Two Arsenal coaches, namely; Simon Thomas McManus and Green Kerry, are conducting a coaching clinic for young Rwandan footballers at Amahoro National Stadium. The training kicked off on Oct. 20 and will run through Oct. 24. The objective is to pass on football tips to local young talents. The trainees are 30 – 15 of them girls – and were drawn from U15 academies from across the country. Simon McManus, one of the visiting Arsenal coaches, said he was impressed with the talent he found in Rwanda. “We work with kids on the basics of football, and hope to have an impact on future stars of Rwanda,” he said. Rwanda Football Federation technical director, Hussein Habimana, said the coaches came under the exisiting partnership between Rwanda and Arsenal Football Club. Rwanda and the London-based club signed a three-year deal during which the latter will, among others, advertise the country on their shirt sleeves and help promote football in Rwanda. Habimana said there is long-term plan to nurture young footballers – both boys and girls – some of whom would go on to play for the country in both junior and senior ranks. “For the start we are looking at 50 youngsters,” he said. McManus is the Arsenal Soccer Schools Head Coach, while his colleague, Kerry Green is an Arsenal Soccer School Coach and specifically helps to develop women and girls’ football. A UEFA level 3 coach, McManus has worked for a number of elite-level football academies, including current Premier League sides Southampton FC, AFC Bournemouth, and Arsenal FC. Outside of coaching academy football, Simon has worked with a number of national governing bodies delivering coaching programmes notably in Nigeria, Kenya, Hong Kong, Ethiopia. Since 2016, he has been the Head Coach of Arsenal Soccer Schools, a network of coaching programmes delivered nationwide and internationally, teaching ‘The Arsenal Way’. As part of his role with the Arsenal Soccer Schools, he has delivered coaching events in 12 countries across 5 continents. Green delivers on both coaching programmes and coach education programmes and has worked on projects in the UK, South East Asia and India helping to spread the ‘Arsenal Way’ of coaching. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
