When it comes to football, Nick Yakhama and Muchuma Khayota could say they have seen it all, so they don’t watch a match like ordinary fans.

They watch the players on the field, listen to them, analyse their hard and soft skills, and make judgements on the sort of players they are likely to be with more training and development of their skills.

The two are among the scouts deployed at the ongoing Safaricom Chapa Dimba tournament to identify the top talent, the Most Valuable Players on the teams that could eventually become part of the All-Star Team when the competition ends.

Khayota burst into the national limelight in 1973 as a Form 4 student at Friends School Kamusinga when he was called up to the national team. A football scholarship in the United States led him to a career in sports development and a passion for youth football.

Yakhama was a renowned KTM, Mumias Sugar and Harambee Stars attacking midfielder in his heydays. The duo dream of returning Kenya to its past footballing glory days.

“Kenya is set to host Africa Cup of Nations in 2027 and Kenya also has a dream to play in the FIFA World Cup in 2030. If we don’t identify young talent now, it will make our prospects dim. When we pick a player who is 19 now, they will be 22, by 2027,  and by 2030 they will be 26. 27 is the prime football age,” said Yakhama.

“Kenya has abundant football talent and the scouting in Safaricom Chapa Dimba is great. So, if the players we are selecting as scouts are nurtured, Kenya will go places in football,” he added.

At Safaricom Chapa Dimba, the scouts have a checklist that covers the areas they look at: a player’s technical ability, tactical awareness, reflexes, concentration levels, physical stamina, speed, all-round communication, and individual discipline.

The GPS-wearable vests that the players wear collect data that is then analysed to assess their performance on the pitch and give a scientific perspective of their physical abilities.

The data will also be useful as it is an accurate record of their physical performance that would be accessible to foreign scouts and anyone out there looking to recruit them. Yakhama and Khayota are old-school, guided by their years of experience.

“As scouts, we use the eye-test. We critically look at how a player carries themselves when on-the-ball and when off-the-ball. A good scout must know football inside out. They must know football positioning and philosophy. Importantly, a good scout should be impartial and fair to choose the right player,” Yakhama explained.

At every Chapa Dimba regional final, in addition to the overall scouting for talent, the scouts also pick the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the best goalkeeper.

The MVP is usually picked from the teams that make it to the regional final but contrary to popular belief, the MVP is not necessarily the top scorer. For attacking positions, scouts look at creativity and matchmaking while for defensive positions good communication and able leadership are the criteria.

The best goalkeeper must be mentally alert, be a good communicator who marshals the defense and has great reflexes. This is in addition to the number of clean sheets secured.

So far, the scouts have been hard at work during the Western, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Eastern and Coast Chapa Dimba regional finals. They will also scout in the North Eastern, Central and Nairobi regional finals before crowning it all at the national finals slated for Kisumu.

The scouts will play a key role in selecting the 32 young players from the tournament who make it into the Safaricom Chapa Dimba All-star team that will get an opportunity to visit Spain for a 10-day training boot camp.

The scouts contend that while corporates like Safaricom are doing a great job, there is room for improvement from the government to score footballing success for Kenya.

“Kenyan leaders must invest in nurturing talent. There must be momentary investment. If you look at America, they have invested in youth football. In the 1970s Kenya was a football powerhouse. In 1979, the USA had no football team. Yet in 1990 they played in the FIFA World Cup,” said Khayota.