CECAFA 2015: Coach McKinstry named 'Coach of the Tournament'

CECAFA 2015: Coach McKinstry is awarded 'Coach of the Tournament', having led Rwanda to the competition final (5 Dec 2015).

The CECAFA 2015 award ceremony at the National Stadium in Addis Ababa saw Coach McKinstry named 'Coach of the Tournament', while the the Amavubi were awarded silver medals for finishing as tournament runners up.


Coach McKinstry is named 'Coach of the tournament' [Rwanda vs Uganda, CECAFA 2015 Final, 5 Dec 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Photo © Darren McKinstry 2015, www.XtraTimeSports.net]Rwanda lost out to favourites Uganda in a very tight fought and close final.  Uganda, the most successful team in the history of CECAFA held on to win their 14th title. Rwanda has won the CECAFA title just once, in 1999, when Rwanda B overcame Kenya at home 3-1 in Kigali.

 

Despite the loss, the Amavubi's performance overall has greatly exceeded expectations. Not only did they reach the final, but did so by perhaps the most difficult route of all the teams - their journey to the final seeing them overcome hosts and 3rd place finishers Ethiopia; defeating defending champions Kenya; and beating 4th place finishers and defending runners-up Sudan.

 

“I would like to thank CECAFA and DSTV for naming me ’Coach of the Tournament’. The award for me reflects the effort put in by all of the players and staff over the two weeks of the tournament, as well as the 9 months we have been working together."

"It is a marker of the development that we are seeing within the group as we continue on our journey to building a strong and successful Amavubi team over the coming months and years,” added McKinstry."

“During the two weeks here in Ethiopia, we have defeated the host nation Ethiopia, who went on to finish 3rd; Sudan, runners up at the last tournament, and 4th this time around; and reigning champions Kenya.”

“We definitely took the difficult route to the final, so we can be somewhat satisfied with the performances that have been shown throughout the tournament”

Rwanda will now turn focus to the 2016 Africa Nation’s Championship, which begins in Rwanda in mid January 2016.


 

Coach McKinstry speaks to players at half-time during the final. [Rwanda vs Uganda, CECAFA 2015 Final, 5 Dec 2015 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Photo © Darren McKinstry 2015, www.XtraTimeSports.net]


 

 

Match Highlights 

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About Coach McKinstry

Coach McKinstry is a UEFA Pro Licensed Football Coach, with a number of successes across his 20+ year career to date.    He is currently Head Coach of the Gambia National Team and Head Coach of Gor Mahia FC in Kenya (2022-24) where he won two Kenya Premier League titles (2023-24, 2022-23), and the 2023-24 Kenya Charity Shield, returning the club to the top of Kenyan football.

As Head Coach of the Uganda National Team, (2019 - 2021) he led Uganda to win CECAFA 2019 and delivered a win from 2 in every 3 games, going undefeated in 8 in evey 10 games.  This represented the highest 'win' and 'undefeated' rate achieved by a Uganda National Team Coach in over 15 years.

He was Head Coach of the Rwanda National Football Team (2015-16). Within 17 months he led Rwanda to a number of highs - including their first ever appearance in the knockout stages of a major international tournament (Quarter-finals of CHAN, Jan 2016) and finished runner-up in CECAFA (Dec 2105), being named 'Coach of the Tournament' for his efforts. 

Across 2013-14, he was Head Coach of the Sierra Leone National Men's Football team. Within just over a year, he had led Sierra Leone to their highest ever FIFA World and African rankings - 7th in Africa and 50th in the World (August 2014). 

He has also been Head Coach of Saif Sporting Club, Bangladesh Premier League (2018-19); and FK Kauno Zalgiris, Lithuanian A-Lyga (2017-18).   

Coach McKinstry is a European (UEFA), American (NSCAA) and university qualified football coach and a member of Common Goal.

Quotes: What the media say

  • McKinstry led the team to their highest ever placing in the FIFA world rankings. They broke into the top 50, ahead of his native Northern Ireland.

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    Damien Edgar Backpage Football
  • McKinstry made an impressive start, losing just one of his first six matches and leading Sierra Leone into the top 50 of Fifa's world rankings, above Northern Ireland, the Republic, Cameroon and Senegal.

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    Ben Smith BBC Sport
  • Under his management, the team played attractive football, scored goals and racked up some important results.

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    Eoin O'Callaghan the42.ie
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