Kenya’s Junior Starlets made history by qualifying for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup for the second time, a milestone that has stirred fresh excitement among young girls across the country who dream of following in their footsteps. Yet away from the celebrations, coaches and players at the grassroots level say that excitement is running far ahead of the resources needed to sustain it.
That gap was on display recently in Nairobi’s Mukuru slums, where Public Policy Analyst Raphael Obonyo paid a visit to the Mukuru Talent Girls football team, handing over jerseys and match balls on behalf of the Obonyo Foundation.
The donation was framed as more than a goodwill gesture, it was meant to draw attention to a funding shortage that has quietly squeezed girls’ football at the community level for years.
Mukuru Talent Girls was founded in 2010 with a simple mission: give girls in the slum a safe space to develop as footballers, build discipline and confidence, and steer clear of the pressures that come with growing up in the area.
Handing over the kits, Obonyo said the move was intended to give women’s football in Kenya a boost. He noted that the Obonyo Foundation understands the disconnect many people overlook that behind the success of the national Under-17 side, countless girls in Nairobi and elsewhere are still fighting just to find a pitch to play on. That gap, he said, is exactly where new investment needs to go.
Accepting the donation, team coach Kevin Okoth thanked the Foundation but was candid about the pressures the club has faced. According to him, the team had once climbed as high as the Division One League, only to be pushed back down.
“Over the years, the team has grown and even competed in the Division One League. However, due to lack of adequate funds and financial challenges, we were unable to sustain participation at that level. We later wrote a letter to Football Kenya Federation explaining our situation, and the team was forced to drop to the County League,” Okoth said.
He listed the obstacles still facing the club: not enough playing kits or training gear, a shortage of balls and cones for practice, poor access to decent training grounds, and money troubles that make transport and tournament entry fees difficult to cover.
His account points to a wider pattern. Even with role models like the Junior Starlets making headlines, many young players say the chances open to them haven’t grown to match the interest they’re seeing.
Lorna, 21, has been playing since she was six years old and still holds on to a clear ambition.
“I hope one day to play for Ulinzi Starlets then proceed to Premier League teams, if I get good support, because throughout my talent I’ve lacked support and right opportunities,” she said.
Samira, who plays for Mukuru Talent, points to a different kind of obstacle, one rooted in attitude rather than infrastructure. She says many girls simply don’t get backing from their own families or neighborhoods, where football is still widely seen as something boys do.
“In our community we have fewer training facilities, which leads to having fewer women leagues,” she said. “All the funds and support are majorly given to the male teams.”
Beyond that, Samira said, girls face brutal competition for the attention of scouts, along with harassment that boys rarely have to think about. She also pointed to lingering social attitudes that keep girls out of the sport altogether.
“There are stereotypes that women are not meant to be in the fields but at home caring for the family, or if they want to venture into sports they should try soft sports,” she said.
It’s this combination of scarce resources and social resistance that the Obonyo Foundation’s “For the Girls” initiative is trying to chip away at, by rallying individuals, organisations and businesses to put money and equipment directly into grassroots clubs.
“We are trying to get more girls into the game, but clubs especially in the grassroots need resources to provide essentials like sport kits and equipment,” Obonyo said, adding that grassroots football remains the foundation on which any girl’s path into the sport is built.
The Foundation says it will keep pushing for wider support, calling on individuals, companies and organisations to step in and back grassroots girls’ teams before the current momentum fades.
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