NAIROBI, Kenya, March 30 – Mwenge Youth FC and Mother of Apostles Seminary are the Rift Valley Champions during the region’s Copa Coca-Cola tournament held over the weekend.
Mwenge Youth FC beat Lodwar Earth Movers 2-1 in a match played at the Menengai High School in Nakuru while Mother of Apostles Seminary emerged winners after beating Kabuyefuue Secondary school 4-2 in post match penalties at a match held in Uasin Gishu High School in Eldoret.
In other matches played during the day, Mwenge Youth FC beat Kericho Youth FC 1-0 in the semifinals while Lodwar Earth Movers FC edged out Nakuru Youth 5-2 to post match penalties.
In Eldoret, Mother of Apostles Seminary FC had beaten Racecourse 1-0 while Kabuyefuue Secondary School thrashed Tambach 4-0.
The COPA Coca-Cola scouting panel selected two teams of 16 members comprising the best talent in the Rift Valley games to represent the region in the National finals.
A total of 48 teams competed in the tournament that ran on Saturday and Sunday when the winners were determined.
The games now proceed to Western Region this weekend to determine the region’s representatives in the National Finals between April 24th and May 2nd.
The regional tournaments that begun on 7th of March have so far been held in Thika and Nyeri for Central Kenya, and Machakos and Meru for Eastern, Malindi and Mombasa for Coast region where two teams of 16 each have been selected to represent each of the regions.
North Eastern region has also held its games that saw one team of 16 players move to the Finals.
The winners received Sh30,000. The team winning at the National Finals will bag Sh500,000. The COPA Coca-Cola 2009 games are sponsored by Coca-Cola, and are being managed by the KPL which is providing FIFA accredited referees, coaches and talent scouts.
The 2009 COPA Coca-Cola involves 256 teams (up from 20 in 2007 and 40 in 2008) of under 17s (mostly between ages 13 and 15) drawn from both communities and schools in various regions.
The team that wins the finals- The COPA Coca-Cola Dream Team 2009 – will travel to South Africa for an International Soccer Camp to undergo world-class training and coaching.
The Dream Team will also have a chance to play in the International COPA Coca-Cola (ICCC) tournament to be held in South Africa in 2010. Additionally, they will participate in the Confederations Cup as ball-boys and spectators.
