Various beach football stakeholders in Mombasa are pushing for more beach soccer tournaments in a bid to popularise the game within the county.
This has been inspired by the just concluded Shibe Fest Beach football tournament courtesy of Kitui Flour Mills.
The event has been held annually in Mombasa for three straight years now since 2021.
Football veteran Said Bahresa, who played for various Kenya Premier League sides including Feisal and Division One side, Dundee, back in the days, said beach soccer has a huge following in Mombasa.
“People love beach soccer in Mombasa and If we had these tournaments more often, like every month, it would help develop talent in the region,” said Bahresa, who is also known as coach Pereira.
His team Fetuwe FC won the third edition of the Shibe Fest Beach tournament at Pirates Beach over the weekend after beating Sao Paolo 1-0.
“In two days, we won Sh100,000 in prize money. This tournament is better than the leagues which are played for a whole season with nothing to show for it,” he said.
Sao Paolo walked away with Sh70,000 while third-placed El-Control got Sh30,000. Kitui Flour Mills representative Shariff Abdalla said they sponsored the tournament to promote beach soccer.
“We want beach soccer to become popular in Mombasa and the coast region,” Abdalla said.
He said they are willing to sponsor more of such tournaments in a bid to nurture talent in the region.
Abdalla said with the right engagement, they are willing to sponsor even a beach soccer league in Mombasa.
In Mombasa, from as early as 5 am, many youths throng the beaches as part of their routine morning exercises which usually end up with them playing football along the seashores.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir’s sports advisor Alliy Goshi, who has been heavily involved in the management of the tournaments, said they are working on plans to establish a league.
“We are thinking of coming up with a proper league with similar structures as the Premier League Leagues,” Goshi said.
Gershon Kanga, a player with Kenya’s beach soccer national team, said there is a need for the Football Kenya Federation to organize a beach soccer national league, which he said can be played in series.
“This is because when we go for national duties we get challenges. We play against professionals who train daily,” Kanga said.
He last represented Kenya in the African Beach Games held in Hamammet, Tunisia in June last year, where they finished fourth out of five participating teams.
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