• “As part of promoting the talents among the youths and improving football in the region, I will register all these teams in the FKF County League,” said Tasur.
• These seven won the ward competitions including Kapsinendet (Angata), Red Eagles (Lolgorian), Kilgoris Town Tigers (Shankoe), Tumpelian (Kimintet), Olowang and Romosha ( Kilgoris Central).
The seven teams currently taking part in Joel ole Tasur football tournament in Kilgoris Constituency, Narok County will feature in the Football Kenya Federation County League.
This will be necessitated by the payment of their registration Sh150, 000 to the federation in a move Tasur said is aimed at improving football in the region.
Tasur made the remarks after awarding the winners of Keyian and Shankoe wards at Enosaen grounds, where Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Narok branch Secretary Elias Musunkui and Maasai Mara University lecturer Stellah Malaso were in attendance.
He said most of the grassroots teams have good talents but lack financial support, prompting the youths to engage in wayward activities that deter their growth.
“As part of promoting the talents among the youths and improving football in the region, I will register all these teams in the FKF County League,” said Tasur.
These seven won the ward competitions including Kapsinendet (Angata), Red Eagles (Lolgorian), Kilgoris Town Tigers (Shankoe), Tumpelian (Kimintet), Olowang and Romosha ( Kilgoris Central).
More than 176 teams drawn from the six Kilgoris Constituency wards took part in the competition that started in October 2020.
The winners in the ward level pocketed Sh20,000 and a trophy while the runners-ups walked with Sh15,000. Bronze medal winners got Sh10,000 while the losing team in the third-place playoff received Sh5,000.
About 28 teams have qualified for the second round of the competition slated for early this year. The best teams in the constituency level will fight for honours which include cash prizes, playing kits and balls.
“We are planning to identify the best players from the tournament who will therefore form a team that I will sponsor as we fight to have a Kenyan Premier League representative from this region,” he said.
Tasur added that, in addition to promoting sporting activities in the region, they will also seek to use the tournament to foster peaceful coexistence among the various communities.
These include the Maasai, Kipsigis, Kisiis and Kuria communities who have been engaging in cattle rustling, land disputes among other cross border conflicts.
“Such sporting activities would offer a platform for the local youths from the various ethnic backgrounds to interact and share their diverse cultural beliefs to enable them to understand and respect each other,” said Tasur.
Malaso urged the youths to take sports seriously since it is a perfect route away from societal vices like teenage sex and substance abuse especially during this time the world is facing Covid-19 pandemic.
“Such initiatives should be encouraged since they will enable them to divert their idle minds into more constructive issues and they will, in turn, boost the economy of this country,” said Malaso.