OPINION: Chapa Dimba na Safaricom a Milestone in FKF’s Youth Football Development

 

 

 

The Head of Media and Communications at Football Kenya Federation Kenn Okaka

With the fourth edition of the Safaricom Chapa Dimba done and dusted, it is time to look back and enumerate the positive impacts that the youth tournament has made into development of youth football in Kenya.

 

In partnership with Football Kenya Federation, telecommunications giant company Safaricom meticulously organised the 4th Edition of the tournament which culminated with Nyanza region’s the Mighty Obunga FC and Plateau Queens lift the 2024 boys and girl’s titles at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu County.

 

The tournament, which at one time took a break after former FKF regime put it on sabotage, returned after the current FKF leadership under the president Nick Mwendwa implored on Safaricom to revive the youth competition.

Home Team Obunga FC celebrating after scoring against Bandari Youth to storm into 2024 Safaricom Chapa Dimba Final in Kisumu

This is in line with FKF’s commitment to developing youth football in the country. FKF under Nick Mwendwa has over the last eight years embarked on developing budding football talents from the grassroots as they continue to provide a conducive environment for corporate sponsors to support various activities undertaken by the federation.

 

During the period, FKF managed to rope back Safaricom into organising Chapa Dimba, which is played in all the eight regions of the country and after the finals, a select All-Star team comprising of the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) go to Spain for football boot-camp and training.

 

The Success of Chapa Dimba na Safaricom is a testimony that with the right environment, corporate sponsors have the goodwill to get back into supporting football initiatives. Under the Nick Mwendwa led administration, FKF has managed to engage various corporate entities among them Startimes, Sportpesa, BetKing, Betika, OdiBets, Safaricom, Azam Tv, KBC among others.

 

Chapa Dimba is among the grassroots tournaments that FKF and partners have been staging to improve youth football from the grassroots level. Currently, FKF runs youth leagues in most of the FKF branches, and FKF elite youth leagues in some of the FKF branches as well as the FIFA Schools program in which the federation, in partnership with FIFA is distributing standard footballs to over 2000 schools in the country. As well, FKF has continue to train teachers through coaching courses and has also taken teachers through the FIFA Football for School Application, a toolkit designed by FIFA which helps teacher and coach educators with programmes that provide football activities within the school set up, Based on “ Let the game be the teacher” The app is the firs step towards fostering children’s holistic development by introducing them to the “beautiful game.”  FKF has also partnered with several schools, St. Peters Mumias and St. Joseph’s among other schools as FKF centers of excellence in a bid to uplift the standards of youth football in the country.

 

Plateau Queens from Kisumu County celebrate after winning Safaricom Chapa Dimba season four national title at Jomo Kenyatta Mamboleo stadium.

Chapa Dimba an initiative of Safaricom and FKF proves that the right environment for sponsors to stream back to supporting football has been laid out and FKF has been making a clarion call for potential sponsors and patners to join the federation in supporting the growth of football by sponsoring the various FKF products, leagues and football development programs. 

 

Transparency and openness in FKF has played a major role in allowing sponsors back into the football space and with the success story of the just concluded Safaricom Chapa Dimba, FKF has expressed an open door policy that it employs to invite more sponsors for the good of the game.

 

The youth football development programs is a deliberate move to ensure that most of the players who will take part in the 2027 AFCON will be drawn from the current crop of emerging talent budding from the youth development programs like Chapa Dimba among others. 

 

Kenn Okaka is the Head of Media and Communications at Football Kenya Federation