Inside the rise of a little-known Kenyan starlet targeting Zambian league glory with Zesco Ndola Girls

Deployed as a free-roving midfielder, Omondi’s entry into the ZSL is nothing short of pioneering, and her performance for Ndola Girls will heavily determine this

The Zambian frontier has in recent years offered a fertile environment for Kenyan footballers seeking sterner challenges across the region.

From the past Zesco United trio of: David ‘Calabar’Owino, Jesse Were and Anthony Akumu to the present Moses Shuma at Power Dynamos, the men, each flourishing regardless of club- the shift has now swung the women’s way. 

Ivy Omondi, after a brief sabbatical from football, has found her way into Zesco Ndola Girls starting eleven barely weeks after signing for the Super league outfit.

Deployed as a free-roving midfielder, Omondi’s entry into the ZSL is nothing short of pioneering, and her performance for Ndola Girls will heavily determine this. This she knows. 

‘’Of course it’s not going to be easy. In fact it’s not but this is where I am now and must compete and prove that Zesco bringing me in was not in vain,’’ she says. 

Omondi, though, is no stranger to international football having had stints in the Indian Super league before.

Zesco offers a different kind of challenge for her, she admits. 

‘’The Zambian league is more physical but that I am used to as we play just like that in Kenya. I have settled in and adapted to the team’s way of playing,’’ she adds. 

Before making her debut against Nchanga Rangers Ladies, Omondi had to undergo a gruelling one month trial period with the top Zambian side as the technical bench assessed her abilities-and whether or not she would at least help the former champions reclaim their league title this season.