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I Was The First Female Footballer in Kenya to Play in an International Match But I won’t be The Last – Doreen Nabwire Narrates

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Meet Kenya’s Doreen Nabwire Omondi, a 32-year-old female football player. She is also a soccer activist and a young talent scout. Above all else, she holds the title of being the first female footballer in Kenya to ever play in an international match.

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The successful mother of three and Kenya’s first professional female football star, shared her story with Saturday Magazine. She started off by saying “I like to think of myself as the torchbearer of the underdogs in football. I am currently a Women Development Officer at the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) and Deputy Competitions Manager in charge of grassroots football development. I am also the Founder of Girls Unlimited which I started back in 2009 to nurture fresh talent.”


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“When I was young, most people associated a footballer player with being immoral and I was seen as having no direction in life. People would often brand me as undisciplined just because I was into sports. A lot of female footballers got discouraged and even developed low self-esteem due to these remarks,” she added.

According to Doreen, football runs in her family’s DNA. “My dad used to play football way back but he quit due to a hip injury. I like to think he lives vicariously through me. I am the third born in a family of six. My two elder brothers were once players, but one is now a football coach.” Only their last born, who studies at Kenyatta University, didn’t take the soccer path.

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The highlight of Doreen’s career was receiving the Sports Personality of the Decade Award. This was at the Magharibi Michezo Awards in December 2018. To her, it showed that all her years in the field were not in vain.

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