off.

Lungáho, who is in Makueni alongside veteran Kenya Prisons middle-blocker Brackcides Agala and former national men’s volleyball team head coach Geoffrey Omondi, says beneficiaries will be eligible for volleyball National Level One courses.

“It’s a good initiative which I think all other counties should adopt because grassroots coaches play a very key role in the growth of sports in the country. In the next few years Makueni will be a force to reckon with in sports due to the formidable foundation the county is laying down.”

He added: “Counties should embrace growing sports from grassroots level because it’s a devolved unit and we’ve massive untapped talents owing to lack of proper facilities.”

According to Kisoi, the county is awaiting for final guidelines from the Ministry of Sports before the local league restarts.

Late last month, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed released draft guidelines in a detailed report on sports restart in the country further directing stakeholders to give their views – in a period of seven days – on the report, before the Ministry puts together the final protocols.

However, the CS is yet to announce the way forward for the sporting activities, a week after the stakeholders gave their respective recommendations.