A new dawn in African football dawns as Jackline Juma is set to become the firstwoman to coach a men’s team as FC Talanta prepare for the new Kenyan PremierLeague season. The 38-year old mom of two who currently possesses the CAF Alicense has over two decades’ experience of coaching. As much as Juma was initiallyrejected and received gender based criticism, has emerged a historical instance inAfrican football.Her journey started at age nine, before football was considered a ‘boys game’ in herhome. She was able to get a national team and represented the country in theinternational level before turning into coaching in 2016. Now, as the head coach ofTalanta, she wants to take inspiration from Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Arsenal’sMikel Arteta as they play a possession style that has earned respect. Team captainAugustine Kuta, at first, having felt a loss of his faith in that decision, now stands up forher skills after having witnesed her unique approach to training.Firming Up on Gender Sensitisation in FootballBy this appointment, Juma has come out to support equality for women in footballespecially on issues of remuneration and parity. Her success has led to the otherachievements such as the appointment of Oliver Mbekeka as the temporary head coachwithin Ugandan Premier League. Despite being a football team that is currently in thefifteenth position in the league, Juma has not lost sight of the lofty goals of aiming forthe top most spot in the Kenyan league by being part of the Talanta football team, whileat the same time fighting for the eradication of prejudice against girls in the sport.
African EssenceNovember 3, 2024
