Women football players during the talent scholarship trials at MMUST
University talent scholarships are set to reduce youth unemployment in Kenya. One of the Universities on the frontline in championing the youth agenda is MMUST. The MMUST 2023 talent scholarships trials have kicked off on a high note with a high number of potential beneficiaries flocking into the University for trials. The trials, which will take place up to Friday 19th May 2023 started early on Tuesday morning with Soccer Women, Handball Women and Rugby Men at the various University sporting grounds. Wednesday was scheduled for Hockey Men and Women, Volleyball Men and Women, Basketball Men and Women and Music trials. Thursday and Friday are scheduled for athletics, soccer and drama trials.
The scholarship program is aimed at helping needy but talented students to pursue further studies as they prosper their talents. It will also help them get engaged and avoid engaging in drug and substance abuse as they work towards showcasing their talent to the world. This is the eighth cohort of students since it was established in 2015. So far the majority of the students who have gone through this program have become successful in both sporting and professional activities. A good example is Samwel Mbeche, who joined the University through the inaugural 2015 cohort, and successfully captained the MMUST rugby team into topflight rugby (Kenya Cup) in the country in 2020. Mr. Mbeche successfully transitioned into the corporate world and also joined the Mwamba Rugby team, which plays in the Kenya Cup.
Ladies football team warm up ahead of talent scholarship trial at MMUST
MMUST teams have been producing top talents in the national teams and topflight teams in the Country. In football, we currently have Daniel Sakari, who plays for the national team- Harambee Stars and the Kenya Premier League defending Champions Tusker Football Club in Nairobi. Mr. Sakari was a MMUST student who turned up for MMUST FC before joining Kakamega Homeboyz football Club and later joined Tusker. In rugby, we currently have two players from the MMUST Rugby team (Mr. Timothy Mmasi and Mr. Reinhard Ngaira) getting call ups to the Kenya Rugby 15s team (Simbas) currently in South Africa for the Mzansi Challenge International Tournament. Notably, the MMUST women soccer team are the East Africa University Football Champions.
Speaking at the trials event, the Dean of Students, Dr. Bernadette Abwao, noted that the idea of introducing talent scholarship was beneficial to the community and the University. “Since its inception in the year 2015, the talent scholarship program has been positively impactful to the University. We managed to bring top talents into our sporting activities and the results were the promotion of the MMUST Rugby team to the topflight league in the Country and the domination of the MMUST women football team in East Africa University games”, said Dr. Abwao. She further said that the community has been supportive of the program through identification of good talents
Prof. Peter Bukhala instructing an athlete on the pitch during talent scholarship trials in MMUST
While gracing the trials, Prof. Peter Bukhala, who is an expert in adapted physical activities lauded the exercise, saying that it has been of great significance to the University. Prof. Bukhala stated that the program has worked as a marketing tool to the University, as many students are identifying the University as a sporting hub that nurtures talents. “We are now being identified as a sporting powerhouse in the East African region. Our students have been able to shine at all level of competition they have participated in, and all this is credited to talent scholarship where we go for the best talent”, said Prof. Bukhala. He further said that as a selection committee of the talent scholarship, they are putting plans in place to ensure there is a suitable tracing plan in place, which will ensure that the University remains in contact with their sportsmen after completion of studies or professional transfer to other clubs. This, according to Prof. Bukhala will help in ensuring that the University grows its sporting alumni base, which can be used to organize high level tournaments that can generate income to the University which will in turn sustain talent scholarships to other upcoming talents.
Sponsoring talented students to pursue further studies as they sharpen their talents has proved to be the best way to achieve multiple and diverse goals like reducing youth unemployment, promotion of employability among youths, fostering creativity, and attracting investments. Clearly, such events promote the enhancement of Kenya’s overall competitiveness if all that has happened since the inception of MMUST talent scholarships is anything to go by.
Rugby players display tackling skills during talent scholarship trials at MMUST Rugby grounds
Photos by Shiundu Masafu
