Gaming platform MCHEZA has today partnered with the current Kenya National Rugby 7s team (Shujaa) to host the mCHEZA Rugby 7s Festival slated for 25th June 2016 at the Kenya Harlequins Grounds.
mCHEZA Rugby 7s Festival will support and accelerate the high performance 7s youth development programmes in Kenya, by giving young and up-coming players from all regions a chance to form franchise teams under the stewardship of the Shujaa players.
While announcing the partnership, mCHEZA Chief Executive Officer Peter Karimi expressed excitement at hosting the festival as it met the organization’s key pillars of identifying, nurturing and appreciating talented players.
“The Shujaa team has done the country proud by winning in the global series, and to enhance posterity of talent, the players will each be passing on their skillset to the next generation of sportsmen at the festival,” said Peter.
He added, “This is the first of many more exciting tournaments we will host together with one of Africa’s best rugby teams; as mCHEZA, and we hope to keep this tradition to become one of the most formidable countries to watch out for in rugby.”
mCHEZA Director Julie Gichuru echoed Peter’s sentiments saying, “The KENYA sevens team is setting a great example for the country. Our youth need positive role models and the mentorship role that the Shujaa heroes will play through the mCHEZA 7s Rugby Tournament is remarkable. As mCHEZA we are delighted to take these role models and connect them to young players.”
8 players in the national team- Frank Wanyama, Oscar Ayodi, Collins Injera, Humphrey Kayange, Cpt Andrew Amonde, Oscar Ouma, Willy Ambaka and Biko Adema- will each coach a team for two days, before competing at the tournament. The round robin format will give the 120 players their day on the field, with the best of them winning the Ksh 500,000 main cup prize, in what organisers say will be a thrilling event.
On his part, Kenya National 7s Team Coach Benjamin Ayimba appreciated mCHEZA’s support in ensuring that Kenya is on a continuous winning streak with the identification of new talent. He appreciated the players for dedicating their time to raise a stronger pool of talent to select for the national team.
“The players have dedicated their time and expertise to enable a younger, stronger crop of players emerge from the festival. This is the first time the Shujaas will be competing against each other, but with a common goal of strengthening the Kenya team,” said Benjamin.
The national sevens team finished seventh overall in the 2015-16 HSBC Sevens World Series on 98 points after collecting three points at the last leg in London. This reawakened the country’s aspirations to cement their prowess at the global stage, with Collins Injera breaking Argentina coach Santiago Gomez Cora’s 230-record to become the highest try-scorer in rugby history. The team are on a two week break from the IRB series as they prepare for the Olympics in Rio in August.
Since launching in December 2015, mCHEZA recently launched their online play platform to include other sporting fields like rugby. mCHEZA is also using its platform to contribute to the growth of the sports industry in Kenya by supporting talent development through various initiatives like the partnership with Green Sports Africa, Sports Personality of the Year (SOYA), rally ace Tejas Hirani among others to nurture talented athletes in Kenya.