Team Kenya’s head coach at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Julius Kirwa, has been named as the Betika/SJAK Coach of the Month for September.
Kirwa guided Team Kenya to a spectacular 2nd position finish in Tokyo, with a total of 11 medals: seven gold, two silver, and two bronze.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Marya Wachira, Betika Marketing Executive, noted the significant improvement from the last World Athletics Championships while underscoring the gap that the Betika/SJAK Coach of the Month award has come in to fix.
“This performance marks a significant improvement from the 2023 Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where the team secured 10 medals, including three gold, three silver, and four bronze.
For Team Kenya to have made such strides, leadership came in handy, and that’s why we have made this strategic decision to have this monthly coach of the month award towards recognising such outstanding leaders,” noted Ms Wachira.
Speaking after receiving the September award, the Team Kenya head coach appreciated the organisers, noting the role of the private sector in promoting excellence on and off the field.
“This is such a pleasant surprise and quite encouraging to realise that, beyond the fans, there are also private sector players who are keen to see us shine. Such recognition will go a long way to giving us the much-needed momentum. Ours is to always grow the winning mentality as we focus on the next opportunity to raise our flag high,” noted Coach Kirwa.
SJAK President James Waindi said the award is becoming competitive, which forces many tacticians to raise the bar.
“We acknowledge the increased competitiveness across the sports disciplines, which is very promising, as the future of sports in Kenya is promising,” noted SJAK President James Waindi.
Kirwa saw off stiff competition from Coach Luke Makuto of Kenya’s men’s under-20 national volleyball, Nairobi City Thunder’s Bradley Ibs, and Andrew Amonde of KCB Rugby Club to the gong.
