In developed countries, focusing on skills and talents is very common unlike in developing countries. We see developed countries putting effort on skills in various sports and art forms while at the same time ensuring education is paramount for their citizens. Yes, not every country is perfect, but the investment in talent development among a country’s citizens from even an early age set various countries apart from other countries.
The youth are being encouraged to use their skills and talents which they can even earn a living from. Remember, everyone has talents. No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something and can improve the talents and gifts they have. Talent development programs assist in realizing this.
Wadi Delga Club, a sports enterprise which recently set up in Kenya, has a talent development program with leading schools in Nairobi that will enable talented pupils in the city access state of the art sports facilities, training programs and social opportunities at the organization’s facilities.
The African Film and Television Talent Resources Centre has a workshop meant for children and teens between 6 to 19 years of age which is focused towards spotting talent in children focused on media such as acting, singing and presenting.
Another initiative is Chapa Dimba which aims at scouting for young talent, developing grassroots football, and ultimately propelling gifted players to the national team. The competition was launched in the earlier this year and is giving opportunities to the youth all over Kenya to showcase their talent on the field.
After several knockout stages around the country, the regional finals are now ongoing. Over 1,500 teams participated in the Rift Region games which began with the group stages on 9th September 2017. The boys and girls teams qualified to the regionals finals after a total of 759 games were played in North, Central, South, Eastern and North Western Rift regions of Kenya.
Eight teams participated in the Rift Regional finals of the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom youth tournament held on last Saturday and Sunday in Narok.
Kapenguria Heroes from West Pokot beat Nakuru All Stars 2-0 to win the Rift region leg of the tournament in the boys category, while Tartar Girls beat Iten Ladies 7-1 to win the girls category. The two teams were awarded Ksh. 200,000 and a slot at the national finals to be held in Nairobi in March 2018.
Next weekend, the Eastern regional finals will be held at the Embu stadium on the 25th and 26th of November. Teams from Embu, Mbeere, Tharaka Nithi, Makueni, Machakos, Kitui, Isiolo, Mwingi, Moyale and Marsabit participated in the group stages.
The grand finale in Nairobi will see the winning team walking away with Ksh. 1M each and an opportunity to train at an international football camp in London next year as well as get mentorship sessions with Victor Wanyama who plays for the Tottenham Hotspurs.