Safaricom has always had a long standing tradition in sponsoring major sporting events and more so, supporting young talent all over the country. With its expansive portfolio ranging from the Safaricom Lewa Marathon, the Safaricom Safari Sevens to the Safaricom Business Golf Challenge, it continues to support this talent with the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom Football Tournament.
The tournament aims to recruit young talent aged 16 -20 year olds to play in a national tournament, showcase their talent and stand a chance to earn from their passion by winning prize money worth Ksh. 1 Million for the Winning Team as well as having the prestigious opportunity of training and spending one week with Harambee Stars captain and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama in London next year.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore (right) with FKF President Nick Mwendwa (center) and Harambee Stars Captain and Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder Victor Wanyama during the unveiling of Safaricom football property dubbed ‘Chapa Dimba na Safaricom’.
The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) last week announced that 1,567 teams have confirmed participation for the inaugural national Chapa Dimba na Safaricom tournament set to begin next month and will feature 1,285 boys teams and 282 girls team from all over the country.
“Since the launch of Chapa Dimba na Safaricom towards end of June, our partners FKF have been busy recruiting talented boys and girls in all parts of the country. The turnout was great although we wish more girls had come forward to display their talents just like the boys did,” said Sylvia Mulinge, Director – Consumer Business, Safaricom.
Nairobi region has 167 teams confirmed while Nyanza will have 235. From North Eastern, there will be 80 teams participating while Western, Rift and Eastern regions will have 197, 352 and 189 teams respectively. The Coast region will have 163 teams with 184 from Central signing up.
The competition will kick off on the 9th September with the group stages, followed by the knockout phase, regional finals, with the grand finale set for March 2018.
“We are grateful to our partners Safaricom for facilitating this tournament because there is a lot of talent throughout the country that lacks a platform to practice and showcase their skills. Through the tournament we will directly reach over 20,000 young people between the ages of 16-20 as each team will comprise of 15 players and 2 officials, said Nick Mwendwa, President, FKF.
Safaricom has so far invested Kshs 100 million towards the program which includes Kshs 10 million shillings worth of prizes as well as for renovation of some of the community pitches through a legacy programme to provide football related equipment to assist the grassroots teams.
Harambee Stars Captain and Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder, Victor Wanyama is the face of the program.
Safaricom has previously sponsored football programmes including Sakata Ball and Safaricom Next Generation in partnership with My Profession Dreams Academy. Others sports that Safaricom is involved in are Athletics, Golf, Rugby and the Classic Safari Rally.
