A fantastic season for the most supportive and educational football team on the Kenyan coast: Real Malindi, the tip of the iceberg of the football academy created by Malindikenya.net and supported by Pasquale Pes and the voluntary organisation Karibuni Onlus, finished second in the district championship.
This is an excellent result and well beyond the most optimistic expectations, considering that it was participating as a newly promoted team.
The team could have done even better, because the team coached by Mr Badili had a chance to win the championship title, which would have meant direct promotion, on the last day of the season, at home against the leaders Adu Vipers. Unfortunately, the match ended 0-0, allowing their rivals to come out on top and forcing Real Malindi into the play-offs.
The play-off tournament with the other runners-up in Kilifi County will be played as soon as possible, but the satisfaction of having proven themselves to be in a different league remains.

And let us say that values matter: Real Malindi, which represents the pinnacle and ultimate example of a football school that starts with 8-year-old boys (and girls) in primary school, has as its motto: education + sport = life, and promotes social responsibility and the fight against gender violence and drugs. The children are also involved in neighbourhood clean-up days and environmental protection. In short, they grow up with healthy values that help keep them away from the temptations of life in a run-down suburb where teenage petty crime is increasingly a problem.
If you don't share this idea, you can't be part of the youth teams and dream of one day joining Real Malindi senior (where everyone is very young anyway). It follows that if the team is strong and participates in increasingly important championships, it is a greater stimulus for the whole community.

This was also understood by a sportsman like Pasquale Pes, the owner of Real Malindi, who, as a sportsman and former manager of Roma and the Italian national university team, has taken care of the senior team like a true president and has set up a major recruitment campaign, as well as always motivating the boys by promising match bonuses that help them survive and, in addition to studying or working, to be able to devote themselves to training and matches, cultivating their dream of becoming professional sportsmen.

A big thank you for this year's season also goes to the Italian beach club Bahia in Porto Cesareo, which helped with a significant donation to the team's logistics, creating a bridge between Kenya and Salento that we hope will continue.
Alongside Pes and Malindikenya.net, there is also the social sponsor Karibuni, with its president Gianfranco Ranieri, who has been following the fortunes of our academies for young children since the days of the first Genoa Malindi (in 2009). Karibuni takes care of school fees and snacks, and from this year will also support the women's team.

Unfortunately, many other compatriots are missing from the roll call, activities that could sponsor this increasingly popular initiative and donors who could give us a hand.
Last year, after an initial burst of generosity, everything came to a halt, which is a shame.
We would like to remind you that Real Malindi is a locally registered Community Based Organisation (CBO) and that donations go directly to them. The manager is Joseph Nyababwe, former captain of Genoa Malindi, whom Malindikenya.net and Karibuni helped to graduate and who has now decided to dedicate himself to those who, like him, have had the goodwill to succeed, with the help they deserve.
If you would like to help us from Italy, please note that your donations are tax-deductible through the ODV Karibuni Onlus.
If you have not yet made a contribution to REAL MALINDI, knowing that from now on the money goes directly to the team, you can do so, even with a small amount (with Mpesa, even a few coins are enough, by giving up a pizza or a beer).
MPESA: PAYBILL 522533 – ACCOUNT NO.: 7879070 (the name Real Malindi CBO will appear)

Or in Kenya for a more substantial donation:
BANK ACCOUNT: KCB BANK – MALINDI BRANCH – A/C 1330055632 – REAL MALINDI CBO
Or, from Italy to Italy, with a donation that you can also deduct from your taxes, through KARIBUNI ODV.
This is Karibuni's IBAN: IT80V0843051080000000053813
It is important to indicate the reason for payment: support for Real Malindi
For any further information, please write to info@malindikenya.net
Real Malindi needs the help of all of you to continue spreading the message that education and sport mean life and hope for a better future, and that by studying, you can kick not only a ball by joining a real team, but also poverty and unhappy conditions that can lead you down the wrong path, driven by temptations and bad examples.