The County Government of Nyeri, through the Department of Gender, Youth, Sports and Social Services, has launched a local tournament to help identify sporting talents among the youth.
The tournament dubbed the Governors’ Cup kicked off on Sunday in all the 30 wards, with teams competing in both men’s and women’s categories.
The games include volleyball and football, whose finals are slated to be held on June 14 this year.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga announced that the first four teams in each category will receive cash prizes, while all participating teams will be issued with uniform sporting kits, balls, and nets.
“The Governor’s Cup Tournament 2026 is a flagship grassroots sports initiative designed to promote talent development, community cohesion, and active youth participation through structured competition in football and volleyball. In football, the winning team will be awarded Sh200,000, with runners-up receiving Sh130,000, third place Sh100,000, and fourth place Sh50,000. In volleyball, winners will receive Sh120,000, second place Sh80,000, third place Sh60,000, and fourth place Sh30,000,” stated Kahiga during the launch of the games.
The tournament will be conducted across three tiers beginning at the Ward, Sub-County, and eventually at the County levels.
Kahiga insisted that the primary objective of the tournament is to identify and nurture raw youth talent while fostering unity and social interaction within communities.
He further said that a specially organised technical committee has already been put in place to ensure standardised rules and regulations will be applied across all levels to ensure fairness, transparency, and professionalism during the competition.
“It (tournament) also seeks to strengthen grassroots sports structures and provide a platform for players to showcase their abilities and potentially progress to higher levels of competition to ensure smooth execution, a comprehensive logistical framework has been put in place,” he added.
“Overall, the Governor’s Cup Tournament 2026 is expected to play a significant role in advancing sports development at the grassroots level while creating a vibrant and competitive sporting environment for youth across the region.”
Gender CECM Esther Ndung’u told KNA they had projected that at least 300 teams from each of the 30 wards would register for the two-month tournament, with the best team proceeding to the subsequent stage.
She explained that there are many organised sporting teams at the grassroots which if nurtured and empowered, can eventually join the ranks of professional teams at the national level.
Ultimately, the Department hopes to expose the sportsmen and sportswomen to recognised sporting bodies such as the Federation of Kenya, where they can get an opportunity to showcase their talents in national leagues.
“One of our objectives as a department is to go down to the village level and identify sports teams that possess unique sporting talents but are unable to progress beyond their locality due to lack of resources. They may have great talents but unless they are tapped, they will remain unprofitable to them and even the community. Ultimately, we want these sportsmen and sportswomen to be affiliated with recognised national bodies like the Federation of Kenya,” she told KNA.
By Samuel Maina
