Engesha earns call up to Harambee Starlets as AWCON beckons

Women Premier League (WPL) top scorer, Vihiga Queens’ Terry Engesha has been recalled to Harambee Starlets, after missing out on the women’s national team for the last two years.

Starlets were scheduled to report to camp on Thursday, 15 April to begin preparations for a friendly match against Zambia that has since been canceled. The friendly match was to be part of the team’s build up to the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers.

The qualifiers are set to kick off in June as Starlets hope to clinch a ticket to the showpiece to make a second appearance after their 2016 debut. In the 2018 edition, Kenya had replaced Equatorial Guinea after they were disqualified by CAF for fielding an ineligible player but the decision was overturned on appeal, and Equatorial Guinea were reintegrated into the competition. Kenya appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but failed to overturn the decision.

The event, set for Morocco will be the 12th edition of AWCON. The tournament also doubles as the African qualifiers to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The top four teams will qualify for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Engesha who last featured for Starlets in 2018 has had a consistent run in league action. She had scored 13 goals in the Zone B league before action was suspended. An initial provisional squad announced by immediate former tactician David Ouma had left out Engesha, among other experienced players, but sources privy to the developments in the team now under the tutelage of Charles Okere indicate that she has been added to the squad expected to prepare for the upcoming assignments.

Engesha has been a key player in the Vihiga Queens squad, helping them clinch three consecutive WPL titles. She joined Queens in the second leg of the 2016 season from rivals Vihiga Leeds. She was to sign for Queens at the start of the 2016 season but there was a tussle on her release from Leeds which delayed the move to the second leg. She has also played for Nairobi’s Soccer Queens while in high school.

She had a short stint at Dalhem IF in the Swedish Division two, in 2018 but the club did not agree transfer terms with forcing her to return home. She turned up for the Robert Mambo-coached Swedish side alongside Christine Wafula and Mary Kinuthia.