About the academy
A football academy built in Kenya
We train boys and girls from Under-9 to Under-20 in Nairobi: professional coaching, competitive fixtures every weekend and schooling that keeps every player's options open on and off the pitch.
What we are
Coaching, competition, education
A football academy built in Kenya, for Kenyan talent. We run one curriculum across every age group in Nairobi, Kenya, so a player moving up meets new demands rather than a new philosophy. Squads play a real fixture list, selection is on merit, and every player is reviewed with their parents each term.
Vision
To operate a world-class facility that delivers high-quality sports and academic training in a safe, nurturing environment.
Mission
To raise holistic, responsible, and empathetic global citizens with the discipline and grit to excel in all spheres of life.
Our story
From a volunteer session to an academy
The academy began as one coach and a group of teenagers with nowhere to train. Coach Kairu Wanyoike still leads it.
- 2017
A volunteer initiative
Coach Kairu Wanyoike begins coaching teenagers at All Saints Cathedral. No facility, no funding, no fees.
- 2018
Life & Sports Academy is established
The initiative is formally constituted as an academy, and later moves its base of operations to Lang'ata.
- 2025
A home ground
LSA secures a partnership with a school in Lang'ata for pitch and facilities, a trusted and safe training environment as the academy's home base.
- 2026
Six squads, one curriculum
The academy runs age groups from Under-11 to Under-20, a girls' pathway, and league football every weekend alongside schooling and mentorship.
Core values
Coached as deliberately as first touch
Four values, taught on the pitch rather than printed on a wall.
Goal setting
Every player leaves with a target they wrote themselves: on the pitch, in the classroom, and beyond both.
Integrity
How we play when nobody is counting. It is why age fraud carries disqualification and why results are published as they happened.
Self-discipline
Turning up, on time, prepared. The habit that makes talent count for something.
Empathy
Respect for teammates, opponents, match officials and the community that gave us a pitch to train on.
How it works
Identify, coach, compete, progress
The same four steps for a nine-year-old and a twenty-year-old.
Identify
Open trials each term across Nairobi, plus scouting at school and estate tournaments. No fee to try out.
Coach
A single curriculum from Under-9 upward, so a player moving age group meets the same principles, not a new philosophy.
Compete
Every squad plays a real fixture list. Players are picked on merit and rotated so nobody develops from the bench.
Progress
Termly reviews with players and parents, and placement support into clubs, colleges and scholarship programmes.
Why LSA
What families choose us for
Rooted in Lang'ata
Direct engagement with the young people and families of the community we train in, not a catchment area on a map.
Competitive football
Growth through active participation in local and regional competition, from sub-county football to national youth tournaments.
Values-led
Goal setting, integrity, self-discipline and empathy are coached as deliberately as first touch.
A trusted environment
Training in a school setting families already know, with player welfare ahead of results.
Off the pitch
Duty of care
Player welfare sits ahead of results, and is resourced like it.
Schooling comes first
Sessions sit outside school hours and attendance is checked. A player who is not in school does not play at the weekend.
Nutrition and recovery
A meal after every session, hydration on site, and a physio clinic once a week for the older squads.
Life skills
Termly workshops on money, media, discipline and mental health, run with the players rather than at them.
Safeguarding
Vetted coaches, a named welfare officer per squad and a confidential route for players and parents to raise anything.