The draw for the national Talanta Hela Under 19 football tournament has been conducted pitting 16 boys and girls teams pooled in four groups of four teams each. The national finals are set to kick off December 3rd-12th and will be played across four venues.
The stage is now set for the inaugural National Talanta Hela Football tournament.
According to the draw held Thursday at Talanta Plaza,Nairobi the 16 teams in both the boys and girls category were split into four groups of four teams.
The boys Pool A consists of Garisa,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 conists Nyeri,Samburu,Kisumu and Nairobi while Kitui,Machakos,Uasin Gishu and Nakuru are in pool D.
At the conclusion of group phase two top teams from each group will advance to the round of 16. Preliminary matches are set to be played at Kirigiti,Jamhuri Grounds Moi Kasarani with the final set to be held on December 12th at Nyayo National stadium where the winner will pocket Ksh.5Million.
The tournament, part of Talanta Hela Initiative seeks to offer a platform to upcoming talent to showcase their abilities as well nurture and monetize them.
‘’It’s 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 asuccesfu;l career using talent’’, CS Ababu Namwamba said.
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 as a result of the scouting implemented by the programme.
‘’many Kenyan have been asking where did we get 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 in 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’’,Ababu said.
The draw followed the successful conclusion of the inter counties play offs in Nyeri which brought together the first runners up from the regional finals vying for the available four national slots.
