Nairobi United scoops SOYA team of the year award
The 2025 Mozzartbet Cup winners Nairobi United beat a glitering field to win the Sports Team of the Year (Men) award at the 2025 Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) held on Friday April 10th, 2025 at the Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi.
Nairobi United, popularly known as "Naibois" pulled off an unprecedented league and cup double of a lifetime lsst season winning the National Super League to earn top-flight promotion and as well stunned the nation by lifting the FKF Cup against Gor Mahia. Their fairytale continued onto the continental stage, where they reached the CAF Confederation Cup Group Stages in their debut season.
Nairobi United had been pitted against a strong competition for the Soya Award with teams coming in with an aura of invincibility. Kabras Sugar RFC continued their stranglehold on Kenyan rugby, securing their fourth successive Kenya Cup and fifth consecutive Enterprise Cup.
On the other hand, Nairobi City Thunder basketball team electrified the courts. They defended their Kenya Basketball League title with a perfect 21-0 record and dominated the BAL Elite 16 unbeaten. While their BAL debut saw them exit in the pool stage, their domestic and regional dominance remains unmatched.
Meanwhile, the Junior Wafalme Stars (U-20 Volleyball) proved that Kenyan men can thrive on the net. By winning bronze in Cairo, they secured the first-ever podium finish for a Kenyan men’s junior team at the African Championships.
The national football team, Harambee Stars, earned their nod through a clinical group stage performance in the CHAN tournament held in Nairobi. Topping a “Group of Death” that included heavyweights Morocco and DRC, they showed a defensive grit that hasn’t been seen in years, eventually falling only on the heartbreak of penalties in the quarter-finals.
The 2025 Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) crowned athletes Emmanuel Wanyonyi and Beatrice Chebet as the top Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year for the second consecutive year. The 22nd edition, attended by guest of honour Haile Gebrselassie, celebrated 2025's top sporting achievements across various disciplines.
The 22nd edition featured a podcast series, "SOYA Conversations," to highlight athlete stories. The SOYA awards, founded by Kenyan athletics legend Paul Tergat 22 years ago, serve to recognize the hard work, determination, and success of athletes across all disciplines in Kenya.