About thirty potential professional football players are being put through fundamental drills to sharpen their talents on the dusty field of Karapul Primary School in Siaya County.
The tens of brightly colored cones and beeps are perhaps the only shiny items on the dusty grounds, but the hopefuls go on anyway, the commanding voice from the coach as he issues instructions intermittently permeating the airwaves as the boys sweat to impress the coaches.
Soon, the training boys are cautiously passed by twelve elderly guys. A quick look and grin, followed by a lively conversation in which they criticize the young students receiving instruction.
Enthusiasts of soccer may recognize the faces, but it goes without saying that almost three-quarters of the lads on the training ground may only know their names from publications.
The gingerly old man’s name read like who is who amongst the former international football players greats, all drawn from various teams across the country.
Among them, Gor Mahia’s Golden Boy Peter “Omuga” Dawo, John, Bobby Ogola, George Fundi Oduor, James Goro Oronge, Isaiah “Janabi” Omondi, Dan Omino, and Gerald Omollo “Chonjo,” among others.
Under the Eliud Owalo Foundation, they have followed this practice in an effort to rekindle the passion for soccer, the most popular sport in the nation.
“We are carrying former international players to mentor and encourage potential future stars on how to navigate through and make it to the top,” said Eliud Owalo, the patron of the Foundation.
In their quest to find the next great soccer player in the area, the former players have visited Kisumu, Bungoma Migori, Homabay, and Kakamega counties.
“During our times, we played for passion and the love of the game, but today, this is a multibillion-shilling sector. If you remain grounded and disciplined, the sky is the limit.” Advises Peter Dawo.
A football player’s productive career is limited, thus Dawo further challenges the player to start planning for retirement early.
“You can only play for about 10–15 years. After that, how do you fend for your family?” Posed the Mandela Cup winner.
Former players also want more resources pumped into non-institutional clubs’ sentiments, deputy chief of staff, and Eliud Owalo foundation patron Eliud Owalo agrees with.
“But as we invest in those clubs, management must work round the clock to ensure sound utilization of resources, as that is the only way partners will be interested and encouraged to invest in non-institutional clubs. Said Owalo.
To motivate grassroot teams in the county leagues, national super leagues, and some in the premier leagues, the foundation has donated training kits, paid participation and referee fees, as well as player tokens.
The foundation also organized an inter-county soccer tournament where the best selected players played against Gor Mahia at Nyilima grounds in Asembo.
The tournament will be staged again this year.
Football has been revolutionized by the Eliud Owalo Foundation for both young players and football superstars. League winner Gor Mahia is one of the major beneficiaries, having received a bus contribution from the foundation last year.
