Bitok lauds SJAK re-introduction of revamped coaches' award

Pay-television broadcaster StarTimes Media Kenya, has partnered with Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK)) to promote competitive sportsmanship through the establishment of the Coach of the Month Award.

The partnership is a one-year renewable deal that begins November 2022 with StarTimes as the official sponsors.

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It will award excellence for the tacticians from all sporting disciplines. Previously, SJAK have had a coaches monthly award for football.

StarTimes Media Kenya Chief Executive Officer Hanson Wang while making the announcement noted that the StarTimes SJAK Coach of the Month Award is intended to create the much-needed competitive sporting environment that will motivate team tacticians to raise the bar for quality coaching.

In the deal, the winning Coach of the month will be walking away with Ksh 100,000, a StarTimes 55-inch smart television set and a personalized trophy.

“We are re-establishing our partnership with SJAK to reward excellence in sports having had a similar initiative between 2017 and 2018.

StarTimes investment over the period is now over Ksh 10 million in monetary and product support,” Wang said.

The noble objective of the monthly award will be to whip up enthusiasm of the coaches across the country. The growth of different sports disciplines in Kenya through monthly recognition of individual outstanding performances will therefore go a long way towards adding value to Kenyan sport.

SJAK president Chris Mbaisi thanked StarTimes for their generous support towards development of Kenyan sports, welcoming the company back to SJAK the brand having previously partnered with SJAK in the introduction of the now vibrant Sports Personality of the Month Award (SPOM).

"Enhancing sport performance remains an important element of coaching. Athletes need a coach who can effectively guide their technical, tactical, and physical development to help them improve at their sport.

Coaches play a pivotal role in this regard, we therefore thank StarTimes for their unswerving efforts which we believe will take sports to the next level," Mbaisi offered.

"The award will reward excellence for a group of people who make all the difference in the field of play,” he added.

Speaking at the same event, national women’s volleyball team head coach Paul Bitok described the initiative as a long time coming, predicting that it will motivate Kenyan coaches to work hard for the good of the game.

“I appreciate all those who came up with the idea to fete coaches for the hard work they do in developing players. We have seen previous times when teams come back to the country after a successful outing but it is only the players that are awarded and recognized while the coaches are forgotten,” Bitok said.

The longstanding coach, who has also tutored in Rwanda, said the newly-crafted award scheme sends the message that coaches’ work in identifying and nurturing Kenyan talent does not go unnoticed.

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“Being given this award, it will motivate us to keep going. Imagine; if I have managed to win all these titles with Malkia Strikers through the years with such an incentive, what would happen when we have such awards to recognize top coaches.

As coaches, we promise not to fail you and to amplify the efforts of StarTimes and SJAK within the sports industry,” Bitok concluded.