Community Outreach-Flag Football For Juniors

The chairman of the Kenya Federation of American Football has finally rolled out the primary school/ secondary school outreach program. This is just one of the many programs they had planned for the year in an effort to popularize the sport further.

Earlier this year, KFAF came up with many resolutions including the desire to launch an official league and get the game to the grassroots. Well, it seems like they have embarked on implementation and everything is looking good so far.

The program was undertaken by the Umoja chiefs, one of the teams that is set to showcase their talent in the league later this year, and is sure to trickle down to the rest of the teams especially the university of Nairobi team and the Jomo Kenyatta University team.

Most league teams commence practice on Wednesdays through to Saturdays with Sunday regarded as a day of rest. As it turns out the players will be free to engage with schools of their choice on Mondays and Tuesdays to conduct community service or outreach by teaching the younger generations the new game and trying to get them to express interest and later join the league.

The chairman, Mr George Alwang’a believes that it is possible to get both the primary schools and the secondary schools in the league in the near future. Then the game might also be incorporated into the local games circuit that happens yearly in Kenya.

So the Umoja chiefs, with the stewardship of Suleiman Shaban the team captain have commenced on training younger children from Umoja estate in Nairobi. The team is currently known as the junior chiefs and their training largely comprises of interesting flag football as opposed to contact football. Despite the large size of the football, the young stars seem to be having the time of their life given the engaging nature of the game.

The kids are quick learns and it’s impressive how the want to play the sport every day I come out to train.’ Shaban said. The administration was also very supportive of their bid given it kept the children engaged and excited.

Shaban also expressed his concern on behalf of the kids. They were facing a problem of lack of sizeable balls and flags to augment the beauty of the game. Currently, they are using college footballs which are apparently too big for them.

The children didn’t seem to notice the size of the ball though, given they were experiencing the game for the first time but boy would they have loved it if they could throw the ball and play quarter backs just like in the movies.

This is definitely a big step for KFAF and if they keep the momentum up and high, they might achieve both their short term and long term goals in record time. The precedence has been set. My guess. American Football is soon coming to the Nairobi neighbourhoods. Its too early to call it a revolution but that is what it will be in the coming years.

Pictures for the flag football team.

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Umoja Chiefs Squash Jkuat Sparrows

The Umoja Chiefs had their debut match as a team in the Kenyan-American football league in a match with the formidable JKUAT Sparrows. Surprisingly, the obvious underdogs in the match upset the last year’s league leaders, the Sparrows. The win was convincingly firm with the final score being 38-16. This was in the recently formed 8-man league that has been running for three weeks now.

Community work

Early that morning the teams together with their partners Eagle mamas were involved in a charity program dubbed ‘fungua mtaro’ with the aim of cleaning and maintaining a conducive environment for the residents of Embakasi East. The event was organized by Eagle mamas founder-Cynthia Gitogna supported by the incumbent Member of Parliament George Theuri. Both diehard fans of the Umojachiefs.

 

 

UmojaChiefs currently are being coached by the Former Mighty Nyati quarterback George, a veteran in the Kenyan version of American Football. In the post-match interview, he stated that he had studied the opponents and designed plays for his players to specifically beat them. He didn’t shy away from sounding warnings to the University of Nairobi-Mighty Nyati, his former team and the next opponents of the Umoja Chiefs.

The team which has been termed as the underdogs of the competition because of their few players were quick to reaffirm that they were strong contenders for the league in the wake this emphatic win.

For the match, their captain was Fidel Odhiambo also known as Maphysics with other key players including Emmanuel Juma (Viper) and Dennis Odhier (Superman). “It was an exciting first win for us, even though it was a tough game for us. We maintained our focus in the game with the goal of winning. We held on well and maximized on their mistakes well. We all thank our coach for this win.” The captain remarked.

Coach George furthered that it was their consistency in developing their playbook that was finally paying off. He was happy that it had paid off in the win against the strongest contenders of the league.

Jkuat sparrows also had a formidable offense with prominent names like Mark Omondi (dupdup), the lethal Sparrows’ running back and Felix Rambo, the quarterback that had just debuted in the league after a long time of injury. As the game unfolded, the Sparrows were stunned by the Umoja plays. Mark especially was quick to note that they were clearly overpowered by the Chiefs. Jkuat is back to the drawing board with the goal of exacting a bitter revenge on Umoja in their next game.

“It’s like they had our playbook, and they cleverly outplayed us in each and every department on the field. I congratulate them on this win, however, they should still be worried because the second time we are meeting will have the home ground advantage and will have everything in place to revenge” said Mark Jkuat Sparrows.

Coach Ted was among Spectator during the highly charged and adrenaline packed game. He commented that “All of the teams played well. However, they need to clean up on their tackling techniques.

He also later noted that the games were strategic moves to discover talent and form an 11-man Kenyan team later this year in preparation for international games.

American football is rapidly taking shape in the country and support is required to boost it to realization soon. All this can be done by sharing this and other related articles to your friends and family to raise awareness of this amazing sport in Kenya

 

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International Academy Camp Star

The just ended camp was an astounding experience for the Kenyan athletes and representatives in canton Ohio. The camp  exposed players to complete football program in Division 1 collages. Form state of the art facilities, coaching programs, training schedules and diet program.

Lee Gullu and Abbas Yusuf U-19 athletes from Umoja chiefs football club were selected were selected through a rigorous process by the international scouts football, However Abbas did not travel due to ankle injury. Lee was impressive at the camp and coaches liked his maneuverability, speed and football IQ. when one of the officials was approached for reviews, he highlighted that most coaches(NFL) did not expect that kind of performance and knowledge of the game from a lad where football hasn’t had much of a grasp nor support. He has D2 prospects he noted.

‘This was wonderful stage set for me and many others to challenge our aptitudes, enjoy the sport and get to compete. I enjoyed the intensity we had at practice the breakdown of practice and best of all to be coached but the best in football” said lee

Besides Kenya, there were other countries that signed up players, including Guatemala, France, Belgium, England, Dubai…

Mr. Alwanga had the privilege to be at the camp and work with top NFL coaches on that sounding coaching experience. He had the following to share, “this was a great learning and interactive experience for young coaches with passion for the game and want to make a career out of it. The xs and os dominated the day but the most interesting part was how to utilize and maximize players practice time to their benefit.”

In addition, he mentioned he learnt offenses plays, coordination and when they should be executed. He points out that, defensive coverage (1,2 and 4) challenged many. ‘I encourage young enthusiastic coaches to attend this kinds of training, there is so much you can learn and network with the best in this sport.”

According to the event organizer Rich McGuiness this will be conducted annually at the hall of fame.

Talks are ongoing between  KFAF and the academy to conduct a similar exercise in Kenya in coming years targeting one hundred and fifty(150) players aged 20 and below(U20).

Just like any other sport, it grows with you with your input. your contribution in whichever way wont go unnoticed(Footballs, cleats, Helmet, shoulder pads,jersey…)

Help us by sharing this article to the world.

#AMERICANFOOTBALLINKENYA

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