The fourth edition of the Safaricom Chapa Dimba football tournament is slated to officially kick off on Saturday July 8 in the Western region, with the tournament making a comeback after three years.

The thrilling tournament has attracted 441 teams from Kakamega, Busia, Vihiga and Bungoma in Western region, a significant rise from 180 teams recorded in the last session.

Kakamega has registered 162, the highest number of teams in the Western region leg, followed by Bungoma with 152, Busia with 64, and Vihiga with 63 teams, respectively.

“We are delighted by the high number of registration of teams for this year’s tournament. The Western region has set a good pace, with over 400 teams registered to compete in this year’s Safaricom Chapa Dimba tournament,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

He added, “This number has almost tripled from the last edition, which proves that this year’s tournament will be bigger and better and we look forward to nurturing more young talents in the country.”

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Defending champions Blue Saints and Bishop Njenga Girls are some of the top Western teams taking part in this year’s Safaricom Chapa Dimba alongside 2018 Girls category runners-up, Ibinzo Girls, with all the teams hailing all from Kakamega County.

Different teams are set to compete at the grassroots from the ward level with the winner from each ward proceeding to compete to be declared the Sub-County level champion.

The Sub-County champions will then proceed to face off for the county level title with each county to produce its best boys' and girls' teams for the regional tournament’s coveted title.

The contest will climax at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega ahead of the national title with Safaricom setting aside an award for every stage of the competition from ward to national.

Safaricom has pledged Sh400 million to support the tourney with the total cash prize doubling to Sh20 million for the winning boys’ and girls’ teams from wards to national finals.

Safaricom and M-Pesa Foundation are offering 150 Education Scholarships to TVET colleges to the Best Boy and Best Girl players from each county and winning Boys’ and Girls’ Teams at the National Final.

The organisers will scout for the best football players (two boys and two girls) during each of the regional finals to form an All-Star team and get a chance to visit Spain for a 10-day training boot camp.

Additionally, two players (a boy and a girl) will each get an international placement in a youth team in Spain.

Similarly, the most disciplined team at the national finals will pocket Sh100,000, while the Best Girl player, Girls’ Top Scorer and Girls’ Best Keeper will walk away with Sh50,000 each.

According to Safaricom, Chapa Dimba seeks to provide a structured platform for scouts and coaches to tap new talent and build feeder systems for the various Kenyan football leagues.

During the much-anticipated tournament, which targets young people between the ages of 16 and 20, a total of 250 coaches will also be trained.

Find more information on how to register and/or get match fixtures.