Two students who play for the Gunners Young FC team in Voi constituency have received education scholarships from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
This is after their team emerged the winners of the three-month Taita Taveta Football Super Cup, which concluded on Saturday at Moi Stadium, Voi.
Jardon Mwakazi and Joseph Mwabaka, Form Two students at Talent Secondary School in Voi were identified by the Bandari FC technical team.
A third player, Kelvin Odiaga, who sat his Form Four examinations this year, will join Bandari Youth Academy.
Gunner FC from Voi beat Kale FC from Marungu 1-0 in the final.
KPA acting managing director John Mwangemi said the two students will receive full scholarships throughout their high school education.
"We have identified three youth from the team. Two will get full scholarships until they finish school and the third, who has finished school, will join the Bandari Youth,” said Mwangemi.
“It has been quite a thrilling tournament with our youth demonstrating exceptional football prowess. Today’s finals were no exception as was demonstrated by these talented young men.”
Mwangemi said KPA makes deliberate efforts to identify, nurture talent and expose youth to local and international platforms so as to reap the benefits of the sports industry.
“We sponsored this tournament to a tune of Sh8.7 million where thirty-two teams have been participating, with each group playing 14 matches before reaching the Mini League,” he said.
To ensure professionalism, this sponsorship also covered training of the referees by Fifa-accredited trainers, he said.
Eric Kyongo, the chairman of the Taita Taveta Football Association, said the tournament kept the youth away from social vices.
“We have problems of drugs and alcohol abuse in this region. This tournament kept the players busy as they trained throughout the weeks and played during the weekend,” he said.
Kyongo said the scholarships will act as a motivation for other players.
