The Sierra Leone Football Association has appointed National Team coaches and other technical staff of the various football categories. This came about after the executive committee adopted the recommendations of the Technical Committee who put forward their names.
The appointments saw John Keister recalled as a coach for the National Team, Leone stars. The former Leones Stars player who gained few international caps for Sierra Leone, (played in two World Cup qualifying games against Nigeria and Morocco) served as an Assistant Coach under Sellas Tetteh, before he was named the National Team Head Coach in 2017.
Keister guided Sierra Leone to their opening 2-1 win over Kenya in Freetown during the first leg qualifier. However, lost to Ethiopia 1-0 in the second match of the African Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Keister’s coaching career came to prominence during his coaching spell at FC Johansen, where he became a household name in the game of football. He has now been re-appointed head coach of the National Team.
Keister is flanked by Amidu Karim and Dominic Konneh as Assistance Coach One and Two. Amidu Karima was a squad member of the 1994 and 1996 Leones Stars Team where he played alongside Mohamed Kallon, Junior ‘Parade’, ‘Tumbu’, and others.
To date, that squad is considered one of the best the country has produced. Other Leones star former players, also made the list as coaches for the Home Base Team, Under 23, Under 17, and other categories.
Female dominance into football recently has also reflected into the National Team selection, Head Coach of Premier League club East-End Tigers, Victoria Conteh is now the head coach of the Under 20 National Team.
It is believed that Victoria Conteh is the second woman to manage a top-flight men’s club in Africa after Ethiopia’s Meseret Manni in 2015.
Also making the coaching female list is Fatmata Bangura, Head Coach for the National under 17 Female Team.
These selections by the SLFA have received a lot of praise. Fans believe that giving opportunities to home-based coaches is part of the adherence to the government’s local content policy.
Unarguably, this may be one of the few times where local coaches are heading all the different categories of the respective National Teams.
