Emima got off to a flying start at the East African Youth Soccer Championship with a 5-0 victory over Kenya's MYSA Njare at Moshi Technical College ground yesterday.
The home team started the game with a clear intent of getting maximum points as they sent a series of shock waves that paid off.
The victory over the Kenyan team has put them in a good position to contend for the inaugural regional youth championship.
In other matches, Mathare Ndeje of Uganda stunned Chrisc Moshi 1-0 in a closely contested match while MYSA Githurai of Kenya were held to a 2-2 draw by plucky Chrisc Eldoret.
Despite being the youth tournament, hundreds of soccer fans have been turning out to watch the matches.
The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), EMIMA Tanzania, Chrisc Kenya, Chrisc Uganda and Mathare sponsor the championship jointly.
Meanwhile, the Government has come forward to laud organisers of the event for their efforts to promote soccer in the region.
Sports director Leonard Thadeo said: "I believe many great players will emerge through such tournaments…the organisers deserve compliments."
"These lads stand a better chance to excel because they are getting international exposure at young ages, so I'm confident they will soon be integrated in their national youth teams," he said.
Twenty girls and boys' teams out of 50 teams involved in the event represent Tanzania. Other participating teams come from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
Apart from football, the participants have been attending seminars on HIV/AIDS, conflicts resolution, coaching and football rules.
