Last week, the country was in a celebratory mood after the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) U16 team stormed the bronze medal at the biggest youth football tournament in Oslo, Norway.

MYSA lads were on fire, winning six matches out of seven. They posted emphatic margins at the world’s largest youth soccer tournament.

The bubbly squad limbered up for the tournament with build-up matches at the Teddy Moen tournament in Sogne, Norway, playing a total of three matches, winning two and losing one to wrap up second.

MYSA thrashed Randesund G15 4-3 before downing Søgne G15 by a similar scoreline. Randesund G16 who were the eventual winners, beat them 2-1. They kicked off their group campaign on a resounding note, demolishing Tiller IL 4-0.

They shattered their record for the most goals scored in a single match for any MYSA Team in the Norway Cup after smashing 13 goals past AI IL.

MYSA’s goal-scoring spree saw them humiliate Bækkelagets SK 11-0 in their subsequent encounter to seal a slot in the last 16.

They later took on Odda FK in the semi-finals and lost 3-1. Unfazed by the setback, MYSA soldiered on and won the third-place playoff against Leknes Fotballklubb.

The 13-member comprised Obed Amenya, Lucky Braine, Dominic Bwire, Kesley Juma, Scott Mballa, Joseph Mulwa, Austine Mwaura, Timothy Obanda, Elvis Odhiambo, Samuel Otieno, Seth Otieno, and Fabian Serry. Derrick Ochieng was the coach and Evans Odenyo was the team manager.

Mainly drawn from the vast Eastlands area, MYSA players come from families that struggle to put food on the table. Their parents find it difficult to pay their school fees.

MYSA has drawn on the huge passion for football to construct a special program of coaching, social and personal development in Nairobi’s massive Eastlands area.

Founded in 1987, the organization has grown to be the biggest youth group in Africa where coaching and participation are related to unpaid public service.

Mathare United honcho, Bob Munro, with MYSA players during a past function.
Mathare United honcho, Bob Munro, with MYSA players during a past function.
Image: HANDOUT
Its passion for the game and determination have paid off handsomely both locally and on a global scale.

Today, MYSA is ranked second after Brazilian club Pequininos in the number of gold medals won since the Norway Cup started in 1972.

MYSA has participated in the Norway Cup since 1990 and now ranks 2nd for most gold medals won in the 49-year history of the Norway Cup.

Established in 1972, the Norway Cup has become the world’s oldest and largest international youth tournament, featuring over 30,000 players from 60 countries.

MYSA was founded in August 1987 by Bob Munro, a former Canadian civil servant and diplomat.

Munro also served as a senior policy adviser on environment and sustainable development to the United Nations and many African countries, intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs.

“I started MYSA to honour the volunteer fathers who organized and coached the youth ice hockey and baseball leagues that my friends and I were part of during the 1950s in the small town of St. Catharine’s,” Munro said.

Munro also conceived the concept to give the kids in the Mathare slums a chance to learn and benefit from sports as he and his friends did.

Munro said MYSA is a worldwide pioneer in linking sport with community service and development activities.

“From the outset, MYSA has been an innovative development project, using sports as a starting point for a wide range of community development activities.

Scott Mballa, 13, the youngest member of the MYSA U16 team proudly displays his medal and the trophy that the team received.
HANDOUT Scott Mballa, 13, the youngest member of the MYSA U16 team proudly displays his medal and the trophy that the team received.
“Since 1987, MYSA pioneered the linking of self-help youth sports with environmental cleanup, AIDS prevention, drug abuse reduction, anti-child labor, youth leadership training/awards, anti-gender violence, new slum libraries/study halls, and other community service projects now involving over 30,000 youth annually.”

Munro observes that what gives MYSA a distinctive feature is the fact that it is owned by the youth.

“The organization is owned and managed by the youth themselves. Today, over 20,000 youth in over 1,600 teams in 16 zones participate in MYSA’s self-help youth sports and community service programs. The largest of the 16 MYSA zones is Kayole with over 2,000 youth in 127 teams,” Munro said.

“MYSA leaders and trainers also advise and assist youth in other poor communities and outside Kenya.”

With the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) Academy, MYSA instructors have led KNVB/MYSA courses in Botswana, Cape Verde, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, southern Sudan, Viet Nam, and Zambia.

Munro said that when MYSA started in 1987, most aid donors did not regard sport as a development activity. “Only Denmark and Norway provided early financial support to MYSA.”

The former Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya, H.E. David Miller, and his wife, Chantal (a UN interpreter), were the first MYSA donors with a personal contribution of Sh10,000.

“UNEP adviser Robert Lamb, an avid football fan, often went to MYSA youth matches and was surprised to find a team playing in the MYSA Dandora Zone named after his favourite team, Aston Villa.

“On his return to England, he arranged with Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis for a donation to MYSA of a set of Aston Villa shirts. The MYSA U-18 boys team proudly wore them in their first big tournament, the Kenya U-18 youth tournament in Nakuru in December 1988.

