Spartans edge Alaqsa as Kibra youth get goodies
Rodgers Ndegwa
Kibra-based Spartans FC laboured to beat Alaqsa FC 5-2 in a hotly-contested Kibra Talent Development Seven-Aside game held at Karanja grounds at the weekend.
Both teams were battling it out for the bragging rights in the inaugural tournament which is aimed at tapping and nurturing talent in the densely populated area.
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The tournament was organised by Watu Moja Kibra Foundation whose goal is to bring together players from different Nairobi constituencies to form formidable teams that will be a force to reckon with once they make their debut in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Nairobi West Sub-County League.
Sharpened skills
Spartans captain Mohammed Abdul believes the event was important as it helped the players sharpen their skills during the coronavirus period that has seen all action halted.
“It was not an easy game since we had worthy challengers. By winning today, we inch closer to realising our dream of climbing up the ladder from the lowest league in the nation to the top-tier within a span of six years,” said Abdul, who is in his early twenties.
Watu Moja Kibra Foundation hopes to help players keep busy and prevent them from engaging in bad vices especially in this time which the government has restricted any sports activities in the country.
Yusuf Juma, one of the founders of the organisation, said these kinds of initiatives play a big role in helping players achieve their goals of donning the Harambee Stars jersey one day and be able to showcase their skills across the globe.
“Since we have brought on board the Kanosh Foundation which is based in Ireland and partnered with Kevin Ochieng whom currently resides in Germany, we are able to gift the teams with kits, over five balls and boots to use in the future,” said Juma.
He added: “Equipping the players with the right gear will help them in the commencement of their football journey and boost their confidence.”
The former Nairobi West FKF Branch chairman who is also the chairman of the tournament Hussein Bashir said it is from this kind of contests that will make sure the national teams lack talents.
“Our motto is built around capacity building where we are encouraging players to embrace the institutions of higher learning and help them have a back-up once their careers come to a halt,” said Bashir, while stressing the need to educate players the importance of investing and having a savings culture to enable them to cope with life after football.
“It is sad to see former players who raised the Kenyan flag in various sports disciplines languishing in abject poverty.
We want to create awareness to prevent such kind of situations in future and thus our motto of capacity building,” added Bashir.
