Saturday 29 April 2023 marked the end of week-long 8th Edition of the Kenya Youth Inter- County Sports Association (KYISA) games held at Tharaka Nithi County, that saw youth between the age of 18-23 drawn from 24 counties compete in Volleyball, Football and Basketball competitions.
In men’s football, Homabay County emerged winners with a 3-0 win on penalties over Migori County, with Kilifi and Busia coming third and fourth respectively.
Makueni County took first position in women’s football, defeating Siaya 5-0 in the finals while Tharaka Nithi and Migori counties took third and fourth positions.
In basketball, Makueni County emerged winners in the men’s category, with a 51-44 win over Busia County in the finals while hosts Tharaka Nithi defeated Kitui 74-30 in the playoffs to take third position.
In Women’s basketball, Siaya County triumphed over Makueni with a 49-28 win, with hosts Tharaka Nithi finishing third.
Trans Nzoia County took the men’s volleyball title after defeating Kakamega in the finals, with Uasin Gishu and Nyandarua counties finishing third and fourth respectively.
In the women’s volleyball, Uasin Gishu took first place with 3-2 sets win over Kakamega as Kilifi and Siaya counties settled for third and fourth.
In his address during the closing ceremony, Tharaka Nithi Deputy Governor Wilson Nyaga Muisrael commended KYISA for creating the opportunity for the identification of raw talent insisting on the need for talent scouting from the grassroot level and the involvement of the youth in sports.
“Through KYISA raw talents have been identified. This 8th edition will go down in history as one of the best with a clear display of high-level discipline. We believe the youth have gained experience and exposure and I call on stakeholders to ensure this great talent is nurtured”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of Talanta Hela, Sammy Sholei highlighted that all talent that had been selected through scouting will be hosted at the Kenya Academy of Sports for a training camp ahead of further scouting for an opportunity to join national sporting teams.
Representing Sports CECMs from participating counties, Kakamega County Sports CECM Moffat Mandela appealed to KYISA to iron out issues that included poor display in vetting of participating teams and officiating of the games.
On their part, KYISA noted that it was ready to make the next edition better, to lift the standards in officiating and vetting and asked all participating teams to uphold integrity in fielding players and teams.
The winning teams in each category took home KShs 100,000 prize money, with first runners up taking KShs 75,000 and second runners up taking KShs 50,000. Fourth placed teams received KShs 25,000 prize money.
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