When Will Women’s Football in Kenya Command the Spotlight?

By Ivan Lucy - As the dust settles on the just-concluded CHAN tournament, where Morocco lifted the trophy in one of Africa’s most fiercely contested competitions, a haunting question lingers: When will women’s football ever command such a spotlight?

This year’s edition made history, bringing together 19 national teams in the group stages, the largest number of participants in CHAN history.

Hosted across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, the 8th edition was not just a tournament; it was a continental celebration of football at its finest.

The fully packed stadiums, electrifying atmosphere, adrenaline-filled stands, wall-to-wall media coverage, and branding frenzy painted a vivid picture of what football means to Africa when it is given the investment it deserves.

Even FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s presence underscored the weight and value placed on men’s football. But behind this glittering spectacle lies a sobering truth: women’s football in Africa continues to be treated as an afterthought. While men bask in glory, women remain sidelined, their talent dimmed by a lack of investment, attention, and respect.

The Harambee Stars vs. the Starlets

The exposure that Kenya’s Harambee Stars gained from CHAN even after bowing out in the quarterfinals was immense.

For the players, the experience came with rewards, recognition, and renewed motivation to push the legacy of their country forward.

But where does this leave the Harambee Starlets? Unlike their male counterparts, Kenya’s women’s team rarely enjoys such visibility.

Women’s matches, whether in international tournaments or the local Kenya Women’s Premier League, attract sparse attendance, receive minimal media coverage, and almost no branding.

The result is a vicious cycle: the less women’s football is seen, the less it is valued, and the slower it grows. In the end, talent is suffocated, dreams are dimmed, and women’s football remains quietly overshadowed by the men’s game.

A Historic First, Forgotten Too Soon

Women’s football in Kenya is not a story of failure. In fact, it has delivered some of the country’s biggest sporting milestones in recent history.

Currently, we have a women’s team playing in the Oslo Homeless World Cup, where the Kenyan side has stormed into the semi-final after thrashing Wales 8-1.

In their group stage matches, Kenya registered remarkable results, outshining their opponents and surpassing the performance of any other Kenyan team male or female in similar global events.

Harambee Starlets Under 17 when they qualified for World Cup

And who can forget 2024, when the U-17 Junior Starlets etched their names in history by becoming the first Kenyan football team male or female to qualify for a FIFA World Cup?

They carried the nation’s flag to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and, on October 18, played their first-ever match against England.

These are moments of pride, breakthroughs that should have transformed the trajectory of women’s football in Kenya. The women’s teams have already proven their capability on the global stage. Yet, even with such milestones, the reality remains bleak as women’s football continues to be grossly underfunded.

The Starlets’ achievement was celebrated in headlines for a brief moment, but the investment, sponsorship, and structural support needed to sustain such success have yet to follow.

The question then is not whether women can perform at the highest level they already have, but whether the nation and the continent are willing to back them with the resources they deserve.

Voices from the Game: Demanding Equality

According to football commentator Luqman Mahmoud, gender inequality in sports remains one of the biggest setbacks for Kenyan women athletes, stunting their growth and potential.

"The Federation should treat women’s football as equal to men’s. To date, Harambee Starlets are still demanding their May bonuses from WAFCON qualifiers, while their male counterparts, Harambee Stars, received their allowances even before playing in the CHAN tournament," he says.

Luqman also emphasizes the need for aggressive promotion of women’s football:

"The Federation should invest in popularizing the women’s game. This will give players the opportunity to showcase their talent and attract a global audience. If the private sector collaborates with the Federation to heavily invest and promote women’s sports, more corporations will follow suit and support women’s football," he adds.

Beryl Oyoo, a sports journalist, echoes these sentiments, pointing to the lack of infrastructure and resources as a key factor depopularizing the women’s game:

"We have talented girls at the grassroots level, but they lack proper fields, training gear, and the right exposure to help them shine on global stages. High school games are filled with extremely gifted young girls whose dreams are shattered because of the lack of support and better facilities for women’s football," Oyoo explains.

She calls upon football fans to step up:

"If fans can turn out in their thousands to support the Harambee Starlets during upcoming CECAFA games, it will help attract TV coverage and keep the women motivated to push the legacy started by the U-17 Starlets."

The Future of the Beautiful Game

The voices from the stands and the pitch make it clear: fans are ready to embrace women’s football, if only it is given the same platform and support as men’s tournaments.

CHAN has shown us what is possible when resources, planning, and passion converge. Now, imagine that same energy fueling women’s leagues, grassroots development programs, and continental championships.

We have countless girls waiting on dusty pitches, barefoot but with dreams bigger than their circumstances. They do not need sympathy. They need systems that believe in them and structures that support them.

We have witnessed how CHAN has positively influenced men’s football. Now, women need the same investment, the same passion, and the same belief. Because when women win, the game wins and so does the nation.