Kawempe Muslim Ladies coach Ayub Khalifa believes Uganda’s coaching fraternity must adopt a new lens in evaluating young footballers, one that looks beyond current performance to consider potential, age, and physical development.
Speaking after completing the week-long FIFA Elite Youth Coaching Course in Njeru, Khalifa stressed that many talented players are overlooked because of premature assessments based on current game-day performance rather than long-term potential.
“The course was excellent, focusing on talent identification. We have learned to look beyond performance and consider players’ potential, age, and size,” Khalifa said.
Khalifa, a vocal advocate for youth football, said the training opened his eyes to the importance of holistic player assessments, and how factors like late physical maturity can mask true potential.
The course’s modules on growth patterns, positional profiling, and development timelines, he noted, will help coaches craft better strategies for nurturing youth talent.
“This knowledge will help us develop better coaching strategies and nurture young talent,” Khalifa said. “We must stop judging a 13-year-old like we would a 20-year-old. Development is a process.”
His call aligns with FUFA’s new approach to building long-term footballing success through structured training and early talent tracking, guided by the federation’s Technical Master Plan.
