The Syokimau Soccer Academy has landed a 10-day invite to Sweden.
Confirming the news, academy owner Maurice Sunguti told Nation Sport the European tour will hand his lads the required exposure required to succeed as professional footballers.
“A majority of our players are aged below 17 and our training sessions are based on foundation, fundamental and fulfilment stages,” observed Sunguti, a former Harambee Stars striker.
“This trip will provide crucial tips the fundamental stage. The players will get an opportunity to observe and brush shoulders with their peers in more successful competitions.”
The Sweden invite letter signed by Arnais IF chairman Peter Sundberg spelt out the Kenyan academy’s itinerary during their stay in the Scandinavian country.
“We have booked a couple of training sessions for your team alongside four matches against our youth team. This will develop the relationship between our clubs,” explained Sundberg.
Nation Sport understands the relationship between these teams may involve the Sweden based club scouting some of the Kenyan academy’s best players with the possibility of acquiring them.
“Such relationships will help improve the standards of football in Kenya. Our national teams will be harder to beat if we have a number of players playing their trade in Europe. That is why I reached out to my friends and former teammates in Sweden to kick start this project,” added Sunguti.
Sunguti harboured ambition of becoming a Catholic priest while growing up. But he changed his mind while in his teens and went on to make his name as one of East Africa’s deadliest strikers.
His career involves stints at AFC Leopards and Tusker in the Kenyan Premier League, SC Villa and Express Red Eagles in Uganda as well as Young Africans in Tanzania.
He was among the top scorers in these three countries and also won the league title in Uganda and Tanzania. Sunguti enjoyed further stints in Vietnam at Nam Dinh FC and Sweden’s Friska Vijor.
A Caf ‘C’ coaching licence holder, Sunguti’s best shot yet at nurturing Kenyan talents could be the emergence of Adia Ojiambo at the Syokimau based Academy to earning a sports scholarship in a University in the US.
Now 45, Sunguti has firmed up plans to enroll the academy team in the Machakos County league ahead of the 2023/2024 league season.
