Young girls from Langas estate who are part of the Eldoret Sports Development Centre (Espodec) Starlets – a football team have a reason to smile.
This is after the team’s management signed a partnership with the Mwangiz Institute of Cosmetology.
Espodec Starlets coach Maurice Kamau says the partnership will see some of their best players get enrolled on the Eldoret-based institutions for a short course of their choice.
Further, a player who is voted the most valuable after every game will be treated to a Monday beauty makeover.
In an interview with Uasin Gishu News on March 31, 2023, Kamau said the partnership will also come as a morale boost to the players.
The team participates in the North Rift Football Kenya Federation (FKF) regional league.
“We have girls that have finished high school, they don’t have anything to do. With this partnership, they will be taken through a course of their interest at the Mwangiz Institute of Cosmetology,” the Espodec Starlets coach said.
The team is comprised of girls aged between 14 and 25 years, most of who are from families with a humble backgrounds.
Self-reliant
Phillip Maina, the Mwangiz Institute of Cosmetology Principal on his part they agreed to enter into a partnership with the team as a way of helping the girls.
The training, Maina notes, will also enable the girls to get skills that they can rely on in the community.
Some of the short courses the girls will be taken through include hairdressing, and beauty therapy together with hair design.
“We believe the three to six-month courses will make them independent financially, enabling them to move away from relying on other people. We have started with the best players that Espodec will get, we will train them, encourage them as well as give them moral support,” said the Mwangiz Institute of Cosmetology Principal.
The players will be trained free of charge.
But even as Espodec Starlets partners with the institution, the team coach says there is more support that they need.
He names sanitary towels as well as financial support to facilitate their travel and food for the players as areas well-wishers can come in and help them.
Last season, the team finished third in the regional league and is hoping to improve this season.
