Bandari Youth and Changamwe Ladies are the winners of the Safaricom Chapa Dimba Coast region 4th edition played on Sunday at Mbaraki Sports Ground, in Mombasa County.
Roared by a huge crowd, Bandari Youth silenced The Young Gunners from Tana River 3-0 courtesy of a hattrick from Khamis Nyale to emerge the new regional champions. Khamis not only led his team to victory but also earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Top Scorer awards in the boys’ category due to his outstanding performance.
Meanwhile, Changamwe Ladies secured their second regional Safaricom Chapa Dimba title by defeating Kilifi’s Bulls Starlets 3-0. The home team, Changamwe Ladies, took the lead in the 15th minute through a header by Mercy Ouma after a delightful corner cross from Margaret Nafula. In the 24th minute, Margaret Nafula doubled the lead to make it 2-0 by the end of first half. Fidelia Atieno further sunk Bulls Starlets’ hopes with a superb strike in the 90th minute, just before the final whistle to close it at 3-0.
“Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to Safaricom for their commitment to supporting and nurturing football talents across the country. We are thrilled with our victory and being crowned the Coast region champions. Undoubtedly, it was a tense and tough game as our opponents were also strong. After today’s win, our focus now shifts to the national finals, which are just around the corner. We request our fans to continue their unwavering support as they have always done, and we promise to bring the trophy home.” Said Alex Shikanga, Head Coach Bandari Youth.
Bandari Youth and Changamwe Ladies had qualified for the regional finals after beating their challengers in the Saturday’s semi-finals, Bahati Juniors from Taita Taveta, 1-0 and Ukunda Starlets from Kwale 4-1, respectively. The Young Gunners and Bulls Starlets had made it to the finals after also edging out King Loyal 4-2 on penalties and Wenje Secondary School 7-0 respectively in their semi-final games.
Both Bandari Youth and Changamwe Ladies have each pocketed KES. 250,000, and will represent the Eastern region in the National finals slated for early next year. The runners-up: The Young Gunners and Bulls Starlets also took home KES. 150,000 each. The Most Valuable Player (MVP), Best Goalkeeper, and Top Scorer (boys and girls) each received KES. 30,000.
In addition to the grand prize, each player from the winning team took home a Neon Ultra phone, as the runners-up players each took home a Neon Smarter Phone.
They join Ebwali FC and Brenda Girls from Western, Obunga FC and Plateau Queens, also known as Nyakach Girls, PASC Langa and Wiyeta Girls from Rift Valley, and Chuka Uni Scorpions and Syomunyu Sec from Eastern Region who have already qualified for the national finals set for March.
This year, Safaricom Chapa Dimba Coast region’s showdown featured a total of 277 teams from the six counties of the region including: Mombasa (47), Kilifi (72), Kwale (58), Lamu (47), Taita Taveta (33) and Tana River (20).
The tournament aims to provide a structured platform for scouts and coaches to tap into new talent and build feeder systems for the Kenyan football leagues across the country while also training a total of 250 coaches. The tournament targets footballers aged between 16 and 20 years old.
With the Coast Region done and dusted, Safaricom Chapa Dimba next heads to Garissa in North Eastern.
Individual Prizes