Harambee Starlets coach David Ouma has hinted at bringing new players on board for the 2019 Cecafa Senior women's Challenge set for between November 14 and 23 at Chamanzi Stadium in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.
Kenya have been pitted against Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti in Pool ‘B’ in the third edition of the bonanza which has attracted eight teams.
The first group is comprised of Tanzania, South Sudan, Burundi and Zanzibar while last edition’s hosts Rwanda gave the showpiece a wide berth.
"We want to give more players a chance to represent Kenya in international events. At the moment, we have more girls playing football at the school level, Division One and in the FKF Women’s Premier League and it’s time to harness these talents and give them exposure."
“We want to create an open squad for the national team assignments for posterity,” said Ouma.
In the previous tournaments, Starlets have had fairly good performances, finishing as losing finalist in the inaugural edition in 2016 in Jinja, Uganda. They finished fourth in Rwanda 2017.
The tactician intimated that both tournaments were critical for Starlets to find their footing in the regional football arena and this time he’s positive the outfit can bring the trophy home.
“In the previous tournaments, we did not know what to expect but we learnt of the dynamics of football in the Cecafa region and I believe the bench and playing unit can seamlessly work to deliver the best results,” added Ouma whose charges eliminated Ghana from Africa's Olympic qualification race a fortnight ago.
Starlets are scheduled to play Ethiopia in their opening duel at Chamanzi Stadium on November 15 before meeting Djibouti two days later. They face Uganda two days later in their last preliminary matches.
In the meantime, Ouma said his technical bench and the federation are concentrating their efforts on the preparing Harambee Starlets for Round Four match of the 2020 Olympic Qualifiers against Zambia set for November 4.
