This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 16, 2019, Harambee Starlets head coach David Ouma expressed confidence in his team's ability to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Ouma, who led the team to qualify for the 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations, believes that with proper training and full support from the government, they can achieve their goal of qualifying for the Olympics after failing to qualify for the 2018 AWCON tournament.
Starlets began training on Sunday to prepare for the first leg of the qualifier against Malawi, which is scheduled for August 28, 2019.
“Out of 39 players I named last week, 31 of them reported to camp on Sunday. So far we have had four training sessions, one in the morning and the other in the evening for the last two days consecutively and we will continue today,” Ouma said.
He added that the players who missed the training due to injuries include Winnie Kanyotu and Wincate Kaari of Gaspo Youth and Elizabeth Wambui of Thika Queens, and expressed hope that they will heal in time to join the team.
Kenya will face Malawi in the first leg of the qualifier on August 28, 2019, and will then face them again in the second leg three days later.
According to Ouma, the team will break camp on Friday to allow players to join their respective clubs for the WPL weekend matches, and will resume training next week.
However, some veterans like Israel-based Esse Mbeyu Akida, Neddy Atieno, and Sweden-based duo Mary Kinuthia and Christine Nafula are not part of the current training camp, but are expected to join later to boost the team's chances.
