Defending national champions, Plateau Queens, fail to qualify for regional final Nairobi, Kenya – 14th December 2018… This season’s Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom will have a new girls’ winner after defending champions Plateau Queens from Nyanza were bundled out of the competition. NCEOD from Homabay, Kisii SA Ladies, Migori Education Centre and Kisumu’s Manyatta girls

Defending national champions, Plateau Queens, fail to qualify for regional final

Nairobi, Kenya – 14^th December 2018… This season’s Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom will have a new girls’ winner after defending champions Plateau Queens from Nyanza were bundled out of the competition.

NCEOD from Homabay, Kisii SA Ladies, Migori Education Centre and Kisumu’s Manyatta girls will be the teams that will fight for a place in the national final. In the boys’ category, defending regional champions Ombek Red Devils who were among the semifinalists in the national finals have also failed to book a slot in the regional showdown. Nyamaharaga from Kuria, Manyatta Boys, Springs Nyamira and Victoria Strikers from Kisii will be the teams battling for a chance to represent Nyanza in the finals.

Current Western Region girls’ champions Bishop Njenga from Lugari have made it through to the regional final. They will be joined by Brenda Girls from Bungoma, Kakamega’s Ibinzo Girls and Kigandole from Busia. Regional boys’ champions Mukumu are among the teams that failed to make the cut. Vihiga’s Ebbu Stars, Bukembe Friends from Bungoma, Lugari Blue Saints and The Saints from Butere-Mumias are the teams that will get a chance to fight for a slot in the national final

The Western regional final will take place on 12^th and 13^th January 2019 at the Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega. Nyanza will host their regional final at Moi Stadium, in Kisumu a month later on 9^th and 10^th February.

“We have had competitive qualifier games across Western and Nyanza regions and the level of competition has gone up this year. The turnout has been great with over 220 teams playing in Nyanza and over 100 games in Western. We expect the competition to get tougher as we move to other regions with Rift already playing their preliminaries,” said Morris Onyango, Tournament Regional Coordinator, Nyanza

Attention will now shift to Rift Valley, Eastern, Coast, Central, North Eastern and Nairobi regions as they prepare to host their grassroots games. The competition aims at scouting for talented youth, developing grassroots football, and ultimately propelling gifted players to the national team. 1,600 teams from all over the country registered for this year’s tournament.

After the regional finals, the qualifying teams will move on to the grand finale set for June 2019 in Meru where the winning teams will each walk away with KES 1 million shillings in prize money.

This year an all-star team will be also selected to attend a training camp in Spain during which they will play against local youth sides.

From the inaugural season, over fifteen young players joined the Kenya Premier League and the National Super League.

Regional Finalists

Nyanza Region

Girls: NCEOD (Homabay), Kisii SA Ladies (Kisii), Manyatta (Kisumu), Migori Education Centre (Migori)

Boys: Nyamaharaga (Kuria), Manyatta (Kisumu), Victoria Strikers (Kisii), Springs Nyamira (Nyamira)

Western Region

Girls: Bishop Njenga (Lugari), Brenda Girls (Bungoma), Ibinzo Girls (Kakamega), Kigandole (Busia)

Boys: Ebbu Stars (Vihiga), Bukembe Friends (Bungoma), Lugari Blue Saints (Lugari), The Saints (Butere-Mumias)