The 2023 Rausha Kipaji football tournament under 15 champions Michael Olunga Football Academy (MOFA) will be out to repeat their victorious feat as the fifth edition of the annual tournament kicks off in Nakuru County tomorrow, Thursday, April 18, 2024.
MOFA will rise again in a bid to cement their dominance during the four-day age group tournament that will culminate on Sunday, April 21 at Nakuru Boys and Girls High Schools. MOFA has entered teams in both the under 13 and under 15 years old categories.
Their Nairobi rivals Buruburu Soccer Academy who last year won in the under 9 years category have also entered their under 13 and under 15 years teams and will be seeking to lay their hands on silverware in the higher age groups.
Buruburu soccer academy under 13 team has been pooled in group C alongside hosts Nakuru City Football ‘B’, Lexus Soccer Academy, and Phoenix Soccer Academy ‘A’.
In the under-15 age category, Buruburu Soccer Academy will be seeking to top group H with competition against Lexus Soccer Academy, Syokimau Soccer Academy, and Twomok FC.
MOFA’s under 13 years team has been pooled in group M alongside Phoenix Soccer Academy ‘B’, Ballers Socer Academy, and New Hope Soccer Academy.
In the Under 15 years category, MOFA will seek to dominate group B which also has Runda Ridge Soccer Academy, Ting’ang’a Sports Academy, and Fusion Sports Club.
In the last edition, MOFA’s under-15 and Buruburu Soccer Academy under-9 teams were crowned champions in their very first outing at the youth tournament.
The Homabay side MOFA beat Stawisha Academy 5-1 and Express Soccer Academy 1-0 en route to booking their slot in the age group finals for the main cup where they beat Ufasimba to win the Under 15 category title.
In the Under 9 category, Buruburu Soccer Academy played out a barren draw with Express Soccer forcing the match into post-match penalties. Buruburu won the match 3-1 with Adjatay Gabriel, Omar Abdalla, and Edwin Munyao all converting their spot kicks.
BSA was unbeaten from the first match to the final match. The best player of the tournament in the Under 9 category was Omar Abdalla from Buruburu Soccer Academy.
Buruburu lost to Ufasimba in the final match of the main Cup. The overall under-13 tournament top scorer was Buruburu’s Damian Baraka who slotted in a total of 9 goals from Buruburu Soccer Academy. BSA lost 3-0 to Ufasimba in the Under 13 main cup.