Using Existing Schools to develop sporting talent

If there is one single idea that has helped develop refined sporting talent in Kenya, it is the active recruitment and concentration of the best sporting talent in one particular school that has a qualified coach. There are several examples of such schools that have resulted in the production of excellent sporting talent. Here are a few examples:

1. St Patrick's Iten has produced several world beating athletes since the seventies. They include Olympic gold medalists Peter Rono and Mathew Birir among many others. They did this by recruiting the best runners at primary school level  from all over Rift Valley province, and putting them under the tutelage of Brother Brolm O'Connell, an astute  athletics coach who taught them the finer points about running and pushed them to work hard on their development everyday. Many of these runners ended up pursuing degrees at American Universities besides excelling at athletics. So clearly Academics was taken seriously by Father O'Connell.

2. In the 1980s, Kakamega high school excelled at football and produced several international class players among them Mickey Weche, Ben and Dan Musuku and Patrick Shilasi among others. At the time they were coached by national team coach Chris Makhoha who happened to be a Science teacher at the school. Musingu secondary was another school that specifically recruited talented footballers from across western province. The intense competition between Kakamega high and Musingu high caused both schools to recruit heavily among primary school leavers in Western province and also among secondary schoolers. The result was that both schools produced several classy players and the standards of football in western province rose sharply as both schools dominated the national scene.

3. Kenya women's volleyball has excelled for decades in large part due to the volleyball programs and Lugulu and Mukumu girls. It is such intense competition that forces each school to work that much harder in recruiting players and developing them. And by exposing these young ladies to proper coaching earlier in their careers, Kenya womens volleyball has stayed atop the African scene for nearly two decades now. Some  alumni of these two schools such as Dorcas Ndasaba and Violet Baraza have proceeded too play professional volleyball in Europe.

    

Brother Brolm O'Conell, a true Kenyan legend

Kenyan sports federations with government support should seek partnerships with existing schools (preferably boarding schools) all over the country to develop sporting talent. The idea here is that the very best players who excel at a particular sport and show an interest in pursuing it after secondary school should be recruited and offered full scholarships to attend these schools. A QUALIFIED youth development coach should be hired to oversee the program. Emphasis on the word qualified because youth development is not just about winning games. In fact winning games is unimportant. It is more important to instill the fundamentals of the game, let the players have fun and develop a true passion for playing the game. In essence a successful senior level coach does not automatically make a good youth coach. Coaching at youth level often requires far more patience and attention to detail.  

Once recruited, the students should be trained rigorously and exposed to the best, most modern coaching techniques. It is critically important to instill proper fundamentals at an early age. Ideally, there should be at least 4 such youth development centres spread across the country. The very best players from across the country should then be recruited to attend these schools. They can then occasionally play against each other to measure their strength and level of development. Both boys and girls, machali na madem who excel at team sports should be offered opportunities to attend such centers. Once players are recruited, it will be easier for a coach to instill the much needed skills and monitor their development at close quarters. By recruiting several players each year, training them and sharpening their skills at an early age, the country will have a better chance of producing refined players who are ready to take on the rest of the world.

Both Girls and Boys who show true potential at primary school level should be awarded scholarships and put under proper training

Emphasis should be placed on academics because ultimately most of these players will never be able to earn a living playing the sport so it is important for them to be prepared to face the real world.

Recruitment should be done primarily among form 1 , 2 and 3 students from other schools who show rugby promise. Primary school leavers who have also shown promise should also be recruited as well.  Free scholarships and other enticements should be offered to lure the students.

Sports teachers should be trained in the best methods of identifying and nurturing raw talent. Tryouts should be used to recruit potential sportsmen/women. example girl who happens to be tall, agile, fast and who loves sports will likely make an excellent volleyball player if given an opportunity. Agility drills such as those that measure vertical leap, lateral movement, quickness can be used to seperate the cream from the best. A child who happens to be a fast runner but also has a good vertical leap will likely make an excellent hurdler.

With proper training from an early ages, athletes can learn the proper techniques rather than apply obsolete ones such as the "belly flop" technique applied by these high jumpers. The young lady on the left was representing Western Province at the Schools Nationals, while the young man was attempting to qualify for the Commonwealth Games. The proper technique is displayed by the South African athlete on the right. Coaches must be taught how to identify potential high jumpers. The best of them are usually tall and have very flexible spines. Training a person in the proper technique is not difficult. A coach should start by making them leap backwards over small heights. As they get more comfortable in leaping backwards, the height of the bar should be increased gradually. There are exercises that can be applied to make your spine more flexible.