Football is like a religion that has been played for years to bring communities together and identify and showcase talents.Marsabit County youths are familiar with this statement. The county which is historically marred with insecurity recently is witnessing a commendable initiative by its football team.##NAJAVA_MECA_7872987##The peace agenda embraced comes when the county is enjoying stable unanimity after years of sporadic tribal clashes, livestock theft, and destruction of properties characterized by political uncertainty.These issues prompted the youth to use different approaches to preach peace, love, and unity among the locals.The team is harnessing the transformative power of the sport as a medium to advocate for a truce within their communitiesSpeaking to Mozzart Sport, the county’s Talanta Hela U19 football team captain Osman Bose who schools at Dakabaricha Secondary explained that they viewed football as a universal language that brings people from all dimensions of life together. He noted that no other activity brings so many people together like sports.“Football brings us together. Everyone comes from different places and we form a team,” Bose started.“If a tournament is organized, the whole county flocks at the venue, and later on we have traditional dances. If people hear that a football tournament is happening, they leave their jobs to come and watch, even if the tournament runs for a week. People love football so much,” he continued.Despite the transformative power of the sport, the captain was concerned by the lack of support to grow the talent in the region. He lamented over the lack of proper training facilities as well as training gear to help them perform at their best.“We go through lots of challenges. There are lots of talents here but we lack support. The youths are just using drugs, we are not getting any tournaments. We train at one ground yet we are many. Sometimes you go to the field and you find that another team has booked it already. We hardly train. We also want a league because there are lots of talents here,” he revealed.“We are calling on the government to support us. We are grateful that the stadium is being renovated. We want to see more of that,” he told Mozzart Sport.Ababu Namwamba urges FKF to invest in grassroots footballHis sentiments were echoed by Abdirahman Wario who called for training of more coaches to grow the game in the region.“We lack training facilities and gear. We do not have well-trained coaches. We are calling on the KAS to help train our coaches,” he opened up.He was also glad to receive the Talanta Hela cash awards, noting that it would go a long way in paying his fee arrears.“My parents did not have money. Sometimes I lacked fee. I even had fee arrears which I am going to pay with the money I have received today. I am now confident of getting my certificate,” he happily said.According to the County Executive Committee member in charge of Education, Skills Development, Youth, and Sport Ambaro Abdullahi Abdi, the role of sport in promoting peace in the area is massive. Abdi lauded the boys for the incredible job, noting that the future was bright.“When they come from different backgrounds, they bond together and play. This promotes unity and peace in this county. Marsabit is known for insecurity issues, but the bonding of these boys is helping to preach the message of peace. We have been enjoying the peace and these boys will continue changing their lives,” she offered.Villa baying for Otenga blood in NSL encounterMarsabit emerged as the Upper Eastern region winner of the inaugural Talanta Hela U19 football tournament and was rewarded with Ksh500,000. The players each went home with Ksh17,390 while the officials received Ksh20,000 each.
