NCPG tactician Brian Matthews bags StarTimes award
National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) men’s handball team tactician Brian Mathews says he will continue to use his experience to impact skills and knowledge to the younger generation of players.
Mathews spoke on Wednesday after he was named the StarTimes/Sports Journalist Association Kenya Coach of the Month for December 2022.
The award came after he masterminded a 24-18 win over Tanzania’s Ngome in the title-deciding match of the East and Central Africa Club championship in Zanzibar.
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“This award has come as a pleasant surprise to me. I understand I am only the second coach to win this award and that only gives me more motivation to better the handball sport in the country,
“I gathered much experience while trading my skills in Denmark as a player, now it’s time for me to pass down the knowledge to the younger generation,” said Mathews who also doubles up as the NCPB ladies team head coach
For his exemplary performance, Mathews didn’t go home empty-handed as he was awarded Sh100,000, a StarTimes 55-inch smart television set and a personalized trophy courtesy of title sponsor StarTimes Kenya.
Mathews, a former Kenyan international player made the decision to transit to coaching in 2020 after a long stint of club competition in the Danish handball federation leagues.
Speaking during the awarding ceremony held at NCPB headquarters, StarTimes Kenya head of Public Relations Alex Mwaura lauded the coach for his achievement. He also praised the award initiative which seeks to recognize excellence as far as coaching is concerned.
“Every time we see a team register impressive results, there must be the coach at the helm of it all. This is the reason we have decided to focus on them in collaboration with SJAK,
“We are more than confident that this award will act as a motivation to coaches in various sporting disciplines and as a result, we are likely to witness an improvement in teams’ performances in general,” said Mwaura.
His Water Queens counterpart Jack Ochieng who also led Nairobi Water queens to the lady’s title in the women’s category of the same regional competition was among those listed for the award.
Other coaches who made it to the nomination list for their impressive performance in various assignments last month include Kenya’s Tong- IL Moo-do team Head Coach Master Ibrahim Mchumba. Mchumba led team Jasiri to retain the Mombasa Open Tong- IL Moo-do championship overall title.
Others are Meshack Senge (Strathmore Gladiators hockey team), Curtis Olago (KCB rugby team), Anthony Ojukwu (KPA basketball coach) and his counterpart Sadat Gayawho heads Thunder basketball team