Despite a challenging year mainly occasioned by a lack of government funding, Harambee Starlets and their coach David Ouma earned nominations for the women national team and coach of the year awards respectively from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) on Sunday.
In a related development, Tanzanian hitman Mbwana Samatta has, alongside, English Premier League stars Pierre Emerick Aubamayang, Mo Salah, Saidio Mane and Rihard Mahrez earned nomination for the African Player of the Year award.
It is the second time in three years Kenya’s women national football team is receiving nomination for this continental award, a feat that has both Ouma and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa elated.
“I am really excited, we have been working very hard with these talented ladies and the results are beginning to show,” Ouma told Nation Sport on phone from Dar-es-Salaam.
He is preparing Starlets for this Monday’s Cecafa Women Championship final against hosts Tanzania at the Chamazi grounds.
“We are humbled by the nominations, it goes to show the good work being done behind the scenes to develop women football, hopefully, we can build on this going forward,” added Mwendwa.
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Kenya’s recognition follows impressive returns and specifically wins over Malawi and Ghana in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. Bigwigs Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zambia, South Africa, and Nigeria have also been nominated for the same award.
Meanwhile, no male Kenyan player, team or coach has been nominated in either of the four categories. But Ugandans Dennis Onyango and Emmanuel Okwi, Rwandan Meddie Kagere, plus Algerian coach Djamel Hamadi have made the cut.