Not so long ago, Rayon Sports registered a women’s team in the second women’s league division. The club has been unstoppable and are already proving to be in a league of their own just like their top goal machine Florence Imanizabayo, a name that has been making headlines over the past few weeks. She has been at the heart of the club’s winning form so far this season. Imanizabayo is a talented woman football player. The club’s supporters and football enthusiasts in general have not known her for quite some time but her technical abilities and scoring instincts have left them with so much joy to watch her playing over and over. The 25-year-old has since been at the centre of media attention since she scored seven goals during Rayon Women’s entertaining 16-0 victory over Nyagatare WFC. She now leads the women’s second division scoring charts with 17 goals in just five league games. She scored five goals during Rayon Women’s opening game where they thrashed Gasabo WFC 16-0 victory. She then scored the lone goal against Bridge WFC before hitting seven during the club’s 16-0 demolition of Nyagatare WFC. Imanizabayo also scored once during Blues’ 2-2 draw against Indahangarwa. But who is Imanizabayo? Born in Rubavu District, Western Province, Imanizabayo is the last born in a family of four. She fell in love with football at a tender age when she was in primary school. At 13, she started playing for her school during the inter-schools’ competitions and, from there, people started admiring her talent. “From my young age, I liked watching football games but at that time I didn’t know that I would play it and do it as a professional in the future. But when I started representing my school, I started gaining confidence that I could make it and play for the big clubs in the future,” she told Times Sport. “I really don’t know where this talent came from because no one in my family has ever played football before,” she added. Her professional football journey started in 2013, when she joined top flight side Kamonyi WFC, before she joined AS Kigali WFC in 2016 where she spent six seasons until 2022. She joined Rayon Sports before the beginning of the second division women’s league after terminating her contract with the City of Kigali-sponsored club. “Playing for Rayon Sports was one of my childhood dreams, so it was impossible to turn down the chance to realize my dream,” Imanizabayo reflects on her shock move from AS Kigali to play the second division with the Blues. The attacker sees herself playing professional football in the near future while she also dreams of qualifying Rwanda to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. “My vision is to play football at a higher competitive level outside Rwanda. I want to one-day play Champions League football and other big tournaments and I would also like to qualify my country to the Women’s AFCON and the World Cup...who knows,” an ambitious Imanizabayo said. “I want to be an inspiration to the other young talented women in Rwanda aspiring to play football. I want to show them that football or any other sport wasn’t made only for men,” she added. Imanizabayo was first called up in the national team in 2016. She has won five league titles and six Peace Cups with AS Kigali Women.
