For many years there has been a well-known question concerning Kenyan football: where will the next generation of stars for the national team come from?
It is too frequently the case that discussions concerning youth development have focused on the lack of structures, the uneven level of investment, and the difficulty of spotting talent apart from a small number of well-known football centers.
Perhaps the most important lesson learned from Kenya’s involvement in the first FIFA U-15 World Cup and Festival in Azerbaijan is that change can take place when talent identification is regarded as a purposeful process rather than something that is only done occasionally.
The fact that the young Kenyan team finished in 26th place out of the 189 participating nations and thus became the highest-ranked nation from the CECAFA region was a significant statement. It also showed what can be achieved through a well-organized youth football program.
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The Football Kenya Federation, under its president Hussein Mohammed, has deliberately changed its approach behind that performance.
Instead of using traditional methods of selection, FKF has decided to adopt a nationwide Talent Development and Identification (TDI) program. Trained scouts, who are based in all 47 counties, have been given the job of finding talented players at schools and in grassroots competitions. The results of their work are stored in a central talent database, which creates a broader and more structured selection pool for the national youth teams.
This is important since in Kenya talent has never been limited to Nairobi or a small number of well-known football academies; there are able young players in Kisumu, Garissa, Mombasa, Eldoret, and other areas of the country who only need a chance to be found.
FKF has likewise provided support, via the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, for residential pre-selection camps of a high performance standard at 12 regional centers, thus opening up the process of selecting the national team to hundreds of young players.
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Mohammed’s involvement has extended beyond making administrative decisions; it showed the importance the administration places on youth football and on giving young players international exposure that his personal trip to Baku to support the team during the tournament demonstrated.
The fact that he has dealt with Gianni Infantino, the President of FIFA, has also introduced another important aspect to the discussion. Infantino praised Kenya’s performance and stressed once again FIFA’s commitment to setting up more than 50 football stadiums in the country.
If properly put into action and looked after, such infrastructure could be transformative; in addition to offering playing surfaces, these facilities could take on the role of centers for discovering, developing, and monitoring young football players.
FKF has also entered into a partnership with ACAKORO Academy in order to secure a longer-term pathway, the aim being to provide a residential high-performance environment and to assist the present U-15 generation in making the transition to the U-17 national team.
That is in fact the true test of the project.
It is worthwhile to celebrate a good performance in Azerbaijan, but the greater achievement would be making sure that these boys don’t vanish into the system after their time in the international spotlight. They should be kept under observation, receive coaching, be given education, and have a clear route for progression.
Kenyan football has frequently welcomed promising new generations without establishing the needed structures to keep their development going.
Now Mohammed’s government has the chance to alter that narrative; the scouting network, the talent database, the regional camps, FIFA’s support, and the academy partnership all provide important foundations.
The challenge is consistency.
If these initiatives are carried out, adequately funded, and extended, Azerbaijan may one day be known not only as the tournament in which Kenya came 26th but also as a turning point in its methods of developing football talent.
The future of football in Kenya cannot be based merely on the results of the senior team; it will instead be shaped by the development of today’s young players as they are spotted, cared for, and prepared for the future.
Maybe that is the most important legacy of Kenya’s experience with Azerbaijan.
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