20th edition of East Africa Cup begins today

The meet is the only one to involve chess tournaments tailored to young people with autism, a cultural exchange programme, and a long-standing commitment to equal gender participation.

This year, Kenyan Referee Mary Njoroge will be at the event before heading to the FIFA Women's World
Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

There are refereeing workshops at the event too, supported by the Australian High Commission.

In fact, education has always been part of the East Africa Cup’s remit. Held each year in Moshi, Tanzania, it has brought together teams from all over East Africa since 2003.

While it involve a competitive youth football tournament – former Spurs star Victor Wanyama was a participant – the teams involved have to show their commitment to year-round community sport to gain a spot.

Besides refereeing, there will also be workshops on a wide range of topics, including child protection, interfaith dialogue, mental health, gender-based violence.

UNESCO will be involved , delivering ‘Fit For Life’ workshops, while the ‘chess and life strategies’ workshop features infinite chess, a variant of the game which can help children with autism spectrum disorder.

And each evening of the five-day event features a cultural programme - drama, drumming, and dancing which are an important part of the East Africa Cup.

“It’s exciting to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the East Africa Cup!” exclaimed the director of the East Africa Cup secretariat, Elly Omondi.  

“We continue to believe that all young people, including those with disabilities, can make a difference in their respective communities.

“But we know that youth today are impatient. They want to make an impact today, not tomorrow. So the East Africa Cup seeks to be an inspiration to young people involving themselves in building their own communities throughout the whole year.

“We need to understand and let it be evident in all our work that the youth are not only the leaders and community builders of tomorrow – but that they are also the community builders and leaders of today!”

This year's edition will feature some 400 youths. The East Africa Cup is powered by volunteers. The event starts today and will end on 2 July.

The core challenge has been funding. The organiser highlighted that it can be expensive for smaller teams to pay for transportation and hosting the event (in local schools).

Those intending to sponsor an event can get in touch with Elly Omondi at [email protected]