Who are we?

"Nyalenda Youngstars" is a football club in Nyalenda, a slum in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. The club was founded by Jakob Gärtner and Cedrik Lingner in February 2023.

The club currently only consists of youth teams. The aim is to offer the children a change from their sometimes difficult and hard everyday lives through football. The focus is on fun and a healthy and strong cohesion within the respective teams. They play and train in the heart of Nyalenda, a football pitch known in the community as "Sri Lanka".

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Founding history

The official founding date is 10 February 2023 (the first training session), but the first considerations, meetings and preparations to make this club possible began a few weeks earlier. The idea of founding a football club in Nyalenda developed during a reading activity organised by the Bette.me organisation. It was there that Curtis Otieno and the two founders Jakob Gärtner and Cedrik Lingner met for the first time. After the reading session with the children, Jakob and Cedrik wanted to play football with the children. A little kick-about turned into a big game with different teams, which shows the passion. Afterwards, Curtis, Jakob and Cedrik got more and more in touch and the idea of their own football club slowly emerged.

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The first meeting

The first meeting took place at Curtis' grandmother's home. In addition to Curtis, Jakob and Cedrik, Billy Agai, a former player from the Kenyan Premier League, was also present. The identity, philosophy, visions and goals of the club were put down on paper. The division of responsibilities was also clearly defined. Now it was time to put the theories and visions on the pitch and create the first materials and structures.

 

Further progress

Starting with 15 children at the first training session, the number of participants rose to over 80 children. The euphoria in the community was huge, but it soon became clear that with so many children and four people in charge, limits could quickly be reached. Fortunately, Paul Ochieng was able to expand the team and divide the children into different teams according to age. Tournaments and games against other teams were also organised. We also worked on our public image via social media and the development of our own website.

Through friends and acquaintances, we were also able to gain SV Bausenhagen, Spvgg Allmannsdorf and SC Fortuna Köln as partner clubs, and these co-operations have already resulted in fundraising campaigns and charity tournaments.

 

Youngstars today

After an instructive first year, the club has arrived. Friendly matches and tournaments take place almost every week. An agreement has been reached with the local supermarket to supply water directly to training sessions and matches. Various fantastic volunteers have also supported the club and organised a wide range of tournaments and events. During the time Jakob was back on site in March 2024, a house was rented and converted into a community centre. Cooperations and events are held with other organisations from Kisumu to talk about things outside of the football pitch. In general, the club wants to focus even more on education and problems off the pitch. The plan is now to work more seriously and approach potential donors more consciously. Further fundraising campaigns and charitable events are to be organised in Germany and Kenya to support the children and young people in all areas of life. There are still many projects that we have in mind, and we hope to tackle them soon.