Aluoch under no pressure as she takes over head coach role at Mathare

A shadow of its former self, Mathare Women’s team is on a rebuilding path and 31-year old Ann Aluoch has been handed the mantle to steer the club to its former greatness in the Women Premier League (WPL).

She takes over the head coach role, after serving as assistant coach-cum player, from Mary Adhiambo who has left after being at the helm since 2018. Aluoch is tasked with turning Mathare’s prospects around after an unimpressive season that has left the side facing relegation. 

“My first task was to establish trust with the players and work on a roadmap to getting the team back to where it belongs. I have played with the same squad while serving as their assistant coach so it will be an easy transition for all of us. While our chances of avoiding relegation are tough, we are looking at making the best out of the remaining matches, when action, resumes and should it happen that we are relegated, find our rhythm and bounce back immediately,” said Aluoch.

Her club football career can be traced back to Mathare-based Old is Gold in 2012 before moving to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MOYAS) in 2014. After two seasons with the ministry-run side, she decamped to Mombasa-based Spedag in 2016 before joining Mathare in 2017.

“My coaching began while at Spedag. It was a Mombasa-based team but a majority of the players were in Nairobi so we had to run our training from here the link up with the other players on match days. I had to be in charge of the Nairobi training,” she offered.

Mathare finished the first leg of the 2020/21 WPL season without a win and managed to pick their first point and first win in the second leg with a draw and a win in their first two matches of the second leg. Makolanders, however, subjected the side to their eighth loss of the season in their last league match.

“From the outgoing coach, I have learned to be patient with the squad and to keep encouraging them to play well, leave everything on the pitch even when results are not going our way. I hope to continue that philosophy,” Aluoch who is also the national Under 20 team head coach concluded.