Kenyan women stamping authority in men’s perceived sport: Can the World Cup dream actualise?

Many years ago, when the traditional first-term games kicked off in primary schools, boys actively participated in many games, and football was one of their favorites.

Ironically, as boys perfected dribbling and shooting skills to secure a niche in football, the girls focused on netball as their preferred sport.

On the other hand, few girls who were nurturing their football skills were regarded as 'intruders' in a male-dominated sphere. However, a lot has now changed, and across the East African nation of Kenya, from Mombasa County (001) to West Pokot (47), more women are now embracing different sports such as football and rugby, which were previously perceived to be men-dominated sports.

Petra highlights importance of introducing football to primary school girls

Starlets Striking Performance

Several steps have broadly been taken, and football overs have a reason to smile after an impressive start from the Rising and Harambee Starlets. The moving performances from both teams, shattering records of well-rooted nations in the women's football competition, are a phenomenon, and one wonders whether the teams have been in existence for decades.

Recently, the Rising Starlets (Ladies under-20 team) outsmarted Angola 10-1 on aggregate to maintain the ultimate goal of qualifying for the FIFA under-20 women’s world cup for the first time in history.

The Rising Stars will now face Cameroon, who eliminated Botswana 6-1 on the aggregate score line. Earlier, on September 27th, this year, the senior team shocked Cameroon in the post-match penalties after a 1-1 all-round draw to win 4-3 and kick out the West African side, which has never failed to qualify for the African Women's Cup editions since its inception in 1991. The impressive start of the matches leads to one question, and one ponders the striking strides the women's football teams are making.

In an effort to unravel Kenya's growth in the football scene, I caught up with Coach Irine Mutindi, a trained recreation and sports manager, founder, and director of Purpose Sports Limited, which aims to tap on sports for development through mentorship and empowerment programs.

Harambee Starlets striker Topister Situma joins Greek Super League side

First of all, Mutindi congratulated the Harambee Starlets and also the Rising Starlets for their exemplary stats and also sent a strong message to not only Africa but the rest of the world that the outstanding performance replicates the major steps the nations have made and that it is up to the task to take over the sport.

Also, she pointed out self-motivation, passion, a professional coach, and the federations for the outstanding results.

“The girls are self-motivated, passionately love the game, have a competent coach who is also a role model to them, and have a supportive federation.”

Societal Perception

As we strolled down, Mutindi also lauded how Kenya is making bold steps in the game that was traditionally assumed to be a men’s thing, and now it is making everybody, if not make it to Nyayo or Kasarani stadium to catch up with the girls, then get stuck glued to their television sets to watch the Starlets humble their opponents.

However, the coach pointed out the perception linked to the sport by alleging, “Traditionally, football has always been viewed as a male-dominated sport; hence, society perceives that football will make women too muscular or that my child will behave more like a man than a woman.”

Furthermore, the ever-smiling coach also called upon parents to accord girls who are passionate about soccer with much-needed support. However, as she recalled her childhood memory, she smiled and stated that women's football trajectory is now fascinating, unlike in the past.

"I grew up with a great passion for sports, especially football, but I did not have a coach to nurture my talent, motivate me, and encourage me until I enrolled in higher studies.” Despite the obstacles, “I vowed to myself that I would be one of the best coaches globally and nurture more talents," a determined Mutindi asserted.

Is the FKF Women's League likely to secure broadcasting partnerships?

Turning passion into a career

Mutindi’s journey to an outstanding sports personality may have been nurtured at Kenyatta University as a captain. Remarkably, for three years as a leader, the university’s women's soccer team humbled teams to dominate the KUSA games. Later on, she started fostering her coaching skills by volunteering as a player coach during the FKF regional league.

Apart from being an accredited CAF D Coaching License holder, Mutindi also recounts working with underprivileged boys from the streets and girls from needy groups. The experience challenged her to pursue a sports course aimed at fostering social impact and also ushering in development programs.

Later on, Mutindi’s passion for brightening the faces of girls and giving them hope inspired her to launch the Purpose Sports Company. The firm is embedded with various programs that utilize sports to usher in much-needed social impact and development change. Subsequently, the mentorship and empowerment program has led to 120 girls benefiting from it.

However, Mutindi's success is attributed to professionalism as a key concept and adds, “I am competent enough in my coaching skills and not only deal with impacting football skills on the pitch, but I also help develop my girls holistically.’’

Next Plan

Mutindi is now concentrating on nurturing the next heroines in Nyeri County.

“I have mentorship sessions for girls in football coming up on the 20th during the Talanta Mtaani Super Cup finals in Nyeri County. The other one is in December, which I cannot disclose much for now,’’ Mutindi said, adding that her major goal is to nurture more than 5,000 girls in a span of five years," and for those I have mentored so far, I look forward to their success stories.’’

Call on the government, media, and girls

Finally, Mutindi called on the government to focus on supporting women in football management and facilitating coaching services to nurture their skills. She also urged the national team coaches to exercise "credibility, fairness, and integrity in national team selection, which will go a long way in motivating more girls to dream big.’’

She also called upon the government to focus on infrastructure and grassroots structures and emphasized that "a structured football development plan for our girls in various age categories will spice up a continuous feeder channel to the national teams.”

As we were winding up, Mutindi called upon the girls to take a bold step and battle for their space in the soccer arena. “Look for a nearby field where people play football; join, and the coaches will guide you.'' Mutindi further challenged the girls: "Do not give up; dream big and work towards that dream. You will succeed.''

Finally, she concluded, “Ensure you have fun every time you play, feel good, and always celebrate your small wins as you strive for self-actualization."

Over the weekend, while speaking on West TV, Cabinet Secretary for Sports and Youth, Hon. Ababu Namwamba, assured the nation that through the Talanta Hela Initiative, the ministry will focus on sustainable solutions by effectively supporting teams that will in turn focus on identifying and nurturing talents to build a strong foundation for socio-economic growth.

Globally, the growth of women's football is on the verge of blossoming based on the set standards that all football clubs should have women's teams. In East Africa, the Tanzanian Women's Football League has lured Kenyan women as the wave for greener pastures, and soccer as a career is sweeping across the nation.

Also, in accordance with CAF’s requirements, all teams playing in the top Kenyan premier league have embraced a women's football team that will participate in the league, which presents a glaring opportunity for our girls. Perhaps it is a matter of time before the girls take Kenya to the World Cup football competition for the first time in history, a dream that Kenyans have had for Harambee Stars all along, only to be knocked out by soccer powerhouses such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Senegal, etc. But as the famous slogan alleges, ‘Ipo siku.’

Article by Dan Sudi