Nyanza region will this weekend crown new Chapa Dimba na Safaricom champions at Moi Stadium in Kisumu.
With the girls and boys defending champions Plateau Queens and Ombek Red Devils having exited the tournament at group stage, the battle for the region’s new champions will be among Nyamira Springs, Victory Strikers, Nyamaharaga and Manyatta (boys) while the girls’ teams will be Manyatta, Kisii United, Migori Education Center and NCEOD Queens.
The teams that triumph in every category will join Western region champions Blue Saint (boys) and Bishop Njega (girls) at the competition’s national finals expected to take place in June in Meru. The Western region’s finals took place last month at Bukuhungu Stadium in Kakamega.
In the girl’s first semi-finals, host Manyatta Girls will take on Kisii United, before Migori Education Center square it out with NCEOD Queens from Homa Bay.
The boy’s first semi-finals will pit Nyamira Springs and Victory Strikers from Kisii while host Manyatta Boys will battle it out with Kuria’s Nyamaharaga in the second semi-finals.
The host teams said they have prepared well for the event and fired warning shots to their competitors, saying the two titles will remain in the lake side city.
” This time around, we are going for the titles so that our girls and boys go for training in Spain, “said Manyatta Resource Center Manager Antony Mzee Oballah, as he called on the locals to turn in large number to cheer the home teams.
Over 200 teams from Nyanza region took part in the preliminary rounds of the tournament, an impressive feat according to the event’s coordinator Morris Onyango.
Apart from getting the chance to represent the region at national finals, the winners in every category will walk away with Sh200,000 each, while runners- up will pocket Sh100,000.
Like the Western event, a team of certified La Liga coaches will be present at Moi Stadium to scout for talented boys and girls who will make up the All-Star team that will fly to Spain to train with a yet to be named La Liga side.