The next generation: KPL academy graduates making senior squads their home
From Nairobi to Kakamega, a new wave of under-21 players is earning meaningful minutes and challenging the established order in Kenya's top flight.
Akinyi Oduor
Youth Football Writer
The 2025/26 KPL season has been notable not just for the title race but for a broader, more structural shift: academy-trained players are finally breaking into first teams in meaningful numbers. Across eight of the sixteen clubs, at least one graduate of their own youth system has started ten or more league matches this season. That figure has doubled from two seasons ago.
Kakamega Homeboyz lead the way
No club has been more deliberate in this area than Kakamega Homeboyz. Three players from their Western Kenya Academy are in regular first-team contention, including 19-year-old left-back Victor Shikuku, who was voted the KPL's Young Player of the Month in April. Shikuku combines exceptional pace with a composure in possession that belies his age.
Nairobi clubs slow to follow
The contrast with Nairobi's big clubs remains stark. Both Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards have invested in their academies publicly, but the pipeline from youth team to first-team minutes remains blocked by a preference for established, known quantities. Neither club has fielded an academy graduate for more than 20 minutes in a competitive fixture this season.
“There is immense talent in these academies. The question is whether the coaches trust it enough to play it when the pressure is on.”
— Akinyi Oduor, FootballKE Youth Desk
The KPL is set to introduce a mandatory minimum minutes rule for U21 players from the 2026/27 season. For the academies that have been patient, that rule cannot come fast enough.
