Coach says poor team selection cost Starlets

HARAMBEE STARLETS VS UGANDA Harambee Starlets with their coach David Ouma against Uganda Crested Cranes during the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier at Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos on Wednesday 04/04/18[Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Ouma calls for more friendly matches to help the national team do well in tournaments.

A Women Premier League (WPL) coach has hit out at the mode of selection for the national women football team Harambee Starlets and lack of support from the federation.

The Kenyans girls registered a poor performance at the just concluded Council of East and Central Africa Football Association Women Championship that ended in Kigali on Friday.

The coach said that apart from poor selection, the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) was also to blame for not organising friendly matches for Starlets like they do with Harambee Stars.

“The deteriorating performance of the team is a true reflection of the poor standards of the game at the national level. Lack of support especially in the WPL has also contributed to the poor state,” said the coach who did not want to be named.

“As teams, we are happy that the federation decided to give every team taking part in the league Sh750,000 grant but this is not enough.

“FKF and the Government have to be serious with the national team. Harambee Stars is playing very many friendly matches but Starlets don’t. This cannot gauge the team well. Another issue ailing the team is that the national team coaches never watch league matches week in week out.

“They can’t make informed decisions. Instead, they rely on the media and referees’ reports to get statistics. This is worst,’ said the coach who sought anonymity.

Starlets coach David Ouma also echoed the sentiments of his counterpart on the need for friendly matches.

“I was not happy with the results in Rwanda, but I commend the players for the effort.

“The development of play in the team was good and ability of players was top but they need to play more matches to be at their best,” Ouma said.

In the just concluded edition where it was played in a round robin format, Starlets managed to score only three goals unlike the 2016 edition where they scored 23 goals.

Despite picking a 2-0 win over the hosts, She Amavubi, in their last match, Kenya finished with four points from a single win, a draw and two defeats.