Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has launched another season of county football tournament that will see 180 clubs compete for a KSh1.5 million cash reward for the winner.
The tournament, dubbed “Governor Anne Waiguru Minji Minji Football Cup Season II” kicked off on Thursday at Kamiigua Polytechnic Grounds.
The tournament is running under the theme ‘Fomu ni Futaa Badala ya Kamnyweso’ (The Plan is Football Instead of Alcohol) as it will be used as a platform to raise awareness on drug and substance abuse through sports.
The football clubs are comprised of 160 male teams and 20 female teams drawn from the 20 wards, with around 4,500 youth actively involved in various capacities.
Waiguru said that the tournament will also be an opportunity to identify and nurture sports talents among the youth, enrich the lives of talented football players from Kirinyaga making football a source of income, and creating a link and platform between local players and the football market.
She said that the tournament will start at the ward level where the best two teams will proceed to the sub-county level. Thereafter the best 5 male teams and 5 female teams will proceed to the county level to fight it out to the finals.
At the end of the tournament, the Governor said that the winning male team will receive KSh1.5 million, the 2nd team will receive KSh1million, the 3rd gets KSh750,000 while the 4th will get KSh500,000.
Winners at the sub-county level will also receive varying cash prices ranging from KSh10,000 to KSh40,000.
Waiguru noted that during the tournament, there will be scouting for the best players who will entually form a team that will be representing the County in competitions such Kenya Youth Inter-county Sports Association (KYISA) games.
“From the previous Minji Minji tournament, I am glad to report that some youths scouted at the wards were able to join Kirinyaga Stars and now playing at the FKF regional tournaments. The initiative thus exposes them to moving upwards to bigger leagues,” she added.
She said that the county government has continuously supported the local teams through provision of sports kits, rehabilitation of playing grounds and ward based tournaments that have been taking place across the county, appealing to the youth to be steadfast in their quest for better life and remain undistracted by wayward activities such as drug and alcohol abuse.
To further support sport development in the county, Waiguru said that five acres of land have been set aside at the Sagana Industrial park for establishment of sports facilities which will include a football, volleyball pitches.
At the same time, she directed for a proper handing over of Wang’uru Stadium so as to enable the County Government manage it for the benefit of Kirinyaga people. The stadium was constructed by the National Government under intense lobbying by the governor.
The event was attended by Members of the County assembly (MCAs), the county executive, officials from Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and players from some of the participating teams.
