All set for Talanta Hela Under 19 tourney kick-off

The Talanta Hela Under 19 football tournament is set to kick off on Sunday, December 3 after the pooling was conducted on Thursday night at the Talanta Plaza in Nairobi, where 16 boys’ and girls’ teams were grouped into four groups of four teams each.

The draw followed the successful conclusion of the inter-county playoffs in Nyeri which brought together the first runners-up from the regional finals vying for the available four national slots.

The boys' Pool A is made up of Garissa, Kericho, Vihiga, and Homabay while Group B brings together Nyeri, Baringo, Kisumu, and Nyamira.

Pool C has Mombasa, Marsabit, West Pokot, and Kirinyaga while Group D encompasses Kiambu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, and Makueni.

The girls' Pool A will see Kakamega facing off with Kwale, Busia, and Nandi while Pool B draws Wajir, West Pokot, Homabay, and Kisii. Group C consists of Nyeri, Samburu, Kisumu, and Nairobi while Kitui, Machakos, Uasin Gishu, and Nakuru are in pool D.

At the end of the group stages games that will be officially launched at Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday, two top teams from each group will advance to the round of 16 with the preliminary matches set to be played at Kirigiti Stadium, Jamhuri Grounds, Kasarani Main Stadium and the grand finale set for Nyayo on December 12 where the winner will bag Ksh 5 million.

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Speaking during the draw, Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba noted that the tournament seeks to offer a platform to the upcoming talents to showcase their abilities as well as nurture and monetize them.

“It is all about providing a pipeline where our young people can be confident that the same way you make a career through the academic route the same way you can build a career through the talent route and we have been sending a very strong message through this initiative which we are implementing very closely with the ministry of education that the same way you encourage boys and girls to do well in various subjects also encourage them to do well in Music, sports, acting because you can build successful career using talent,” offered Namwamba.

Namwamba was quick to point out the success of the Tournament saying the free-flowing football being exhibited by the national under-18 team at the ongoing CECAFA U18 Boys championship was a result of the scouting implemented by the program.

“Many Kenyans have been asking where we got this team because they believe they are very talented. What they do not know is that this is a Talanta Hela product, a lot of these boys came through the secondary school games in Kakamega which the Ministry of Sports financed, and after that, we selected 2,000 top talents and were brought to Nairobi for the national holiday camp, all those great boys shining in Kisumu were part of that camp,” added Ababu.

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