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News
First Michezo tournament!
Nov 20 2006
The first ever Michezo Youth Initiative tournament was held on Saturday, October 21 at Garissa Road Primary School, on the outskirts of Thika town. And what a day it was, with over 600 kids competing across three age groups ? under 10s, 12s and 14s - and both genders.
The day began at daybreak for many of the Michezo volunteers, as they met outside the school to plan the set up of equipment and marking of the fields. Already by this time ? 7.30am ? kids from the adjacent Kiandutu slum area had already begun to appear for registration. Within an hour, with registration to ?officially? begin at 9.00am, it was chaos exemplified with kids clamouring over each other in the rush to enrol to play. While it was expected to be a little hectic, the shear numbers of kids was a pleasant but potentially uncontrollable surprise. However the Michezo volunteers ? who to a person had never been involved in an event like this before ? handled the turn out with a great deal of intelligence. Their adaptability was to be one of the features of the day.
The first games kicked off a little late ? around 10.00am ? and with the crowd in their hundreds to watch even the under 10s play it was a sight to behold. Prior to each game the teams were taken through a Life Skills warm-up exercise, combining a simple football or athletic drill with a
relevant life skills message. Ten to fifteen minutes of activity was followed by a ten minute interactive discussion on the life skills subject. The involvement of the kids with the topic was a very positive sign, and bodes well for the program as it grows.
Another great surprise was the percentage of females that had come to play. There were some initial concerns over how many girls would be allowed to play by their parents. The early experience of MYSA had suggested that with the cultural background of Kenyans this would be an area we would have to develop over time. However, with around 40% of players being female it would seem that the residents of the Thika and Kiandutu areas are a little more accepting of females being involved in sporting activities.
The day ended with the sun sinking slowly towards the horizon, and unfortunately with the under 12 competition only at the quarterfinal stage. Having been overwhelmed by the shear numbers of players, we had been unable to fit in all the required games, even after reducing times for each game to 2 x 10 minute halves. A lesson learnt, and even though not the most ideal end to our first day, overall it had been quite an achievement by the volunteers involved. And the smiling faces of the kids told its own story. Bring on the next tournament!