Ladies Nationwide Tournament 2010
From Friday, August 27th through Sunday, August 29th, KYFA co-hosted a nationwide ladies football tournament along with local ladies club Galactico FC. The tournament included two age categories: under 14 and free age. Teams from across the country were present including teams from Nairobi, Suba, Luanda and from around Kisumu town. There were seven teams in the free age category and six in the under 14 category. Preliminary matches were played Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. After each team had played four matches, they were seeded according to points and the top four teams qualified for the semifinals for each category. Semi-final matches were played Sunday morning followed by third place matches and the finals.
The under 14 semi-final number one featured Suba Lakers versus Galactico Youth while the other match featured Soccer Sisters versus Bislet United. Galactico Youth and Soccer Sisters both advanced to the finals. Suba Lakers and Bislet United met in the third place match with Suba Lakers defeating Bislet 3-0. The finals were played to a nil-nil draw at the end of regulation and Galactico Youth managed to take the title on penalties.
In the free age category, the first semi-final was a matchup between Galactico United and Ebusundi which Galactico won 5-0. The second semi-final was between Soccer Sisters and Victoria in which Victoria won 1-0. Soccer Sisters emerged victorious over Ebusundi in the third place match with a score of 2-0. Galactico United also claimed the title in a 1-0 win in the finals over local rival Victoria FC.
The tournament finished with awards being given including cash prizes for position 1, 2 and 3, medals for all players finishing 1, 2, or 3, trophies and balls for each participating teams. The tournament was a huge success and we hope to continue to promote ladies football in Kisumu and throughout Kenya!
August 2010
August 2010
The past months have been very busy here at KYFA. April was filled with capacity building trainings, as we were making use of the time that children are outside of school. The month began with a training of coaches at the Basic One level. This featured fifteen coaches from all over Kisumu who came together for five days of coaching training based on the KNVB curriculum.
This was followed by a workshop for the elected league committees from each of the eight KYFA leagues this season. In this forum, we discussed the rules and regulations governing the competitions and how they can be more effectively enforced. Also discussed were leadership qualities and communication qualities which are necessary for league committee members to display on the field of play. In order to make the workshop more experiential, we created scenarios which might arise during competitions and discussed different options and how league committee members might go about solving each situation. This forum provided us a chance to bring all the leadership of each league together and discuss and debate relevant issues and recommendations to improve the smooth running of the leagues.
The next week began our marathon of Informed Decision Making (IDM) workshops. It began with a workshop involving all the team captains from town teams and boasted 62 children who came for 4 days to learn, discuss, and debate our IDM curriculum and how it can be applied to individual teams. These youth leaders were presented with hypothetical situations and were taught the steps involved in making a decision. Many of the scenarios involved common challenges they may face including drug use, sexuality, adolescence, school, family issues, child rights and alcohol. The entire curriculum is based on informed choices and does not attempt to tell the youth what is right and wrong. These decision making, communication and leadership skills can be applied on the football field as well as off the field throughout their lives. The two following weeks included two more workshops for youth leaders in Otonglo followed by youth leaders in Kajulu. A total of 139 team captains were trained and developed follow-up plans to disseminate the information to their teammates and hold regular team meetings to discuss these issues.
The final training which was held in April was a First Aid training held in conjunction with St. John's Ambulance. Team coaches and some referees were trained on first aid skills to assist in emergency situations on and off the pitch. This training is part of an attempt to ensure a safe environment for children when they are engaged in competitions.
The month of May featured the continuation of all KYFA leagues. Each of the eight leagues have been running smoothly and are filled with competitive teams and players. In an attempt to promote respect within the leagues and quality coaching, we scheduled a coaching training through an international organization called Coaches Across Continents. They were here in Kisumu and conducted the training from May 20-29. Their sessions are entirely practical and took place at the pitch for 5 hours each day. The curriculum involves coaching drills which incorporate messages such as enjoyment, conflict resolution, HIV awareness, and female empowerment. Over 50 KYFA coaches came together for these nine days to share in learning new techniques, messages and football knowledge to help them deal better with the children they are coaching.
June featured our Annual General Meeting in which amendments were passed within the KYFA Constitution. Also, KYFA elected its Chairman, coming from KYS-NET Academy, Mr. Joseph Kibore. The following weeks were consumed by World Cup matches and the proud hosting of the tournament on the African Continent.
The last weeks of July were filled with the World Coaches program, a technical training course for coaches through the KNVB. It began with a six day course titled "Basic Two Coaching Course." There were 14 KYFA coaches who participated in the course. It was a rigorous curriculum which included classroom time and evaluation and coaching of practical sessions at the pitch. At the end of the training, there were 4 coaches who were recommended to continue to the next level. That course, entitled "UEFA Class C/TC3" began for 5 days with the four coaches engaged in even more practical sessions and evaluations. Their curriculum included training sessions for youth teams and match analysis. The courses were conducted by Piet de Jong, an instructor for the KNVB from Holland, and KYFA's own, Ted Odhiambo.
KYFA competitions are continuing well with the leagues coming to a close within the next month.