The Coast regional finals of the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom youth football tournament will be held this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at Bomu Stadium in Changamwe.
Reigning Champions Shimanzi Youth and Changamwe Starlets were both bundled out of the tournament at the group stages paving way for new champions to be crowned.
“We expect a highly competitive set of matches from what we have seen with the eight teams so far. I urge people to turn up in large numbers to support their favorite teams,” said Michael Karanja, Chapa Dimba na Safaricom Coast Region Co-ordinator.
A total 98 teams participated in the qualifiers from the Coast Region. Four boys teams i.e. Kaya Stars, Young Muslims, Young Gunners and Yanga will take part in the in the regional finals. They will be joined by four girls team which are; Kaloleni Starlets, Kwale Queens, Emmaussians and Malindi Action.
The second of the scheduled 8 regional finals will begin with coaching and scouting clinics on Thursday and Friday to be attended by over 100 Chapa Dimba coaches. The coaches are from North Eastern, Eastern, Central and Coast regions. The clinics will be conducted by certified LaLiga Coaches and will involve theoretical lectures and on-field sessions. The players will also be taken through life skills and mentorship sessions on the weekend of the competition before taking to the pitch in the evening.
The winning teams will receive prize money of Ksh. 200,000 each and a chance to represent the region in the national finals set for June 2020. The runners up will receive Ksh. 100,000 with a host of individual prices set to be won.
In the first regional final, Garissa’s Berlin FC successfully defended their North Eastern regional title after beating Al Ansar 2:0 at the Technical Training College Grounds (TCC) in Garissa. The two teams also met in last season’s final.
After the regional finals, an all-Star team comprising of 16 girls and 16 boys will be selected to attend a 10-day training camp in Spain. In Spain, they will play friendlies against top Spanish La Liga Football Academies.