Judith Nandwa has earned the Southland Conference’s top defensive honour.
The Kenyan defender becomes East Texas A&M University’s first Southland Defensive Player of the Year in its Division One era.
Kenyan footballer Judith Nandwa has won the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year award in NCAA Division One. The East Texas A&M University defender also earned selection to the All-Southland Conference first team.
Nandwa becomes the first player in the university’s Division One era to win the conference’s top defensive honour. The recognition follows her Defender of the Week award just days earlier, adding to her collegiate achievements.
Judith Nandwa makes her mark at East Texas
Since joining East Texas A&M in September 2025, Nandwa has established herself in the Lions’ defence. She started 18 matches during the regular season and accumulated 1,577 minutes on the backline.
Alongside those defensive contributions, she scored her first goal for the university against UTRGV. That strike proved the match-winner, while the Lions also secured a place in the play-offs.
The conference honours mark another milestone for the Mumias-born footballer, who previously represented Kenya’s Junior Starlets and Rising Starlets. Her move into American collegiate football followed a scholarship earned through her football ability and academic performance.
From Butere titles to a US scholarship
Before moving to the United States, Nandwa played a central defensive role at Butere Girls Senior School. She helped the Red Commandos win consecutive national school titles in 2023 and 2024.
Her school achievements also included the Western Regional Games best player award and the golden boot. Consistent performances then earned her a call-up to Kenya’s under-17 national team, the Junior Starlets.
Nandwa contributed to the qualifying campaign that secured Kenya’s first FIFA U-17 World Cup appearance in 2024. However, she opted out of the squad for the tournament in the Dominican Republic to concentrate on her national examinations.
She went on to score a B+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. Together with her football talent, that result earned her the scholarship that took her to collegiate football in the United States.
