Ukunda Sports wins inaugural Afya na Usalama Youth Tourney

Ukunda Sports Academy achieved a dramatic 1-0 win over Mwamanga FC to emerge the inaugural champions of the Afya Na Usalama U-16 Cup held at Bongwe Grounds in Ukunda, Kwale County.

In a game that see-sawed both ways, the Ukunda Sports Academy boys showed a tremendous amount of mental fortitude to grind out a win against a very good Mwamanga outfit.

The first edition of the Afya Na Usalama Youth Cup was a collaborative effort between the Smart Move Community, Youth to Youth Initiative, SambaSports Youth Agenda and HUDA with the aim of curbing the rise of insecurity cases and to promote healthy living among the youth especially with the issue of drugs and substance abuse. The tournament comprised of sixteen teams within Ukunda and Bongwe/Gombato ward which are the main hotspot areas. With the strong affinity to the game among residents of Kwale County, football tournaments have increased in popularity especially during this year’s festive period. After weeks of knock out football, two teams remained standing and squared off in a one off final. 

Mwamanga FC should have taken the lead early in the first half after some confusion in the Ukunda Sports Academy penalty area but the ball hit the post and trickled out for a corner. The miss was immediately punished as Ukunda Sports Academy capitalized on poor defending to take the lead after a brilliant corner kick routine caught out the Mwamanga defence. The ball fell kindly for Jabali Dele who poked in the opener to send the capacity crowd at the Bongwe grounds into wild celebrations.

The second half saw both sides try to gain control of the match with fouls being a constant feature of the 45 minutes. With time running out Mwamanga went all out to get the equalizer and were almost rewarded after a brilliant strike from the edge of the box had the beating of the Ukunda Sports Academy keeper but the post once again denied them a goal.

At full time, as the Ukunda Sports Academy boys celebrated and held the trophy aloft, there could be no doubt about the impact the tournament has had in encouraging youth in the region to embrace a healthy, drug free lifestyle and to avoid criminal activities. 

Smart Move Community Executive Director Jamal Abdallah expressed his excitement at the tournament praising the teams and fans that showed up for keeping the love of football in Kwale alive. “Our aim in this program has been to strengthen community resilience to conflict and substance abuse amongst at risk youth through sports. Hard questions such as these have increasingly vexed policy makers, security actors, political leaders, development organisations and community representatives across the region in recent years. All too often, the response has been viewed through the narrow lens of counter-terrorism, or reduced to an issue of poverty and unemployment, or argued to be the unfortunate by-product of someone else’s ‘war on drugs’.”

He further urged the relevant authorities in the County to support sports initiatives as they are an opportunity for members of the community to come together and address contemporary issues that affect the region.

“As Smart Move Community, we have established a capability for primary research and community engagement that stretched from Kwale’s turbulent Msambweni region. Since the project's inception, we have managed to developed community-led approaches to violent extremism including in hotspot areas in Msambweni subcounty. We have also worked with communities to identify at-risk groups, including in some of the hardest to access and most insecure areas to drive hope.” 

His sentiments were lauded by Smart Move Community’s Programs Coordinator, Rama Mwachili who lauded the tournament as a success, praising the turn out and the obvious impact it had. “Football is a major sport that is loved by many in the whole world. In kwale County it is one of the best ways in bringing the community together to cheer for their teams. Sports and football in particular plays a huge role in promoting peace and harmony among the community members.”