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The team was the only Kenyan side to secure a podium finish at the Africa Cup for Club Champions tournament.
Butali Sugar Warriors tactician Zachary Aura is the February SJAK Coach of the Month after guiding the national hockey champions to a credible third-place finish during the Africa Cup for Club Champions tournament held in Nairobi back in February.
Out of the six teams that the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) entered in the tournament, only Butali managed a podium finish. The tournament was returning to Nairobi after six years on the road.
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Aura guided Butali to three wins and a draw in the Group Stage before posting the all-important result in the third-place playoff.
With the recognition, he walked home with a purse of Ksh.100,000 plus a 55-inch Smart television set and a personalized trophy.
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15:41 - 19.02.2023
HOCKEY Butali Sugar Warriors secure bronze as Sharkia clinch Africa Cup for Club Champions
Sharkia of Egypt emerged as champions after edging out Exchequers of Ghana to the title. They won 4-2.
“I am delighted to be named the coach of the month, this is my first award in my career of playing and now as a coach. This award will motivate me to defend the title and even do better in Africa next time,” Aura, a former national team captain underscored.
Star Times Chief Executive Officer, Carter Luo during the award presentation at City park Stadium lauded Aura for his coaching process- and by extension- being the second hockey tactician to rack up the award.
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Luo underscored the good effort tacticians play in talent identification and subsequent nurturing of talent and hence the noble objective of the StarTimes/SJAK award.
Aura - with an apparently insatiable appetite for success- becomes the fourth coach to win the coveted award after Dennis Mwanja of the Kenya Lioness Rugby team, National Cereals and Produce Board coach Brian Mathews and Strathmore University Scorpions tactician Meshack Senge.
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07:13 - 20.02.2023
HOCKEY Butali Captain reveals biggest lesson taken from Africa Cup for Club Champions
Africa Cup for Club Champions [ACCC] 33rd Men's Edition and 24th Women's Edition ended on Sunday, February 19.
The former national team captain retired from international hockey in 2015 and was formally incorporated into the arm in 2020 to replace Dennis Owoka.
Other nominees for the February award included Team Kenya Coach to the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, Julius Kirwa, and Kenya Lionesses tactician George Mayienga.
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