Its Tartar v Chesoit in Chapa Dimba final
Fans cheer their team during the Chapa Dimba Rift Valley Finals at the Narok Stadium on November 11, 2017. PHOTO | COURTESY |
What you need to know:
- Elizabeth Nafula scored a hat-trick and Faith Babu added a brace to aid TarTar towards the convincing victory.
- Purity Jerop and Jepchirchir Lillian were also instrumental in Iten's win, scoring two and three goals respectively.
It is that lifetime opportunity to board a plane and travel to England to meet and train alongside Victor Wanyama, that is - more than anything else - enticing the thousands of teenagers featuring in the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom football tournament.
During Saturday's Rift Valley regional finals at the Narok Stadium for instance, Naivasha's Lysa Girls and Bomet's Chesoit Sisters were inconsolable following heavy losses in the semi-finals, results that extinguished their respective chances of making the London trip to hang out with the Harambee Stars captain next March.
The European trip, earmarked for the boys and girls teams that will win this six-month long tournament, will also hand the players an opportunity to watch the potential English Premier League title deciding match between Wanyama's Tottenham and Manchester City on April 18.
Lysa were thrashed 11-0 by former Kenya Secondary School games champs Tartar Girls from West Pokot, while Chesoit also lost 7-1 to Iten United ladies.
On the flipside, the winning teams couldn't hide their excitement ahead of Sunday's final with Sh200,000 also lined up for the eventual winner.
"I have never met Wanyama. I want to ask him to help me get a team to play for in Europe," TarTar goalkeeper Lillian Achieng said.
Elizabeth Nafula and Jepchirchir Lillian scored a hat-trick each and Faith Babu and Purity Jerop added two goals apeice to aid TarTar towards the convincing victory.
Overall, the players here - all aged below 20 - exhibited flashes of skill and promise.
Still, there were some some notable faults by these youngsters, such as that odd mistimed pass, goal bound shots which ultimately ended up way off target, and goalkeepers struggling to clear balls from the danger area with their feet.
"That's expected at this level," Football Kenya Federation's technical director Anders Spiers, who is scouting players for the youth national teams, explained.
"I'm however encouraged by the enthusiasm and willingness to learn from the lads," the German trainer added.
In total, out of the 1700 teams registered to compete in this competition, only two teams drawn from each of the eight regions countrywide (formerly referred to as Provinces), will make it to the Nationwide finals set for Nairobi early next year.
The ultimate winning men and women clubs will besides heading to London, pocket Sh1 million.
RESULTS AND FIXTURES
Women (semi-finals)
TarTar 11-0 Lysa
Iten 7-1 Chesoit
Sunday's final - Tartar v Chesoit
Men (semi-finals)
Kapenguria Heroes 4-0 Kapsoit FC
Sunday's final - Nakuru All Stars v Kapenguria Heroes
