‘Investing in youth pays’ – CS Namwamba exuberant after Starlets World Cup qualification

After the Junior Starlets qualified for the U17 World Cup, Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba challenged sports federations to invest in youth.

Namwamba's ministry has been at the forefront of supporting talent scout and development through the Talanta Hela initiative. The journey to take the sport to greater heights through the flagship programme with an objective of talent identification and nurturing from the grassroots has been the core goal of the ministry in conjunction with the sports federations.

The bigger picture was to see the players tapped and trained from the Talanta Hela initiative being absorbed by respective national teams to ameliorate the Kenyan game in regional and global tournaments.

Ten players in the Junior Starlets team - that beat Burundi and qualified for the global showpiece - were the pioneers of the Talanta Hela program under the Kenya Academy of Sports and took part in the Costa Daurada Cup in Barcelona, Spain in March this year where they finished second after losing to Sporting Lisbon on post-match penalties. The boys’ team won the championship. Both teams were as well involved in an elite training camp after the conclusion of the tournament.

"If we needed a confirmation, demonstration that Talanta Hela works and that investing in talent developments works then this is it and the Junior Starlets have given us that confirmation," Namwamba said.

Hard work rewarded

After the historic qualification, the government awarded the Junior Starlets Ksh10 million. The amount given by the CS means that every member of the team is guaranteed at least Khs300,000 for their efforts in the qualification journey that saw them become the first-ever Kenyan football side to make it to a FIFA World Cup tournament.

“It is a pleasure to cheer and support you. An honour to reward you with Kshs 10 million in recognition of your historic achievement of getting to the very summit.

"The first Kenyan team ever to qualify for a FIFA World Cup at any level. You have made our country proud and pumped incredible wind in the sails of women's football in Kenya. We honour you, Junior Starlets,” Namwamba said.

The junior World Cup finals will take place from October 16 and November 3, this year in the Dominican Republic.

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