MYSA U16 team celebrate after clinching the bronze medal at the 2023 Norway Cup edition in Oslo.
MYSA U16 team celebrate after clinching the bronze medal at the 2023 Norway Cup edition in Oslo.
Image: HANDOUT
“They were by far the best-dressed team and also won the tournament. That was the first trophy ever won by a MYSA team.”

In 1989, Denmark/DANIDA became MYSA’s first official aid donor with financial support for the MYSA garbage, drainage ditch, and environmental clean-ups.

The organisation also donated the MYSA Community Service Cup, which is still awarded annually to the MYSA team with the best record on cleanup projects. The key Denmark/DANIDA officer in Kenya was Bo Jensen (who is now the Danish Ambassador to Kenya).

The Norwegian Minister of Environment, Hon. Sissel Ronbeck donated funds for MYSA to buy over 100 wheelbarrows plus rakes and shovels for use in the MYSA cleanup projects.

“In May 1990, the Norwegian Minister of Environment, the Hon. Sissel Ronbeck, in recognition of the innovative MYSA garbage and environmental cleanup projects, donated air tickets for the first MYSA team (U18 boys) to participate in the Norway Cup, the world’s oldest and largest international youth football tournament,” Munro said.

The late President Daniel Moi with the MYSA U18 team in 1990
The late President Daniel Moi with the MYSA U18 team in 1990
Image: HANDOUT
On July 18, 1990, MYSA youth became Kenyan sports ambassadors when the then President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, received the MYSA U18 team at State House in Nairobi and presented them with a Kenya flag.

Moi designated them as “Young Sports Ambassadors for Kenya” before they travelled later that month to participate in the Norway Cup in Oslo.

The senior team, Mathare United, built on this huge foundation to gain national league status, then won two of three Kenyan Cup finals in the next four years.

MYSA started the first girls’ football leagues in 1992 and now boasts the largest number of female players, teams, and leagues in Africa with 10,018 girls playing in 840 teams in 110 leagues in 16 MYSA zones.

Mathare United women’s head coach Ann Aluoch said MYSA is among the best gender equity organisations worldwide as 49.3% of its elected leaders are female.

“The youngest elected football official worldwide was 10-year-old Charity Muthoni who in 2008 chaired MYSA’s Kayole Zone which had over 2,000 youth in 127 teams in its zonal sport for development activities,” Aluoch said.

MYSA has since evolved into a stable supply belt of quality players for the Kenyan national teams and upper-tier clubs.

The organisation’s avid and effective youth development structure culminated in the establishment of a senior team, Mathare United in 1994.

A section of the MYSA U16 team at MYSA headquarters in Komarock, Nairobi.
A section of the MYSA U16 team at MYSA headquarters in Komarock, Nairobi.
Image: HANDOUT
Popularly known as the Slum Boys, the club climbed rapidly through the lower leagues and won promotion to the 1997 National Super League. There are now over 150,000 MYSA alumni in Kenya and abroad. Many hold prominent positions in football and the public and private sectors

The list of top world achievers includes Arnold Origi, the former national goalkeeper who currently coaches in Norway. Origi was catapulted to the international limelight during a trip to Norway three decades ago.

“On August 11, 1995, the Norway Cup final was held in Norway’s national stadium, Ulleval Stadium, in Oslo. That year, the MYSA U-12 boys team qualified for the first time for the Norway Cup finals and played against Korsvoll SK,” Munro said.

“Thanks to many superb saves by MYSA goalkeeper Arnold Origi, the MYSA team won by 3-0. The team earned MYSA’s first Norway Cup gold medals and Arnold earned the Man-of-the-Match Award.

“22 years later, on December 2, 2017, Arnold Origi was again standing in goal at Ulleval Stadium for top Norwegian team Lillestrom FK for the Norwegian FA Cup final against Sarpsborg IK.

Thanks again to his many superb saves, Lillestrom FK won by 3-2, earned the gold medals and Arnold again earned the Man-of-the-Match Award.”

Several other alumni of MYSA have shone on the global scale including Florence Adhiambo, (assistant coach, South Sudan national women’s team), Salim Ali, (FKF/CAF Coaching Instructor), Ann Aluoch (head coach, MU Women FC, Michael Amenga (FKF national technical director), Salim Babu (assistant coach Police FC) and Jackline Juma (head coach, national U17 women’s team).

The MYSA luminaries also include Anthony Kimani (head coach, Ulinzi Stars FC), Francis Kimanzi (the highest achieving national Harambee Stars coach), William Muluya (head coach, Kariobangi Sharks), Doreen Nabwire (manager, FKF leagues and competitions), Jecton Obure (CEO, Mathare United), Stephen Oduor (former Fifa/Caf referee/now FKF referees coordinator).

