As Kenya prepares to host Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) U20 women championship in July, a selection process will be held on Saturday as 36 players line up for a chance to represent Kenya in the competitions.
The 36, named in a provisional squad on Monday, were largely scouted from the ‘Chapa Dimba na Safaricom’ youth tournament. Those who make the cut from this selection process will link up with other national team players who last featured for the team in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers in November 2017.
“The players who were in the World Cup qualifying team were not named among the 36 who will be undergoing trials this weekend. Instead, those who make the cut from the Saturday exercise will join up with that team,” explained Mike Kamure who was part of the technical bench in the World Cup qualifiers team.
In 2017, the team took part in the U20 World Cup qualifiers, falling to Ghana in the final qualifying round. The Junior Starlets had breezed past Botswana in the first round, 7-1 on aggregate, before edging out Ethiopia 4-3 on aggregate in the second round. They, however, crashed out in the penultimate stage of the CAF qualifiers as they lost by 10 on aggregate to Ghana.
“Most of the players who featured in that team are still within the age bracket and will be included in the team. After the new selections join in, all the players will now compete to make the final squad on merit,” added Kamure.
