The Head of the Directorate of Field Coordination and Co-Curricular Activities at the Ministry of Education, Nelson Sifuna, has officially flagged off Kenyan athletes for the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools (FEASSA) Games.
About 1,800 athletes drawn from primary and secondary schools from Kenya will participate in the 22nd edition of FEASSA Games, which will run from 14th to 22nd August in Kakamega County.
In this year’s FEASSA Games, athletes will compete in 19 disciplines: badminton, athletics, basketball 3×3, basketball 5×5, football, rugby 15s, rugby 7s, table tennis, handball, lawn tennis, volleyball, hockey, lacrosse, cricket, netball, beach soccer, scrabble, beach volleyball, and chess.
There will also be sports for special needs education learners, such as showdown, goalball, blind football and futsal among others adapted from regular sports.
Sifuna said that Scrabble, chess, beach soccer, and beach volleyball are new sports disciplines that have been introduced for the first time in FEASSA.
He also said that cricket and lacrosse will be played for the first time at the FEASSA Games as demonstration sports.
“As we stand here, know that you are going to participate in the games at a time when Kenya is shining. You are aware that on Sunday, when some were expecting a defeat from Morocco, Harambee Stars proved them wrong,” he pointed out.
“You saw the spirit of Kenyans, and at the end of the day, Harambee Stars emerged the winners. You have seen the excitement of His Excellency the President and his promise ahead of Sunday’s match against Zambia. We cannot imagine being defeated at home,” he added.
By Moses Wekesa