Other high achievers on the stellar list of MYSA alumni are Stanley Okumbi (head coach, national U20 youth team), Johanna Omolo (2019 FIFPRO Global Merit Award Laureate for Community Service), Barry Otieno (FKF CEO/Secretary General), Geoffrey Otieno (Physiotherapist, national women’s team) and David Ouma (technical director, Sofapaka).

Some have also asserted authority in the public sector including Aaron Cheruiyot (Senate Majority Leader), Wairimu Gitau (former communications adviser, Médecins sans Frontières, Belgium), Edward Kahuthia, (Human Rights lawyer/Ph.D student, Ghent University, Belgium), Elijah Kanyi (film-maker, and award-winning investigative journalist at Africa Uncensored).

Salim Mohamed, (strategic planning adviser for Kenyan and international NGOs), Julius Mwelu UN-Habitat adviser on communications and advocacy), Maurice Njoroge (vice president, Business Development Unbuild, USA), Andrew Mudibo, (president, Kenya Table Tennis Association/Africa Vice President, ATTF) and Charles Muiruri (program director, Global Health Institute, Duke University, USA).

Mathare United's Jumaan Khalid (L) battles with Tusker's Michael Oduor in action
Mathare United's Jumaan Khalid (L) battles with Tusker's Michael Oduor in action
Image: @TUSKERFC
Others are Patricia Mutheu (former MCA, Nairobi County/now CEO, Matatu Owners Association), Richard Muthoka (NMS clinical officer/health manager, Kasarani Sub-County), David Mutiso (ENT surgeon, Aga Khan Hospital and University, Nairobi), Moses Mutuli (former president, Actuarial Society of Kenya) and George Nange (former head of sports Plus Alliance, Africa).

Other than the Norway Cup, MYSA youth teams have won the global Fifa Football for Hope Tournaments held in conjunction with the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Berlin and the 2010 Fifa World Cup in Johannesburg.

With such a huge depth of talent, Munro wonders why Kenyan clubs and national teams still appear to struggle in international competitions.

“Why then do Kenyan national youth and senior teams struggle to qualify for global and even African tournaments?” Munro posed.

“The Norway Cup has all along been a major factor in the success of Kenyan national teams over the last three decades.

“The 2008 Kenyan national Harambee Stars team was the most successful in Kenyan football history. That year, Kenya rose an unprecedented 52 places in the FIFA World Ranking (from 120th to 68th) which, 15 years later, is still our highest FIFA ranking. In 2008, we also qualified for the final round of the 2010 African Cup of Nations/Fifa World Cup.

“On that remarkable and high-achieving 2008 team, 11 players plus the head coach, Francis Kimanzi, and the team manager, Peter Serry were all Norway Cup alumni,” Munro said.

The same scenario occurred in 2016 when the Kenyan national Harambee Starlets women’s team qualified for the first time for the African Women’s Cup of Nations.

“Sixteen out of the 24 players (67%) were from MYSA, including 10 players who had also played for MYSA in the Norway Cup. Moreover, four of the six-team officials including head coach David Ouma, assistant coach Mary Adhiambo, team manager Dorine Nabwire, equipment manager Rosemary Aluoch and team captain Anne Aluoch, were all from MYSA and had also all featured in the Norway Cup.”

Munro said MYSA not only runs footballing activities but also contributes to every aspect of the development process. “Before anyone is allowed to play football, they must help to collect garbage or unblock the perpetually blocked drainage ditches.

“Each has to receive AIDS counseling and stop taking drugs. Furthermore, the footballing heroes tell them to stay at school, and by and large they do so. The association encourages girls to participate in sports activities and decision-making.”

There are over 25 youth trained annually in photography, video, and film in the Shootback Project Organised annual youth arts festivals in Mathare and featured in youth festivals in Norway.

“We introduced three slum libraries and study halls run by youth trained in library management and helped hundreds of child labourers to stop working and return to school. We have trained thousands of youth leaders and coaches on child rights and protection and organized feeding, sports, and repatriation programs for thousands of jailed kids. “

In 1996 the Norwegian Environment Minister, Thorbjorn Berntsen, took time off from a UNEP Governing Council meeting in Nairobi to visit his friends in MYSA and the Mathare slums.

He was taken aback by the pathetic living conditions in the massive shanty area and asked the youth what he could do to help. They asked for garbage trucks and tractors to clear the garbage better and faster.”

“On May 23, 1998, his successor as the Norwegian Environment Minister, Guro Fjellanger, came to MYSA and handed over two tipper garbage trucks plus two tractors, each with a front-loading shovel and a ditch digger at the back.”

In early 1999, some MYSA youth leaders and two Dutch volunteers went to the Kakuma refugee camp to help start new self-help youth sports and community development programs.

“In only 18 months, the new self-help youth sport and community development program in the Kakuma refugee camp and town succeeded in breaking down barriers and prejudices between the different nationalities and ethnic groups.”

In 2004, Mathare United and MYSA were among the 165 nominees alongside such disparate hopefuls as Bono and the Pope.