The World Football governing body FIFA is set to launch the Football for Schools (F4S) programme, an initiative set to benefit Kenyan primary schools.

The programme, a joint initiative with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), will be launched in Kakamega on Sunday, July 30, 2023.

A statement to newsrooms indicates that the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa will grace the occasion alongside the FIFA delegation, Fatimata Sidibé, Football for Schools Director, Antonio Buenaño – Football for Schools Manager, and Melvin Mendy– FIFA Football for Schools trainee.

Through the programme, FIFA aims to impact over 700 million children, both boys and girls, across the globe. The programme has been designed to promote targeted life skills and competencies through football and contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other priorities.

In Kenya, the programme is set to directly benefit over 2,000 schools across the country.

“Youth and women’s football remain key in FKF’s football development agenda. Since children spend most of their time in school, we believe that we can directly impact them through the capacity building of our teachers with coaching education and the provision of football equipment,” said Michael Amenga, FKF’s Head of Technical.

The programme kicks off on Friday with a 3-day football and life skills training session for 50 coach educators, a selected group of teachers drawn from all 47 counties across the country who have an interest in primary school football. The educators will be tasked by FKF with selecting football and life skills programmes in their regions.

On Sunday, children, both boys and girls, from selected schools in the Western region, will converge at the Bukhungu Stadium for the official launch of the programme. The children will be taken through small-sided football games and life skills training.

Beyond the launch, schools participating in the programme will receive footballs and training equipment, and the coach educators will go on to train primary school teachers in their region on the programme, who will trickle down the knowledge gained to the primary school children. Furthermore, primary school teachers who are directly involved with the children will be given priority in FKF’s coaching courses.

In the long run, the initiative will give children an opportunity to not only showcase their potential early in their football development life cycle but also ensure that they are handled by qualified personnel.