Eight teams will participate in the Rift Regional finals of the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom youth tournament to be held on Saturday and Sunday in Narok.
The boys and girls teams qualified to the regionals finals after a total of 759 games were played in North, Central, South, Eastern and North Western Rift. Over 1,500 teams participated in the Rift Region games which began with the group stages on 9th September 2017.
“We are happy to get to this leg of the tournament and wish all the boys and girls well as they prepare to contest for Rift region supremacy. Already, we have seen promising talent with one of the players, Oscar Kengwa being called for national duty in the National under 20 team,” said Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa.
In the girls semifinals Tar Tar from west Pokot will take on LYSA from Naivasha while Bomet’s Chesoen will face Iten United from Keiyo. The Boys semifinals will see Kapenguria heroes from West Pokot play Kapsoit from Kericho while Nakuru all-stars will square it off Mwiruti from Uasin Gishu.
The winning teams from Sunday’s final will take part in the grand finale set for March 2018. The competition aims at scouting for youth talent, developing grassroots football, and ultimately propelling gifted players to the national team.
“We are very proud of this partnership with FKF that is helping uncover talented football players from all over the country. We know there are many more players out there especially at the grassroots level who only need a platform to showcase their skills and Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom is providing that platform,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Director -Consumer Business.
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 2018.
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.