Our Players
The Club was specifically created
for school going girls around Mbita Sub-County, including Mfangano Island,
Rusinga Island, Sindo, Luanda, Lambwe and Mbita. Currently we have a
total of 52 girls engaged in ongoing activities. This includes 15 primary
school girls, 30 secondary school girls and 7 high school graduates who are currently
in various colleges. The players are selected based on their football
skills and potential. The club focuses on bringing in new girls at an
early age (around Grade 5 and 6) to develop their talent, as well as nurture
and support them in all areas of life; physical, spiritual, social and academic.
Check out the “Our Stories” section
to learn about our players.
Our Officials
Secretary & Co-Founder - Paul
Onundo
Paul is a Co-Founder of the Suba
Lakers Football Club. In 2009, he and
Joe Peterson noticed a need to develop the talents of the girls in the area. Paul
served as the Club Chairman from 2009-2014 and moved into the position of
Secretary in June, 2014. He is a Head Teacher
at Wanga Primary School and a well-known man of the community who grew up in
Mbita. Paul is married to his wife
Jackline and their 3 children.
Chairman - Fred Okeyo
Fred has been with the club since
it’s inception, serving as the Vice-Chairman until June 2014 when he was
elected as the Chairman. He is a primary
school teacher on Rusinga Island and also works as a trained, qualified
referee. He has a wife and 3
children.
Kezia has served as an official
with the club since 2012, but originally came to know about the club when 2 of
her relatives joined the club as players.
She lives on Rusinga Island and serves as the Deputy Head Teacher in a local
primary school. She also started a
college for Early Childhood Development Teachers. She is married to Erick Okach and they have 3
children together.
Treasurer - Rozeline Nyangweso
Rozeline has been with the club
since it began in 2009. She is a primary
school teacher at Christ’s Gift Academy in Mbita. Rozeline is married to Willis Onyango and
they have 2 young girls and also care for many orphans in their home.
Paul has been a long-time supporter
of the club and officially joined in 2014.
He is part of the local FKF (Football of Kenya Federation) sub-branch
and is currently serving as the acting Chairman. He is also the Chairman for the local branch
of the KFOCA (Kenya Football Coaches Association).
He works for Nagasaki University, located within ICIPE. He is married to wife Elizabeth and they have
3 little girls.
Coach Dave has been a club coach
since 2009 when the club began. He is
the Director of Maintenance and Purchasing at a Christian Ministry called Suba
Environmental Education of Kenya (SEEK).
He is married with 4 children.
Coach Bob has been a missionary in Mbita since
2012 and has been working with the club ever since he arrived. He is from
the Netherlands and hence, a great footballer. He is the Founder and
Director of Dare To Dream;
a non-profit organization empowering local families to be
self-sustainable through discipleship and micro-lending.
Eunice has been with the club since
2011. She is an Early Childhood teacher
at Christ’s Gift Academy in Mbita. After
getting married to Francis Onyango, Eunice took a year of sabbatical from the
club in 2013 to have her first child, but she is now back with the club again.
Laventa participated in her first
Club activity in April 2014 when she joined our teams for a tournament in
Kisumu as the team “mother.” Her
character and interaction with the girls was phenomenal which led to an invitation
for her to be a Club Official. She is a
primary school teacher at Christ’s Gift Academy in Mbita.
Mary Lucy was one of the Club’s
first players, even before it started. She
was a player in the Club through her 4 years in secondary school. Since finishing high school she continues to
join the club for trainings and tournaments.
She often acts as a mother to the younger players and takes care of them
during away tournaments. In 2014, she
joined college to study Early Childhood Development at Rongo University College.
Carol joined the club as Matron in
2014. She grew up in the surrounding
Mbita area of Suba. Coming from a humble
home, much like all our players, she has become a successful and influential
female in the area. She is the Founder and Director of a local NGO which promotes girl-child
education, empowerment and overall improved rights for girls.
Millie was the Club’s first Matron from 2009-2014. She is from the area around Mbita and has
become a successful woman in politics. Her success story has encouraged our players;
especially since she’s a lover of football.
Millie is currently the MP of Mbita Constituency and focused on
development of the area.
Co-Founder - Joe Peterson
Co-Founder - Joe Peterson
Joe was a missionary in Mbita from 2003 until 2014. He, along with Paul Onundo, started the club in 2009 after seeing a need to develop the talents of girls around the Mbita area. He desired to see more girls remain in school and continue their education. Football provided an avenue to motivate vulnerable girls to stay in school and help develop them physically, spiritually, socially and academically. He was the Secretary and Head Coach from 2009 to 2014. He is an accomplished coach throughout the Lake Region of Kenya. After local officials noticed the success with his girls’ football team from Christ’s Gift Academy, he was asked to coach the primary school girls’ football teams at every level; Zone, District, County, Region and even Nationals. Coaching at Nationals in 2014, he, along with Coach Job Ochoki, led the Lake Region Girls Team to win Nationals for the first time ever! After serving in Mbita for 11 years, he and his wife, Daneen, returned to their home in America in August 2014.
