Stage set for Talanta Hela U-19 national football tourney

 

The much-anticipated national Talanta Hela Under 19 football tournament will begin on Sunday.

The stage was set following a draw held by the Ministry of Sports on Thursday night at their Talanta Plaza headquarters in Nairobi, where 16 boys and 16 girls teams were divided into four groups of four teams each.

The opening ceremony will take place at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday with the final being held at the same venue on December 12,

The boy's Group A comprises Garissa, Kericho, Vihiga, and Homabay while Group B has Nyeri, Baringo, Kisumu, and Nyamira.

Mombasa, Marsabit, West Pokot, and Kirinyaga have all been pooled in Group C while Kiambu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, and Makueni are in Group D.

The girl's Group A has Kakamega, Kwale, Busia, and Nandi while Group B has Wajir, West Pokot Homabay, and Kisii.

Group C comprises Nyeri, Samburu, Kisumu, and Nairobi while Kitui, Machakos, Uasin Gishu, and Nakuru have been pooled in Group D.

After group phase two top teams from each group will advance to the round of 16.

Preliminary matches will be staged at Kirigiti, Jamhuri Grounds, Moi Stadium, Kasarani with the final slated for December 12 at Nyayo Stadium. The winner will pocket a whopping Sh5 million prize purse.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said the tournament was established to offer a platform for budding footballers to showcase and monetize their talent.

‘’It’s all about providing a pipeline where our young people can be confident that the same way you make a career through the academic route the same way you can build a career through the talent route," CS Namwamba said

"We have been sending a very strong message through this initiative which we are implementing very closely with the Ministry of Education that the same way you encourage boys and girls to do well in various subjects also encourage them to do well in music, sports, acting because you can build successful career using talent’’, he added.

Namwamba attributed the success of the national boys' team at the ongoing Cecafa U18 Boys championship to an effective scouting network deployed by the Ministry at the national secondary school ball games that took place in Kakamega.

‘’Many Kenyans have been asking where we got this team because they believe they are very talented. What they do not know is that this is a Talanta Hela product," Namwamba said.

"Most of these boys came through the secondary school games in Kakamega which the Ministry of Sports pumped in Sh264 million. After that, we selected 2,000 top talents and were brought to Nairobi for the national holiday camp, all those great boys shining in Kisumu were part of that camp’’, Namwamba added.

“The Talanta Hela Under-19 tournament is a key deliverable of the bigger Talanta Hela picture where we aim to provide a pipeline where young people can be confident to build a career through the talent route,” he added.

Thursday's draw came a fortnight after the successful inter-county playoffs staged at the Moi Complex primary school in Nyeri.

Namwamba warned counties against taking the event lightly, adding that some counties were begging him to participate in the national finals after failing to make the last 16.

“Some counties took this as a joke and just brought weak teams but we are thankful to the ones that took it seriously.”

BY  TONY MBALLA