The Siaya Skating Club of Kenya, founded three years ago, has gained significant support after securing the Tujiamini Gold Award worth Kes 500,000.
The club under the tutelage of Founder and Director, Dorcas Awuor, has made tremendous steps in demistifying the leisure sport, by engaging and training young children in Siaya.
“Skating is often perceived as a high-end sport, not usually found in the rural areas. I am glad our efforts are bearing fruit in building a sporting fun and competitive culture in the children who would otherwise have had no chance or opportunity to enjoy the sport in this region”, said Awuor.
The club, currently patronised by over 85 children aged between three to fifteen years, much like many community sports initiatives faces challenges around sponsorship and resources, putting limits to talent growth and participation in invitational competitions.
According to Awuor, Siaya Skating Club has participated in both national and international events with the most recent being a national competition held in Nakuru this year finishing in the runners-up position.
“This Tujiamini award will enable us acquire necessary training and safety kits for the children. We foresee a life changing impact on the children by helping us participate in more competitions while reducing the strain on resources to help us meet our immediate needs.” Added Awuor.
SportPesa Representative Deborah Maina, who presented the cheque to the club in Bondo, Siaya said the club was deserving of the award owing to its commitment to uplifting talent and sporting competitiveness in children at a young age.
“We recognise that we have many community sporting clubs in the country, growing and nurturing talents in diverse sporting disciplines and who don’t often get a chance in the limelight. Our objective is therefore to encourage and reward such clubs not to give up but continue impacting lives positively through sports,” said Maina.
The Tujiamini initiative heads to the South Rift region, continuing with the mission to elevate, discover and grow talent across all sports and sports related disciplines in the country.