FOOTBALL Mariga on how the new Wanyama Football Academy will help grow Kenyan football

The acadamey is being constructed on a 22-acre piece of land in Nambale, Busia County

The Wanyamas are without a doubt one of Kenya’s most successful sporting family. Both brothers, MacDonald Mariga and his younger brother Victor Wanyama have played at the highest level in Europe.

Mariga even went as far as being part of Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan team that won the treble in 2010, making him the first - and to this day the only - Kenyan to ever win the Champions League.

For Victor, he became the first Kenyan footballer to play in the English Premier League, having played for both Southampton and Tottenham, the latter club with whom he reached the Champions League final in 2019.

Having been exposed to state-of-the-art facilities on top of amassing wealth by going abroad, the brothers formed the Wanyama Foundation in 2018 with the aim of helping to give back to the Kenyan community in order to help youths realize their sporting dreams and ambitions.

Now, the foundation is currently creating an ambitious project, the Wanyama Academy in Busia. The project is currently being constructed on a 22-acre piece of land.

It has an administration block, which will house the academy's reception area and administrators’ offices. Also included in the plan are state of the art pitches, to be used for training and official league matches.

The project also intends to have teachers’ quarters, which shall house the tutors, coaches, and players’ handlers. Footballers will also reside in designated dormitories at the expansive complex.

“All these will be the grounds children will use to hone their skills,” Mariga said. “The large ground will be the stadium where they will play. We want to try and revive Kenyan Football,” he added.

“We sat down as a family and decided that if we wanted to start an academy, we would have to have a big land. We chose here in Busia County, specifically Nambale.

“We want to (help Kenya ) play in the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup, that is our target. I think this is a proper academy that will produce more players- and big players as well.”

Mariga envisions that the players will receive formal education at the facility while pursuing their professional football careers. The purpose is to make students have a backup plan in case football does not work for them

“We decided to have classrooms and teachers quotas as well. We will have fewer students per classroom and even have them fitted with air conditioners so that students will be able to study under the right conditions and to also receive their education.”

“Our target is to find players who are aged between 14 and 15 years. We will be hosting annual tournaments every year. We will have coaches who spot for kids and the best of the best will be admitted here.

“The facility is not completed yet as you can see. You can see materials are still being acquired. We hope it will end soon before we start admitting students.”

This project has not only created job opportunities for youth in Busia but has also given a chance to the youth in the region to get the chance to showcase their talents at the state-of-the-art facility.

“We have played in Europe and have seen first hand the benefits of academies. We have acquired the knowledge necessary to nurture players and we will have professional coaches.

“We have academies from abroad who want to help us run programmes which will make it easier for us to be able to run the academy.

Wanyama's foundation is currently sponsoring needy students through scholarships. The students are also occasionally treated to extracurricular activities, such as visits to game parks.

The foundation aims to create opportunities for the youth to fully explore their talents, to feel valued and inspired to achieve greatness. The Football Academy received a financial boost from Betgr8, an online betting platform in April.