Nairobi News

SportsWhat's Hot

Former Arsenal star defender Lauren in Nairobi

By DAVID KWALIMWA December 10th, 2016 2 min read

Former Arsenal star Lauren Etame-Mayer has urged local football stakeholders and Government to invest in local coaches.

The 39-year-old stressed that coaching plays a key role in the development of players from a young age into international stars.

The former Cameroon international was speaking on Friday at Kenya School of Monetary Studies in Nairobi during the closing ceremony of a week-long training course attended by 50 of Kenya’s elite coaches.

TRAINING SESSIONS

Three Arsenal-trained coaches conducted the training sessions, courtesy of sports betting firm SportPesa and Football Kenya Federation.

“Training the trainers is crucial because these trainers will in turn impact that knowledge to the players, both at a tactical level and in personal discipline,” said Arsenal legend Lauren.

Lauren also backed the national football team to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He urged young players to pursue their dreams to fruition in sport.

“The young ones should never give up. Keep working hard and be disciplined. Follow your dreams. I will tell them to always listen to the coaches and have a role model,” the soft-speaking Cameroonian added.

Some 50 coaches, drawn mainly from the national football teams, Kenyan Premier League and National Super League clubs, benefitted from the training conducted by Arsenal-trained coaching trio of James Colinese, Jonny Georgiu and Drew Tyler.

“The course had more to do with the modern dynamics. Now I know for example, that when a player misplaces a pass in a game, it could have something to do with his psychological condition and not his tactical awareness,” Kakamega Homeboyz coach Edward Manaoh, who was one of the beneficiaries, explained.

Lauren won among other titles, the English Premier League, Africa Cup of Nations and Olympic titles during a chequered football career that spanned eight years.

Lauren won the footbal title with Cameroon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Within the Arsenal set-up, he was a highly respected member of the defence, normally featuring at right back alongside Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure and Ashely Cole.

He was a key member of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles team’ that won the 2003/2004 English Premier League title unbeaten.