Rugby Teams across seven regions will grace this year's BingwaFest Sports Foundation tournament starting next month.
The first two tournaments will be in the western and Nyanza regions and will be played in a ten-a-side format.
The Western tournament is scheduled for August 8-10 at Mumias Sugar Complex while Mamboleo Stadium, Kisumu, will host the Nyanza event on August 22 -24.
Other hosts include Eastern Province (September 5-7), Coast (September 19-210, Nairobi (October 3-5), Central (November 7-9) and Rift Valley (November 14-16).
The series targets players aged 18-23 and will feature 16 men’s teams and eight women’s sides in each region.
The top three teams from each region will receive cash prizes with the specific amounts to be announced soon.
The winners from all regions will also face off in the national competition.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) director in charge of development, Ochieng Ahaya said the tournament will be used to identify talent in the region.
"This is a very welcome property in the development of our game. Most times we do not attract much interest in the development arm. That tends to be reserved for the more visible aspects of the game, especially the elite game," added Ahaya.
Bingwafest lead and former Kenya Simbas international, Fred Ollows observed that Western and Nyanza are the talent granaries in the country.
"Kenya’s Western Zone has produced many great athletes. Indeed, it particularly is the granary for Kenyan ball sports. It is a tribute to this reality that it was decided to kick off the Bingwafest activities in this zone,” said Ollows.
“I am happy with the rugby inclusion and confident that rugby will demonstrate why it’s the most successful ball sport in Kenya,” observed Ollows.
He explained that the choice of the 10's format, which he feels balances the shorter 7s and the longer 15's versions. “This decision was based on the current technical capabilities at the grassroots level and the aim to gather data for future editions."
“We will do 10-a-side. Initially, I thought we should focus on 15s, but given that this is a grassroots event, we lack sufficient technical know-how on the ground. So, we opted for a middle ground between 7s and 15s, which is tens,” Ollows said
The tournament has been sponsored by Betika and will incorporate basketball, football and athletics among other disciplines.