A beehive of activities is expected in Kakamega with the county government rolling out Sh10 million Governor’s Cup tournament that is expected to run from 21st August to January 2024. The tournament will feature football for both men and women, netball, volleyball for men and women and Rugby for men. The County Executive Committee Member in charge of Social Services, Sports, Youth, Gender and Culture Moffat Mandela said the tournament will be conducted at three levels from the Ward level, to the Sub County and finally at the County Level. He said Ward level competitions will start on 21st to 27th August then followed by Sub County competitions between 7th to 12th November. Finals for the Ward level competitions will be held on 26th and 27th August with the Sub County finals scheduled for 12th November. The County competitions will follow from 28th December to 1st January 2024 when the finals for football for both men and women will be held at Bukhungu Stadium. The County finals for Netball and Volleyball will be held on 30th December with Rugby finals taking place on 31st December at the Showground’s Rugby Pitch. The CEC said that there is no age limit for participants in the tournament to ensure fair competition but only residents of Kakamega will be allowed to compete. He noted that the county will not engage players who are actively involved in Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Division leagues, the National Super League (NSL), Kenya Premier League (KPL) and topflight women leagues, to give opportunity for fresh talent among locals. ‘We have a separate programme for the leagues from the county who only need support to continue with their activities but we would like to nurture new talent and give a chance to locals to play,’ he noted. The CEC also said male footballers from the tournament will be profiled on FIFA Connect to expose them to the outside market. He said intense competition is expected at the Ward Level which will take place during the school holidays where the county government will utilize football pitches of various schools for the competitions. The Sub County competition however will take place during weekends when students will be back for third term to avoid disruption of studies. The County Competitions will take place during the December Holidays when schools will be closed. ‘The only place where we would have clashed with the school calendar is at the sub county level competitions but then we will be able to run all the sub county tournaments on weekends alone,’ he added. He said the county is utilizing the Governor’s Cup to commercialize sporting activities to enable youth to earn some money. ‘This tournament aligns with the fifth pillar of the governor’s manifesto on social development which aims to promote sportsmanship, healthy living and to provide a platform for young people to showcase their talent, build networks, promote social cohesion and peaceful co-existence and to promote social economic empowerment,’ he noted. The tournament will also be used to develop a data base of sports men and women as a means of tracking them for further support and development.

Source: Kenya News Agency