Why Victor Wanyama opted to open his academy in Busia and Nairobi
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Reading Time: 4min | Sat. 11.07.26. | 17:12
The academy is being spearheaded by Wanyama and his elder brother, McDonald Mariga, through the Wanyama Foundation
Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has explained the decision behind establishing his academy in both Busia and Nairobi.
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According to Wanyama, the move is intended to give talented young footballers access to elite training without forcing them to relocate while creating a shorter pathway from grassroots football to the professional game.
He confirmed that the Victor Wanyama Academy will officially launch at the end of July in Nairobi, marking a major milestone in a project aimed at transforming youth football development in Kenya.
The academy is being spearheaded by Wanyama and his elder brother, McDonald Mariga, through the Wanyama Foundation. Established in 2018, the foundation seeks to give back to the community by identifying, nurturing, and supporting the country's next generation of sporting talent.
Explaining why the academy will operate from both Nairobi and Busia, Harambee Stars data analyst Nick Kimanthi, who is part of the academy's operations, said the Nairobi branch was created to complement the larger Busia project while ensuring aspiring players in the capital have access to the same opportunities.
"In Busia, we have partnered with schools. Academics are important to the footballers; at the same time, we develop football skills.
The Nairobi Academy is designed so that people in Nairobi cannot go all the way to Busia. That is why we partner with some specific schools and offer the same opportunity," Kimanthi said.
Once operational, the academy will provide structured development programs across various age groups, guiding players from grassroots football to the professional ranks while exposing them to training environments comparable to those found in Europe.
Construction of the Busia academy is progressing steadily, although Wanyama admitted that completing the playing pitches remains the final major hurdle before the facility becomes fully operational.
A major component of the project will be collaboration between local and international coaches, allowing Kenyan coaches to benefit from knowledge exchange while exposing young players to modern coaching methods.
"We have the program for local coaches in our Academy. We will have the local coaches as well as some international coaches to help and give education to our local coaches.
Not only coaches, but the Academy will also train referees and other professions because football is a changing career.
You never know what happens on the pitch. Today you are okay, tomorrow you are not. That is why we will be providing those other programs in the Academy," Wanyama explained.
Kimanthi noted that the project is designed to complement, rather than replace, the Football Kenya Federation's efforts by producing players capable of competing at the elite level before earning national team call-ups.
"What we are doing is from a stakeholders’ point of view. We are doing what we can to develop players and ensure that the national team has a pool of players to select.
When it comes to the national team, we all know that a year has four windows. Most of the time, the technical bench has fewer than five training sessions for the team," Kimanthi said.
He added that the academy is working closely with FKF's youth football structures to strengthen Kenya's talent pipeline.
"For us, what we are contributing to the Wanyama Academy is to make sure that we have a pathway to see the players join the elite leagues.
That way, if they come to the national team, they are used to playing at that level. There is that partnership between us and FKF,” he said.
Kimanthi said the long-term objective is to prepare talented Kenyan footballers for European football before they make the move abroad.
"We want to shorten the pathways. We do not want players to start from the fourth division. We want them to have the same kind of training and facilities that they will get once they move to Europe, such that when they move, they are not surprised,” he averred.
The academy will also include a women's program, although it will initially be introduced only at the Nairobi branch.
"Yes, we have our women's program. But for a start, for the Busia Academy, we will not have women joining in the first few years. For Nairobi, we have a women's special program that we will be running at the same time as the men's program," Kimanthi noted.