National under-21 women's hockey coach Meshack Senge wants the juniors to master basics in order to be competitive in future assignments after a disappointing outing in the Junior Africa Cup.
Kenya lost all their matches against South Africa, Egypt and Zimbabwe in Ismailia last week.
The performance meant that Kenya missed the chance to play at the Junior World Cup that will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from December 5-16.
South Africa (both men and women), Egypt (men) and Zimbabwe women made the cut for the planetary showpiece. The Kenya men's team bagged bronze.
Senge, the former decade-long-serving national men's coach, added that Kenya has a long way to go to reach the level of their top African rivals.
"We learnt a lot of lessons that will only be vital provided the girls put them into practice," Senge said.
"Experience was something different. The structural discipline, positional awareness and the value of extra hard work will only make the players grow wiser."
Senge believes players also need to work independently at times.
"There's a need to get back to basics, for players to work on their own but with a structure that suits them well. We have work to do to match top-ranked nations."
He added: "We conceded cheap goals, and panic crept in but our eyes are now open. Don't forget that almost the entire squad had no international experience. It is time to work on restoring back their confidence even though there's no upcoming assignment."
