Top European football scouts will be in Kenya on 16th and 17th September to select their lucky best from a group of 40 players from Green Sports Africa at the new artificial turf grounds at Gikambura Stadium in Kiambu County.
The announcement came on Friday morning in Nairobi during the official presentation of the scouts from Belgium, Greece and Germany.
“There are so many talented young footballers in Kenya, this is great news that the federation should embrace. The problem I think, just like many other African countries is scouting,” said Eintratch Frankfurt Fc youth coach Stephan Loboue who added that it is important for the government to set up all the necessary infrastructure for the development of grassroots football from a tender age.
The players who will participate in the trials had been earlier on selected from the recent gold cup 2017 tournament by internal scouts on 5th august 2017 at Hillcrest school in Nairobi.
“The thought of bridging the gap between talent and opportunity is very important to us. This is our commitment at Green Sports Africa. If we can do that in Kenya, then we believe that Africa too will be great as this is a starting point. We are giving these players a platform to showcase their talents and compete at international level,” said Marion Muthiani the IT manager at Green Sports Africa, who also added that Green Sports Africa is widely recruiting players from Korogocho, Kariobangi, Kibra, Riruta among other areas that have raw talents in Nairobi and its out skirts.
The gold cup tournament featured over 70 teams that participated in various age group categories. 15 players were selected in each category. However, the whole organization will be looking forward to see their u-23s challenging Elly Kalekwa’s Sofapaka u-20 KPL team after the try out.
The Ivorian Stephan Leboue who was a goalkeeper during his hey days for both his country, while also featuring for several professional clubs, is also now an agent.
“It is possible that we can get good players here for Bundesliga or other leagues in Europe. I am hoping that I will get one or two to go compete at top level. This is why I am here,” the Bundesliga youth goalkeeper coach summarized his short speech.
