Forsaken queens: The rot within Nakuru city queens football team
Ayako Fabriut of Nakuru City Queens (in red) tackles Elizabeth Wanyonyi during a match at ASK show grounds in Nakuru.
Nakuru City Queens has been a team that many have been on the lookout for, with their steady rise and good performance since 2018.
The women’s football team had a good sail last season, under coach Chrispin Wesonga, finishing sixth in the 2022/2023 FKF Women’s Premier League and second in the FKF Women's Cup after champions Ulinzi Starlets.
According to the club CEO Ben-Peters Esitoko, his love for football sent him out for a talent search in Nakuru’s informal settlements.
Here, Esitoko was able to build a team from players who showed great potential in football.
Since its inception in 2016, Queens have been performing well having undergone successive promotions, to the FKF Women's Premier League.
Even with the great performance, the team has seen it hard to secure a sponsor.
As it is, some of its top-seed players have left the team in search of greener pastures.
While focusing on people who have recently left the Club, Mtaa Wangu interviewed City Queen’s former head coach Chrispin Wesonga, who announced his resignation, closing off his chapter as a coach there.
Former City Queens coach Chrispin Wesonga says he left the team due to unprofessionalism.
Asked if he left due to financial reasons, he reveals his reasons for leaving are beyond the club’s finances, adding that he was coaching there without pay anyway.
Wesonga says he left City Queens due to poor management and unprofessionalism from the CEO’s end.
“I was approached by the management to come in and coach the girls when the 2022/2023 season had already begun, an offer I gladly took. Operations went on well. However, things got sour when we took the season break,” he says.
“As a coach, I need eight weeks of Pre-season training to ensure that the players are fit as we get into the next season. However, Esitoko wanted me to come in and train the girls, only two weeks before the start of the season. That did not sit well with me,” he adds.
Other than that, Wesonga says he had an issue with how money awarded to the girls was spent.
In an interview with some of the girls from the team who sought anonymity, they expressed dissatisfaction with how their remuneration was channelled to them.
Nakuru City Queens at the club house in Nakuru West in a previous interview.
Reina* expressed how they never get a share of the tournament cash prize after they participate and win, citing the recent Governor Kihika’s Cup tournament in which they won Sh 20,000.
“At times I feel like I left home and I have nothing to show from being an active football player. I might seem ungrateful since the club provides me with an opportunity to showcase my talent, but it is saddening to my parents that after putting effort into the team, I have nothing to take back home,” she laments.
So bad is the situation, that Reina’s parents stopped her from playing the game, saying she is being used by the team’s management.
She aired her concerns about players receiving between Sh 3,000 and Sh 3,500 only, after finishing as runners-up in the FKF Women’s Cup finals, where the team was awarded Sh250,000.
Reina considers it little after playing for the club for the whole season where she received nothing at the end of each match.