Harambee Starlets In Kenya –Everything You Need To Know About The Harambee Starlets

Undeniably, women’s sports participation has become a prominent topic in the sporting world. With Kenya among the countries with active women’s national football teams, it would be fascinating to trace the history of Kenyan women’s formal participation in football.

In this post, we’ll not only look into the history of the Kenya women’s national football team but also discuss other interesting aspects of the Harambee Starlets, including Gor Mahia FC.

Brief History of the Kenya Women’s National Football Team

Kenya’s establishment of a women’s national football team is historic, especially because it occurred in 1985 when there didn’t seem to be other countries with national football teams for women. However, Kenya’s women’s football suffered a setback in 1996, and eventually, the Kenya Football Federation became the administrator of the women’s national team, which had earlier been managed by the Kenya Women’s Football Federation.

While it’s noteworthy that the Kenya Women’s Football Federation was formed in 1993 to be the administrator of the women’s national team, it eventually collapsed only three years after its establishment. This meant the duties and functions of the federation would be handed over to the Kenya Football Federation in 1996.

An Overview of Harambee Starlets

Harambee Starlets is widely known to be the nickname of the Kenyan women’s national football team. While this team is fully managed by the Kenya Football Federation, it has featured in notable women’s competitions, including the 2006 qualifying matches for the AFCON and the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.

Even though it is yet to qualify for competitions like the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Olympic Games, and African Games, Harambee Starlets remains a recognized women’s national team. While this recognition also highlights the importance of Kenyan women’s participation in football, it should be noted that members of the Harambee Starlets, i.e., Kenya’s women’s national team players, are expected to have other occupations.

Members of Harambee Starlets are, of course, professional players, but their position doesn’t specify them as “full-time professional players.”

AFCON Qualifier Matches

Harambee Starlets’ appearance in qualifying matches for AFCON has seen both victories and losses. The team’s 2006 campaign had three matches, including a 5-0 loss to Cameroon and a 7-0 victory over Djibouti.

Timeline of FIFA’s Ranking of Harambee Starlets

Harambee Starlets were placed in the 135^th position in FIFA’s world ranking of the best women’s national teams in 2006. At a time in 2007, the team was placed in the 144^th position, indicating a drop of 9 places from the previous position. However, in 2008, the team moved up FIFA’s ranking to become the 117^th best women’s national team in the world.

2009 saw an even further improvement as Harambee Starlets were placed in the 92^nd position. But 2010 marked a significant drop in the team’s ranking as FIFA placed it in the 128^th position. There was a further drop in 2011 as the team was placed in the 136^th position.

Even though the subsequent year, 2012, marked an improved FIFA ranking, the improvement was very minimal as Harambee Starlets were positioned as the world’s 135^th best women’s national team.

Top 10 Notable Facts about Harambee Starlets

1. The Kenya women’s national team is currently managed by the Kenya Football Federation, though the team was previously managed by the Kenya Women’s Football Federation between 1993 and 1996.
2. Harambee Starlets play their home matches at the Moi International Sports Centre.
3. Kenya’s formation of a national women’s football team (which is now popularly dubbed Harambee Starlets) occurred in 1985 when there barely seemed to be any other country with a national football team for women.
4. Harambee Starlets recorded a massive 12-0 victory over Djibouti in 2019, and this remains the team’s biggest victory.
5. Kenya’s Harambee Starlets suffered 5-0 defeats at the hands of Cameroon (2006), Ethiopia (2012), and Chile (2020). Each of these defeats marks the team’s biggest loss.
6. Harambee Starlets have appeared only once in African Women’s Championship. The team’s lone appearance came in 2016.
7. Harambee Starlets are yet to record any appearance in the following major competitions: Olympic Games, FIFA Women’s World Cup, and African
8. Sigi Musembi is the top goal scorer for the Harambee Starlets, while Wendy Achieng remains the player with the most caps for the team.
9. In 2006, Kenya’s Harambee Starlets secured a 7-0 victory over Djibouti in their first international match. The team recorded the victory in their 2006 qualifying matches for the AFCON.
10. The Kenya women’s national football team –i.e., Harambee Starlets –is yet to win any major trophy.

Conclusion

We have, so far, provided you with the vital facts that you should know about Kenya’s Harambee Starlets. However, it’s possible we omitted some essential details that you’d like to ask questions about. Endeavour to drop the questions in the comment section of this post.