Junior Starlets Head Coach Mildred Cheche wins coach of the month title

Junior Starlets Head Coach Mildred Cheche has been named the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) coach of the month for March.

The CAF-A licensed tactician fended off stiff competition from Kabras Sugar coach Carlos Katya and Kenya Police FC’s Burundian tactician Etienne Ndayiragire to clinch the coveted honours. Katya finished second with Ndayiragire coming third.

Cheche guided Junior Starlets to a 5-0 aggregate win over neighbours Uganda in the first round of the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup qualifier. In the first leg, she led the team to a 2-0 win in Kampala followed by a 3-0 triumph in Nairobi.

With the win, Junior Starlets booked a date with Cameroon in the second and final round of the qualifiers as Cheche hopes to guide the team to the FIFA U17 World Cup for the second time running.

Under her leadership, Cheche guided the Junior Starlets for their maiden worlds in Dominican Republic, the first time a Kenyan team – male or female and across all categories – has graced the finals of the global showpiece.

“I would like to dedicate this award to Junior Starlets players and members of the technical bench, because without them, I could not have achieved this feat. This award is a big motivation for us especially as we prepare to play against Cameroon in a home and away World Cup qualifier starting this Sunday and I would like to thank SJAK and Betika in a special way for this initiative,” Cheche said.

On his part, Katywa had an impressive run with Kabras Sugar in March, guiding his team to the Kenya Cup final. They beat Menengai Oilers 20-14, then went ahead to beat KCB 25-17, and picked an easy 45-6 against Nondescripts in the semis to extend their unbeaten run in the competition to 40 matches.

Ndayiragire saw Kenya Police finish the month unbeaten in the FKF Premier League as they picked a goalless draw against AFC Leopards, a 3-1 win over Murang’a Seal, and a 1-0 win over Posta Rangers to maintain their spot at the summit of the standings.

Head of Marketing for Betika, who are SJAK sponsors, Japheth Akhulia said: “Congratulations to Coach Cheche for being named the best coach in March. We are excited to collaborate with SJAK and reward the efforts of these coaches who sacrifice a lot of their time to ensure that they give the best knowledge and guidance to their teams. We hope this award will not only whip-up the enthusiasm of tacticians countrywide, but also raise the bar for Kenyan sports teams, by and large.”