Njera Odoyo’s first half goal enabled Kisumu City Stars to beat turf rivals Kisumu Greenlands by a solitary goal and win the Tujiamini Cheza Dimba Nyanza region on Saturday at Moi Stadium in Kisumu, claiming their spot to the Nationwide competition as Uhola Queens did the same against Warembo All Stars to claim the ladies category of the competition.
Speaking after the match , Kisumu City Stars captain Tonnington Atinga lauded his players for a good showing saying that ending up with a seven point lead was no easy task taking into consideration the quality and levels of competition from their opponents.
“It feels great to win the tournament and I am proud of the players for sealing the win. The quality of play was good and we felt challenged by the competitiveness brought by other teams, ” Odoyo said.
In addition to securing a spot in the upcoming Tujiamini Cheza Dimba nationwide tournament, Kisumu City Stars who are eyeing a spot in the national super league in the next three years also won themselves a much needed sponsorship worth kes 250,0000 annually for three years including home and away kits.
The ladies category saw Uhola Queens walking away with Kes 50,000 together with playing kits after a 1-0 win against Warembo All Stars in the final, courtesy of Vanessa Atieno who scored the only goal of the match.
Mercy Kabui who represented tournament sponsors SportPesa, highlighted the need for more participation by women clubs noting that the exhibition matches that featured four teams was an improvement from previous Cheza Dimba tournaments.
“We have faced challenges with low female participation in previous Cheza Dimba tournaments. We intend to grow the level of female participation in the coming months and encourage entries from all interested women clubs in South Rift, which is the next region of focus for Tujiamini Initiative,” she said.
The Tujiamini initiative heads to the South Rift region where applications are ongoing and will close at the end of the month.
