The team that will represent North Eastern in the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom national final will be decided this weekend.
Garissa University will host the fourth regional final of the youth tournament which aims at scouting for talent, developing grassroots football, and ultimately propelling gifted players to the national team.
Four boys teams will take part in the North Eastern finals with the winning team walking away with a cash reward of Shs 200,000 and an opportunity to play in the national grand finale set for March this year.
The four teams include; Jamia FC from Mandera, Ifpro from Garissa, Al-Hayat from Wajir and Jack Boys from Dadaab.
“The tournament has been a success across the country right from the group stages as young players showcase their football prowess. We look forward to the same vigour from the North Eastern teams,” said Nick Mwendwa, Football Kenya Federation President.
Over 300 games were played across North Eastern with 102 teams taking part in the matches that kicked off on 18th November 2017.
“We are proud to be part of a competition that will produce the next generation of footballers for both local and foreign clubs as well as the national team. Already, we have seen success stories with David Majak who was the top scorer in the Rift finals and Fredrick Krop both from Kapenguria Heroes earning positions to play for a local premier league club. We wish all the teams the very best as they prepare to contest for North Eastern region supremacy,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Director -Consumer Business, Safaricom.
At the grand finale, the winning teams will walk away with Sh1 million each and an opportunity to go for an international training and mentorship camp in London in April this year.
Kapenguria Heroes and Tar Tar Girls from Rift, Mwingi Junior Academy and Ngakaa Talent Academy from Eastern and Ombek red Devils and Plateau Queens from Nyanza are the teams that have qualified for the grand finale so far.
Coast, Western, Central and Nairobi regions are also scheduled to hold their regional finals in the next few weeks
Safaricom has invested Sh100 million towards the program which includes Sh10m worth of prizes as well as funds for the renovation of select community pitches through a legacy programme.