Six new sports introduced for term two school games

The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) will introduce six new sports that will debut at the upcoming Term Two National Championships scheduled for July 26 to August 1 at Mpesa Academy and Thika Stadium in Kiambu County.

According to a circular signed by Simon Mururi on behalf of the Ministry of Education Principal Secretary and addressed to the presidents of Chess Kenya, Cricket Kenya, Lacrosse Kenya, the Baseball Federation of Kenya, Beach Volleyball Kenya and Scrabble Kenya, the disciplines were featured as demonstration sports during last year’s national and East Africa championships in Kakamega and will now be fully included in the school games calendar.

“The respective federations will organise their own preliminary competitions to determine the teams that will qualify for the national championships,” read part of the circular.

“Referees and umpires for these games will be teachers selected in consultation with the federations. The federations will also be responsible for the logistics of taking the teams to the nationals, including transportation, meals en route, and the upkeep of team managers and chaperones,” Mururi stated in the circular.

He also directed the federations to strictly adhere to the agreed number of players and officials during the competitions.

Cricket, lacrosse and baseball are among the six new disciplines officially introduced into the school games calendar. The other sports added to the programme are beach volleyball, chess and scrabble.

Lacrosse, cricket and baseball will each feature six boys’ teams and six girls’ teams at the national championships, while beach volleyball will have 16 teams, with each region fielding one boys’ team and one girls’ team.

Meanwhile, chess and scrabble will each attract 12 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams from across the country.

The government and KSSSA will facilitate teams that qualify for the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) Games, which are scheduled to take place in August this year in Morogoro.

According to Mururi’s directives, the federations have also been tasked with sourcing standard playing fields and equipment for the national championships, with the venues expected to be located close to the main competition grounds.